Jenny S. Martinez
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195391626
- eISBN:
- 9780190259754
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195391626.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter explores the origins and possible developments in international human rights law. It also argues that close examination of the history of the abolition of the slave trade should cause ...
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This chapter explores the origins and possible developments in international human rights law. It also argues that close examination of the history of the abolition of the slave trade should cause international legal scholars to rethink the relationship between power, ideas, and international legal institutions. From the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was able to project its momentary power far into the future by creating permanent international legal mechanisms. Over time, Britain was able to persuade powerful countries like France and the United States to join in the increasingly universal international legal regime against the slave trade. The story of the abolition of the slave trade is a good one for international law, for human rights, and for humanity. After many statutes had been passed and several wars had been fought, the chains on slavery were finally broken.Less
This chapter explores the origins and possible developments in international human rights law. It also argues that close examination of the history of the abolition of the slave trade should cause international legal scholars to rethink the relationship between power, ideas, and international legal institutions. From the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was able to project its momentary power far into the future by creating permanent international legal mechanisms. Over time, Britain was able to persuade powerful countries like France and the United States to join in the increasingly universal international legal regime against the slave trade. The story of the abolition of the slave trade is a good one for international law, for human rights, and for humanity. After many statutes had been passed and several wars had been fought, the chains on slavery were finally broken.
