Thomas Clarkson
Encyclopedia
Thomas Clarkson was an English abolitionist
, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade
in the British Empire
. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. In his later years Clarkson campaigned for the abolition of slavery worldwide. In 1840, he was the key speaker at the Anti-Slavery Society
(today known as Anti-Slavery International
) conference in London, which campaigned to end slavery in other countries.
where his father was headmaster; then he went on to St Paul's School in London in 1775. He did his undergraduate work at St John's College, Cambridge
, beginning in 1779. An excellent student, he appears to have enjoyed his time at university, although he was also a serious, devout man. He received his B.A.
degree in 1783 and was set to continue at Cambridge to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter the Anglican Church. He was ordained a deacon but never proceeded to priest's orders.
essay competition that was to set him on the course for most of the remainder of his life. The topic of the essay, set by university vice-chancellor Peter Peckard
, was Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare (Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?), and it led Clarkson to consider the question of the slave trade. He read everything he could on the subject, including the works of Anthony Benezet
, a Quaker abolitionist. Appalled and challenged by what he discovered, Clarkson changed his life. He also researched the topic by meeting and interviewing those who had personal experience of the slave trade and of slavery
.
After winning the prize, Clarkson had what he called a spiritual revelation from God as he travelled on horseback between Cambridge
and London. Having broken his journey at Wadesmill
, near Ware, Hertfordshire
, as he stopped, 'A thought came into my mind', he later wrote, 'that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end' (Clarkson, History, vol. 1). This experience and sense of calling ultimately led him to devote his life to abolishing the slave trade.
Having translated the essay into English so that it could gain a wider audience, Clarkson published it in 1786 as "An essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species, particularly the African, translated from a Latin Dissertation", which was honoured with the first prize in the University of Cambridge, for the year 1785.
The publication of the essay had an immediate impact, and Clarkson was introduced to many others who were sympathetic to abolition, some of whom had already published and campaigned against slavery. These included influential men such as James Ramsay
and Granville Sharp
, the Quakers, and other Nonconformists. The movement had been gathering strength for some years, having been founded by Quakers both in Britain
and in the United States, with support from other Nonconformists or from Puritans on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1783, 300 Quakers, chiefly from the London area, presented the British Parliament with the first petition against the slave trade.
Following this step, a small offshoot group sought to form the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, a small non-denominational group that could lobby more successfully by incorporating Anglican and Parliamentary support (Quakers were disbarred from Parliament until the early nineteenth century, whereas the Anglican Church had the right to seats in the House of Lords). The twelve founding members included nine Quakers, and three pioneering Anglicans – Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce
— all evangelical
Christians sympathetic to the religious revival that had predominantly nonconformist origins, but which sought wider non-denominational support for a "Great Awakening" amongst believers.
(MPs). This was to lead, in May 1787, to the foundation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The Committee included Granville Sharp as Chairman and Josiah Wedgwood
as well as Clarkson himself. Clarkson also approached the young William Wilberforce, who as an (Evangelical) Anglican and an MP could offer them a link into the British Parliament. Wilberforce was one of very few parliamentarians to have had sympathy with the Quaker petition; he had already put a question about the slave trade before the House of Commons, marking himself out as one of the earliest Anglican abolitionists.
Clarkson took a leading part in the affairs of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and was given the responsibility to collect evidence to support the abolition of the slave trade. He faced much opposition from supporters of the trade in some of the cities he visited. The slave traders were an influential group because the trade was a legitimate and lucrative business, generating prosperity for many of the ports. On a visit to Liverpool in 1787, the year the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded, Clarkson was attacked and nearly killed by a gang of sailors paid to assassinate him. He just escaped with his life. That same year, Clarkson published the pamphlet: "A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition".
Clarkson was very effective at giving the Committee a high public profile: he spent the next two years travelling around England, promoting the cause and gathering evidence. He interviewed 20,000 sailors during his research. He obtained equipment used on slave-ships, such as iron handcuffs, leg-shackles, and thumbscrews; instruments for forcing open slave's jaws; and branding irons. He published engravings of the tools in pamphlets and displayed the instruments at public meetings.
Clarkson’s research took him to English ports such as Bristol
, where he received much data from the landlord of the Seven Stars pub
. (The building still stands in Thomas Lane.) He also traveled to Liverpool
and London, collecting vital evidence to support the abolitionist case.
One of the first African trading ships which Clarkson visited was The Lively. Although not a slave ship, it carried cargo of high quality that had a powerful impact upon Clarkson. The ship was loaded with beautiful African goods: carved ivory and woven cloth, along with produce such as beeswax, palm oil and peppers. Clarkson could see the craftsmanship and skill required to produce many of the items. The idea that their creators could be enslaved horrified him. Clarkson bought samples from the ship and started a collection to which he added over the years. It included crops, spices and raw materials, along with refined trade goods.
Clarkson noticed how pictures and artifacts were able to influence public opinion, more than words alone. He quickly realised that his collection of fine goods could reinforce the message of his anti-slavery lectures. He used the items to demonstrate the skill of Africans and possibilities for an alternative humane trading system. The "box" of his collection became an important part his public meetings, and was an early example of a visual aid.
He rode by horseback some 35,000 miles for evidence and checked in with local anti-slave trade societies founded across the country. He enlisted the help of Alexander Falconbridge
and James Arnold, two ship’s surgeons whom he met in Liverpool. They had been on many voyages aboard slave ships, and were able to recount their experiences in detail for publication.
Clarkson also continued to write against the slave trade. He filled his works with vivid descriptions heard first hand from sailors, surgeons and others who had been involved in the slave traffic. Examples included "An Essay on the Slave Trade", the account of a sailor who had served aboard a slave-ship, which was published in 1789. In 1788 Clarkson published his Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade (1788), which was printed in large numbers. These works provided a firm basis for William Wilberforce's first abolitionist speech in the House of Commons on 12 May 1789, and its twelve propositions.
That same year an autobiographical narrative by an African with direct experience of the slave trade and slavery was published; it was highly influential. Clarkson wrote to the Rev. Mr. Jones at Trinity College, introducing Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano)
, the African anti-slavery author, who wished to visit Cambridge
. Clarkson asked the Rev. Jones for help in selling Equiano's autobiography.
In 1791 Wilberforce introduced the first Bill to abolish the slave trade; it was easily defeated by 163 votes to 88. As Wilberforce continued to bring the issue of the slave trade before Parliament, Clarkson traveled and wrote anti-slavery works.
It was the beginning of their protracted parliamentary campaign, during which Wilberforce introduced a motion in favour of abolition almost every year. Clarkson, Wilberforce and the other members of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and their supporters, were responsible for generating and sustaining a national movement which mobilised public opinion as never before. Parliament, however, refused to pass the bill. The outbreak of War with France
effectively prevented further debate for many years.
By 1794, Clarkson's health was failing, as he suffered from exhaustion. He retired from the campaign and spent some time in the Lake District
, where he bought an estate at Ullswater
, and became a friend of the poet William Wordsworth
. In 1796 he married Catherine Buck of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
; their only child Thomas was born in 1796. They moved back to the south of England for the sake of Catherine’s health, and settled at Bury St Edmunds from 1806 to 1816, after which they lived at Playford Hall, halfway between Ipswich
and Woodbridge, Suffolk
.
When the war with France appeared to be almost over, Clarkson and his allies revived the anti-slave trade campaign in 1804. After ten years, he again got on his horse to travel all over Great Britain and canvass support for the measure. He appeared to have returned with all his old enthusiasm and vigour. He was especially active in persuading MPs to back the parliamentary campaign.
After the passage of the Slave Trade Act
in 1807, Clarkson's efforts were directed toward ensuring enforcement of the act and furthering the campaign in the rest of Europe. He travelled to Paris in 1814 and Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, trying to reach international agreement on a timetable for abolition of the trade. He also published a book in 1808 talking about the progress of the abolition of the slave trade.
) was formed, Clarkson again travelled around the country. He covered 10,000 miles, and activated the network of sympathetic anti-slavery societies which had been formed. This resulted in 777 petitions being delivered to parliament demanding the total emancipation of slaves. When the society adopted a policy of immediate emancipation, Clarkson and Wilberforce appeared together for the last time to lend their support. In 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act
was passed.
Clarkson lived for a further 13 years. Although his eyesight was failing, he continued to campaign for abolition, focusing on the United States. He was the principal speaker at the opening of the Anti-Slavery Society Convention in Freemasons' Hall
, London in 1840, chaired by Thomas Binney
. The conference was designed to build support for abolishing slavery worldwide and included delegates from France, the USA, Haiti and Jamaica.
The scene at Clarkson's opening address was painted in a commemorative work, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The emancipated slave, Henry Beckford (a Baptist deacon in Jamaica), appeared in the right foreground. Clarkson and the prominent abolitionist Quaker William Allen
were to the left, the main axis of interest. In 1846 Clarkson received the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass
, a former slave who had escaped to freedom, on his first visit to England.
Throughout his life Clarkson was a frequent guest of Mr Joseph Hardcastle (the first treasurer of the London Missionary Society
) at Hatcham House in Deptford
. Then a rural Surrey
village, it is now part of inner London. Here Clarkson wrote much of his History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1808). Here too, in the early 1790s he had met his wife, a niece of Mrs Hardcastle.
Thomas was not the only notable member of his family. His remarkable younger brother, John Clarkson
at age 28, took a major part in organising and coordinating the relocation of approximately 1200 United States ex-slaves from Nova Scotia
, Canada to the new colony of Sierra Leone
. There he became the first Governor and helped the settlers survive terrible conditions in the first year. John Clarkson helped the settlers move to independence, more than the Sierra Leone commercial company wanted, and they forced him to resign. John Clarkson died in 1828 in Woodbridge, Suffolk
and was buried in St Mary's churchyard.
Thomas Clarkson died on 26 September 1846 in Playford
, Suffolk
, and was buried in the village on 2 October at St Mary’s Church. An obelisk to his memory was erected in the churchyard in 1857.
After his death, a monument to Clarkson was erected in 1879, at Wadesmill, that reads: "On this spot where stands this monument in the month of June 1785 Thomas Clarkson resolved to devote his life to bringing about the abolition of the slave trade."
Another monument, the Clarkson Memorial
, was erected in his birthplace of Wisbech to commemorate his life and work. The Clarkson School, Wisbech is named after him. A pub in Wisbech is named the Clarkson Arms and is opposite a tree lined road named Clarkson Avenue. A secondary school (The Queen's School) was closed and reopened after renovation in September 2007 as the 'Thomas Clarkson Community College'.
In 1996 a tablet was dedicated to his memory in Westminster Abbey
, near the tomb of William Wilberforce.
Several other roads in the United Kingdom are named after him, for example in Hull
, the home town of William Wilberforce
, Cambridge
and Ipswich, Suffolk.
One of his descendants, Canon John Clarkson, continues in his footsteps as one of the leaders of the Anti-Slavery Society.
In the 2006 film Amazing Grace
, Clarkson was played by the British actor Rufus Sewell
.
After the abolition of slavery in Jamaica in 1834 and subsequent establishment of
Free Villages for the settlement of newly freed slaves, the town of Clarksonville, named in his honour, established in St. Ann, Jamaica.
In July 2010 the Church of England Synod decided to honour Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano on the day that William Wilberforce is also remembered - July 30. An initial celebration was held in Playford church on July 30, 2010.
was so impressed with Clarkson's achievements that he wrote a sonnet
to him.
Sonnet, To Thomas Clarkson,
On the final passing of the Bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, March, 1807.
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Society for effecting the abolition of the slave trade
The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, , was a British abolitionist group, formed on 22 May 1787, when twelve men gathered together at a printing shop in London, England.-Origins:...
and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. In his later years Clarkson campaigned for the abolition of slavery worldwide. In 1840, he was the key speaker at the Anti-Slavery Society
Anti-Slavery Society
The Anti-Slavery Society or A.S.S. was the everyday name of two different British organizations.The first was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Its official name was the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the...
(today known as Anti-Slavery International
Anti-Slavery International
Anti-Slavery International is an international nongovernmental organization, charity and a lobby group, based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1839, it is the world's oldest international human rights organization, and the only charity in the United Kingdom to work exclusively against slavery and...
) conference in London, which campaigned to end slavery in other countries.
Early life and education
Clarkson was the son of Rev. John Clarkson (1710–1766). He attended Wisbech Grammar SchoolWisbech Grammar School
Wisbech Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire for students ages 11 to 18. Founded by the Wisbech Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the country. The present headmaster is N.J.G. Hammond, a member of the Headmasters' and...
where his father was headmaster; then he went on to St Paul's School in London in 1775. He did his undergraduate work at St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, beginning in 1779. An excellent student, he appears to have enjoyed his time at university, although he was also a serious, devout man. He received his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1783 and was set to continue at Cambridge to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter the Anglican Church. He was ordained a deacon but never proceeded to priest's orders.
Revelation of the horrors of slavery
It was at Cambridge in 1785 that Clarkson entered a LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
essay competition that was to set him on the course for most of the remainder of his life. The topic of the essay, set by university vice-chancellor Peter Peckard
Peter Peckard
Peter Peckard was an English Whig, Church of England minister and abolitionist.From 1781 he was Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. He was incorporated at Cambridge in 1782, appointed vice-chancellor in 1784, and created D.D. per literas regias in 1785. In April 1792 he became Dean of...
, was Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare (Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?), and it led Clarkson to consider the question of the slave trade. He read everything he could on the subject, including the works of Anthony Benezet
Anthony Benezet
Anthony Benezet, or Antoine Bénézet , was a French-born American educator and abolitionist.-Biography:Anthony Benezet was born in Saint-Quentin, France, on 31 January 1713. His family were Huguenots. Because of the persecution of Protestants after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685,...
, a Quaker abolitionist. Appalled and challenged by what he discovered, Clarkson changed his life. He also researched the topic by meeting and interviewing those who had personal experience of the slave trade and of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
After winning the prize, Clarkson had what he called a spiritual revelation from God as he travelled on horseback between Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and London. Having broken his journey at Wadesmill
Wadesmill
Wadesmill is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, located on the north side of the River Rib with an estimated population of 264. Running through the center of Wadesmill is the road formerly known as the A10 - the main London to King's Lynn road - but now that the A10 by-pass has been built,...
, near Ware, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, as he stopped, 'A thought came into my mind', he later wrote, 'that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end' (Clarkson, History, vol. 1). This experience and sense of calling ultimately led him to devote his life to abolishing the slave trade.
Having translated the essay into English so that it could gain a wider audience, Clarkson published it in 1786 as "An essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species, particularly the African, translated from a Latin Dissertation", which was honoured with the first prize in the University of Cambridge, for the year 1785.
The publication of the essay had an immediate impact, and Clarkson was introduced to many others who were sympathetic to abolition, some of whom had already published and campaigned against slavery. These included influential men such as James Ramsay
James Ramsay (abolitionist)
James Ramsay was a ship’s surgeon, Anglican priest, and leading abolitionist.-Early life and Naval service:Ramsay was born at Fraserburgh, Scotland, the son of William Ramsay, ship’s carpenter, and Margaret Ogilvie. He was apprenticed to a local surgeon and later educated at King's College,...
and Granville Sharp
Granville Sharp
Granville Sharp was one of the first English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle blacks in Sierra Leone, and founded the St. George's Bay Company, a forerunner of the Sierra...
, the Quakers, and other Nonconformists. The movement had been gathering strength for some years, having been founded by Quakers both in Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and in the United States, with support from other Nonconformists or from Puritans on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1783, 300 Quakers, chiefly from the London area, presented the British Parliament with the first petition against the slave trade.
Following this step, a small offshoot group sought to form the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, a small non-denominational group that could lobby more successfully by incorporating Anglican and Parliamentary support (Quakers were disbarred from Parliament until the early nineteenth century, whereas the Anglican Church had the right to seats in the House of Lords). The twelve founding members included nine Quakers, and three pioneering Anglicans – Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
— all evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christians sympathetic to the religious revival that had predominantly nonconformist origins, but which sought wider non-denominational support for a "Great Awakening" amongst believers.
Anti-slavery campaign
Encouraged by publication of Clarkson’s essay, an informal committee was set up between small groups from the petitioning Quakers, Clarkson and others, with the aim of lobbying Members of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MPs). This was to lead, in May 1787, to the foundation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The Committee included Granville Sharp as Chairman and Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
as well as Clarkson himself. Clarkson also approached the young William Wilberforce, who as an (Evangelical) Anglican and an MP could offer them a link into the British Parliament. Wilberforce was one of very few parliamentarians to have had sympathy with the Quaker petition; he had already put a question about the slave trade before the House of Commons, marking himself out as one of the earliest Anglican abolitionists.
Clarkson took a leading part in the affairs of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and was given the responsibility to collect evidence to support the abolition of the slave trade. He faced much opposition from supporters of the trade in some of the cities he visited. The slave traders were an influential group because the trade was a legitimate and lucrative business, generating prosperity for many of the ports. On a visit to Liverpool in 1787, the year the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded, Clarkson was attacked and nearly killed by a gang of sailors paid to assassinate him. He just escaped with his life. That same year, Clarkson published the pamphlet: "A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition".
Clarkson was very effective at giving the Committee a high public profile: he spent the next two years travelling around England, promoting the cause and gathering evidence. He interviewed 20,000 sailors during his research. He obtained equipment used on slave-ships, such as iron handcuffs, leg-shackles, and thumbscrews; instruments for forcing open slave's jaws; and branding irons. He published engravings of the tools in pamphlets and displayed the instruments at public meetings.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, where he received much data from the landlord of the Seven Stars pub
Seven Stars Public House, Bristol
The Seven Stars Public House is an historic public house situated on Thomas Lane, Bristol, England.One of the earliest references to the pub is in the Bristol Record Office...
. (The building still stands in Thomas Lane.) He also traveled to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and London, collecting vital evidence to support the abolitionist case.
One of the first African trading ships which Clarkson visited was The Lively. Although not a slave ship, it carried cargo of high quality that had a powerful impact upon Clarkson. The ship was loaded with beautiful African goods: carved ivory and woven cloth, along with produce such as beeswax, palm oil and peppers. Clarkson could see the craftsmanship and skill required to produce many of the items. The idea that their creators could be enslaved horrified him. Clarkson bought samples from the ship and started a collection to which he added over the years. It included crops, spices and raw materials, along with refined trade goods.
Clarkson noticed how pictures and artifacts were able to influence public opinion, more than words alone. He quickly realised that his collection of fine goods could reinforce the message of his anti-slavery lectures. He used the items to demonstrate the skill of Africans and possibilities for an alternative humane trading system. The "box" of his collection became an important part his public meetings, and was an early example of a visual aid.
He rode by horseback some 35,000 miles for evidence and checked in with local anti-slave trade societies founded across the country. He enlisted the help of Alexander Falconbridge
Alexander Falconbridge
Alexander Falconbridge was a British surgeon on four voyages in slave ships between 1780 and 1787 before meeting the anti-slavery campaigner, Thomas Clarkson and becoming a member of the Anti-Slavery Society . After meeting Thomas Clarkson, he published in 1788 An Account of the Slave Trade on...
and James Arnold, two ship’s surgeons whom he met in Liverpool. They had been on many voyages aboard slave ships, and were able to recount their experiences in detail for publication.
Clarkson also continued to write against the slave trade. He filled his works with vivid descriptions heard first hand from sailors, surgeons and others who had been involved in the slave traffic. Examples included "An Essay on the Slave Trade", the account of a sailor who had served aboard a slave-ship, which was published in 1789. In 1788 Clarkson published his Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade (1788), which was printed in large numbers. These works provided a firm basis for William Wilberforce's first abolitionist speech in the House of Commons on 12 May 1789, and its twelve propositions.
That same year an autobiographical narrative by an African with direct experience of the slave trade and slavery was published; it was highly influential. Clarkson wrote to the Rev. Mr. Jones at Trinity College, introducing Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano)
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
, the African anti-slavery author, who wished to visit Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. Clarkson asked the Rev. Jones for help in selling Equiano's autobiography.
In 1791 Wilberforce introduced the first Bill to abolish the slave trade; it was easily defeated by 163 votes to 88. As Wilberforce continued to bring the issue of the slave trade before Parliament, Clarkson traveled and wrote anti-slavery works.
It was the beginning of their protracted parliamentary campaign, during which Wilberforce introduced a motion in favour of abolition almost every year. Clarkson, Wilberforce and the other members of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and their supporters, were responsible for generating and sustaining a national movement which mobilised public opinion as never before. Parliament, however, refused to pass the bill. The outbreak of War with France
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
effectively prevented further debate for many years.
By 1794, Clarkson's health was failing, as he suffered from exhaustion. He retired from the campaign and spent some time in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
, where he bought an estate at Ullswater
Ullswater
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being approximately nine miles long and 0.75 miles wide with a maximum depth of slightly more than ....
, and became a friend of the poet William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
. In 1796 he married Catherine Buck of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
; their only child Thomas was born in 1796. They moved back to the south of England for the sake of Catherine’s health, and settled at Bury St Edmunds from 1806 to 1816, after which they lived at Playford Hall, halfway between Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
.
When the war with France appeared to be almost over, Clarkson and his allies revived the anti-slave trade campaign in 1804. After ten years, he again got on his horse to travel all over Great Britain and canvass support for the measure. He appeared to have returned with all his old enthusiasm and vigour. He was especially active in persuading MPs to back the parliamentary campaign.
After the passage of the Slave Trade Act
Slave Trade Act
The Slave Trade Act was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 25 March 1807, with the long title "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade". The original act is in the Parliamentary Archives...
in 1807, Clarkson's efforts were directed toward ensuring enforcement of the act and furthering the campaign in the rest of Europe. He travelled to Paris in 1814 and Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, trying to reach international agreement on a timetable for abolition of the trade. He also published a book in 1808 talking about the progress of the abolition of the slave trade.
Later career
After 1823, when the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later the Anti-Slavery SocietyAnti-Slavery Society
The Anti-Slavery Society or A.S.S. was the everyday name of two different British organizations.The first was founded in 1823 and was committed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Its official name was the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the...
) was formed, Clarkson again travelled around the country. He covered 10,000 miles, and activated the network of sympathetic anti-slavery societies which had been formed. This resulted in 777 petitions being delivered to parliament demanding the total emancipation of slaves. When the society adopted a policy of immediate emancipation, Clarkson and Wilberforce appeared together for the last time to lend their support. In 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act
Slavery Abolition Act
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...
was passed.
Clarkson lived for a further 13 years. Although his eyesight was failing, he continued to campaign for abolition, focusing on the United States. He was the principal speaker at the opening of the Anti-Slavery Society Convention in Freemasons' Hall
Freemasons' Hall, London
Freemasons' Hall in London is the headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England and a meeting place for the Masonic Lodges in the London area. It is in Great Queen Street between Holborn and Covent Garden and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1775...
, London in 1840, chaired by Thomas Binney
Thomas Binney
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney was an English Congregationalist divine of the 19th century, popularly known as the 'Archbishop of Nonconformity'...
. The conference was designed to build support for abolishing slavery worldwide and included delegates from France, the USA, Haiti and Jamaica.
The scene at Clarkson's opening address was painted in a commemorative work, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The emancipated slave, Henry Beckford (a Baptist deacon in Jamaica), appeared in the right foreground. Clarkson and the prominent abolitionist Quaker William Allen
William Allen (Quaker)
William Allen FRS, FLS was an English scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and engaged in schemes of social and penal improvement in early nineteenth century England.-Early life:...
were to the left, the main axis of interest. In 1846 Clarkson received the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
, a former slave who had escaped to freedom, on his first visit to England.
Later life
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
) at Hatcham House in Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
. Then a rural Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
village, it is now part of inner London. Here Clarkson wrote much of his History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1808). Here too, in the early 1790s he had met his wife, a niece of Mrs Hardcastle.
Thomas was not the only notable member of his family. His remarkable younger brother, John Clarkson
John Clarkson (abolitionist)
Lieutenant John Clarkson, RN was the younger brother of Thomas Clarkson, one of the central figures in the abolition of slavery in England and the British Empire at the close of the 18th century...
at age 28, took a major part in organising and coordinating the relocation of approximately 1200 United States ex-slaves from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada to the new colony of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. There he became the first Governor and helped the settlers survive terrible conditions in the first year. John Clarkson helped the settlers move to independence, more than the Sierra Leone commercial company wanted, and they forced him to resign. John Clarkson died in 1828 in Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
and was buried in St Mary's churchyard.
Thomas Clarkson died on 26 September 1846 in Playford
Playford, Suffolk
Playford is a small village in Suffolk, England, on the outskirts of Ipswich. It has about 220 residents in 90 households. The River Fynn runs through the village, and many footpaths from Playford lead into the Fynn Valley. Villages nearby include Rushmere, Little Bealings, Great Bealings, Culpho...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, and was buried in the village on 2 October at St Mary’s Church. An obelisk to his memory was erected in the churchyard in 1857.
Legacy
Another monument, the Clarkson Memorial
Clarkson Memorial
The Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England commemorates Thomas Clarkson , a central figure in the campaign against the slave trade in the British empire, and a former native of Wisbech....
, was erected in his birthplace of Wisbech to commemorate his life and work. The Clarkson School, Wisbech is named after him. A pub in Wisbech is named the Clarkson Arms and is opposite a tree lined road named Clarkson Avenue. A secondary school (The Queen's School) was closed and reopened after renovation in September 2007 as the 'Thomas Clarkson Community College'.
In 1996 a tablet was dedicated to his memory in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, near the tomb of William Wilberforce.
Several other roads in the United Kingdom are named after him, for example in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, the home town of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Ipswich, Suffolk.
One of his descendants, Canon John Clarkson, continues in his footsteps as one of the leaders of the Anti-Slavery Society.
Amazing Grace (2006 film)
Amazing Grace is a 2006 U.S.–UK co-production film, directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn...
, Clarkson was played by the British actor Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell
Rufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
.
After the abolition of slavery in Jamaica in 1834 and subsequent establishment of
Free Villages for the settlement of newly freed slaves, the town of Clarksonville, named in his honour, established in St. Ann, Jamaica.
In July 2010 the Church of England Synod decided to honour Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano on the day that William Wilberforce is also remembered - July 30. An initial celebration was held in Playford church on July 30, 2010.
Wordsworth's sonnet
The poet William WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
was so impressed with Clarkson's achievements that he wrote a sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
to him.
Sonnet, To Thomas Clarkson,
On the final passing of the Bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, March, 1807.
- Clarkson! it was an obstinate Hill to climb:
- How toilsome, nay how dire it was, by Thee
- Is known,—by none, perhaps, so feelingly;
- But Thou, who, starting in thy fervent prime,
- Didst first lead forth this pilgrimage sublime,
- Hast heard the constant Voice its charge repeat,
- Which, out of thy young heart’s oracular seat,
- First roused thee.—O true yoke-fellow of Time
- With unabating effort, see, the palm
- Is won, and by all Nations shall be worn!
- The bloody Writing is for ever torn,
- And Thou henceforth wilt have a good Man’s calm,
- A great Man’s happiness; thy zeal shall find
- Repose at length, firm Friend of human kind!
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- William Wordsworth
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Further reading
- Barker, G.F.R. "Thomas Clarkson", Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: University Press, 1887)
- Brogan, Hugh. "Thomas Clarkson", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: University Press, 2005)
- Carey, Brycchan. British Abolitionism and the Rhetoric of Sensibility: Writing, Sentiment, and Slavery, 1760-1807 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). 131-37.
- Hochschild, Adam. Bury the Chains, The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery (Basingstoke: Pan Macmillan, 2005)
- Meier, Helmut. Thomas Clarkson: 'Moral Steam Engine' or False Prophet? A Critical Approach to Three of his Antislavery Essays. (Stuttgart: Ibidem, 2007).
- Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2007)
External links
- Thomas Clarkson website
- Brief Biography of Thomas Clarkson
- Biography of Thomas Clarkson
- Thomas Clarkson: biography and bibliography by Brycchan Carey (Part of his British Abolitionists project)
- Teaching resources about Slavery and Abolition on blackhistory4schools.com
- Works by Thomas Clarkson at the online library of liberty
- The Louverture Project: Thomas Clarkson – Thoughts on The Haitian Revolution Excerpt from an 1823 Clarkson book.
- Parliament & The British Slave Trade 1600 - 1807
- Clarkson Collection from his home town. Website of Wisbech & Fenland museum which houses amongst other artefacts the Clarkson Chest.
- Thomas Clarkson Community College
- The Thomas Clarkson section of the Abolition Project
- An article about Thomas Clarkson's stay at The Seven Stars Pub in Bristol
- Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice