Transatlantic Abolitionism in the Age of Revolution
An International History of Anti-slavery, c.1787–1820

An in-depth, comparative study of transatlantic abolitionism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

J. R. Oldfield (Author)

9781107030763, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 August 2013

292 pages, 10 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.7 cm, 0.6 kg

Transatlantic Abolitionism in the Age of Revolution offers a fresh exploration of anti-slavery debates in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It challenges traditional perceptions of early anti-slavery activity as an entirely parochial British, European or American affair, and instead reframes the abolition movement as a broad international network of activists across a range of metropolitan centres and remote outposts. Interdisciplinary in approach, this book explores the dynamics of transatlantic abolitionism, along with its structure, mechanisms and business methods, and in doing so, highlights the delicate balance that existed between national and international interests in an age of massive political upheaval throughout the Atlantic world. By setting slave trade debates within a wider international context, Professor Oldfield reveals how popular abolitionism emerged as a political force in the 1780s, and how it adapted itself to the tumultuous events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Part I. Building an Anti-Slavery Wall: 1. Networks
2. Circuits of knowledge
3. Strategies
Part II. Abolitionism in a Cold Climate: 4. Rupture and fragmentation
5. Retrenchment
Part III. A New Era: 6. Abolition
7. The revival of internationalism
8. Colonisation debates.

Subject Areas: Slavery & abolition of slavery [HBTS], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK], European history [HBJD]