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Crises

in ‘Merely for Money’?: Business Culture in the British Atlantic, 1750–1815

This chapter examines how the business culture in the British Atlantic dealt with the crises or turbulent times the merchants experienced during the period from 1750 to 1815. It explains what ... More

This chapter examines how the business culture in the British Atlantic dealt with the crises or turbulent times the merchants experienced during the period from 1750 to 1815. It explains what constitutes a crisis and describes the changes in business culture brought about by three major events of this period. These include the American War of Independence, the abolition of the British-Atlantic slave trade and the build-up to the Anglo-American War. The analysis shows the resilience of the business culture and highlights the role played by risk, trust, reputation, obligation and networks during the crises.Less

‘Our Clapham system’

Anne Stott

in Wilberforce: Family and Friends

Making extensive use of the correspondence of Marianne Sykes and the diary of William Wilberforce, this chapter details the origins of the Clapham Sect between 1790 and 1793. It shows how Wilberforce ... More

Making extensive use of the correspondence of Marianne Sykes and the diary of William Wilberforce, this chapter details the origins of the Clapham Sect between 1790 and 1793. It shows how Wilberforce became ever more closely connected with the Midlands Evangelicals, Thomas Babington and Thomas Gisborne. The abolition bills of 1791 and 1792 are discussed. There is a short analysis of the relationship of Henry Thornton and Marianne Sykes. Wilberforce’s move to Clapham is described and there is a brief discussion of John Venn and Charles Grant. The founding of the Sierra Leone Company and the Clapham sect’s relationships with the Temne ruler, Naimbaba and his son are analysed. This public discussion is interwoven with a study of Wilberforce’s personal life, in particular his reaction to his sister’s marriage.Less

Crimes Against Humanity: Racialized Subjects and Deracialized Histories

Vasuki Nesiah

in The New Histories of International Criminal Law: Retrials

Race and racism have a schizophrenic life in international criminal law (ICL) histories, both ever-present, and ever-elusive. This chapter excavates this double-life by tracing, not race, but its ... More

Race and racism have a schizophrenic life in international criminal law (ICL) histories, both ever-present, and ever-elusive. This chapter excavates this double-life by tracing, not race, but its repression, in ICL historians’ projection of ICL’s origins to the mid-nineteenth century regime instituted to implement the prohibition of the Atlantic slave trade in the name of ‘humanity’. This regime included treaty born transnational tribunals (‘Mixed Commissions’) with jurisdictional authority that extended beyond national borders. Racialized structures and imaginaries hide in plain sight in histories of these tribunals as an embryonic ICL—present everywhere yet not acknowledged anywhere. This chapter argues that this absent presence is constituted, on the one hand, by juridification, and on the other, by moralization. Troubling legacies of juridification and moralization entails unpacking continuities and discontinuities with contemporary ICL and the work of race-invisibility in putting wind in the sails of humanity’s racially mal-distributive global dynamics.Less

From Crisis to Success: The Final Abolition of the Slave Trade

Jenny S. Martinez

in The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law

This chapter examines the factors that led to the abolition of the slave trade. The weaknesses in the mixed court system led the British government to replace it with a combination of military force ... More

This chapter examines the factors that led to the abolition of the slave trade. The weaknesses in the mixed court system led the British government to replace it with a combination of military force and domestic courts. The pressure brought by this shift in strategy led to changes in the domestic policies of Portugal and Brazil, that culminated in the ultimate suppression of the slave trade under the domestic laws of those countries. However, the last surviving branch of the transatlantic slave trade, the traffic to Cuba, was only eliminated when the British turned back to cooperative international legal action by concluding a treaty with the Americans. On April 25, 1862, the U.S. Senate unanimously ratified a treaty with Britain, which provided mutual rights of search and the trial of slave ships in mixed courts.Less

International Human Rights Law and International Courts: Rethinking Their Origins and Future

Jenny S. Martinez

in The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law

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 ... More

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

“Fortune Is Neither to Be Won by Prudence nor Industry”: A Slaving Voyage to East Africa

Daniel L. Schafer

in Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the Atlantic World: Slave Trader, Plantation Owner, Emancipator

This chapter discusses Zephaniah Kingsley’s decision to “change the ground” from St. Thomas to East Florida and his nationality from Danish to Spanish, as a result of Denmark’s decision to prohibit ... More

This chapter discusses Zephaniah Kingsley’s decision to “change the ground” from St. Thomas to East Florida and his nationality from Danish to Spanish, as a result of Denmark’s decision to prohibit imports of African slaves in its colonies. Kingsley had profited from the sale of human cargoes; by moving to Spanish East Florida, where slave imports were still legal, he and dozens of other European traders continued to reap rewards profit from the trade. East Florida was conveniently located to access to markets at South Carolina, Georgia, Charlotte Amalie, and Havana. East Florida’s huge reserves of vacant land also provided a portal into the Atlantic world of the future that Kingsley envisioned. The seismic shock of the slave revolution in Saint-Domingue and the growing sentiment to ban the Atlantic slave trade convinced Kingsley that importation of African slaves would soon end, but slavery would continue to be legal within national boundaries. The time was right to transition to legitimate maritime commerce and to the life of planter and slave owner. For another decade Kingsley engaged in the slave trade, but he also created a personal empire of plantations in East Florida. The second major event of the chapter is Kingsley’s participation in an 1804–1806 expedition to East Africa and the purchase of 330 slaves for the market at Charleston.Less

Accommodation

Ruma Chopra

in Almost Home: Maroons between Slavery and Freedom in Jamaica, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone

Over time, the Maroons separated themselves from the indigenous Africans and allied with the Nova Scotian Loyalists. Some found military and civil service roles in the British establishment of Sierra ... More

Over time, the Maroons separated themselves from the indigenous Africans and allied with the Nova Scotian Loyalists. Some found military and civil service roles in the British establishment of Sierra Leone. They benefited from knowing English, and understanding British manners and customs, including Christianity. As British Africa grew in scope, and as Sierra Leone became a Crown colony by 1808, some Maroons rose to positions of privilege.Less