Slavery is among the oldest institutions that spread rapidly throughout the world. It existed in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Middle East, and vast parts of Asia for a long time. It took its roots before the emergence of any religion in the world. The principles that governed it were so peculiar. In most occasions, slaves worked tirelessly in order to meet their needs and the needs of the lords at very low pay.
The main victims of slave trade were the black people. The blacks were not only massively enslaved, but also sold into bondage across the continents. A lot of religious people also played a significant role in advancing slavery; Christians and Muslims also took part in enslaving others.
This paper aims at providing detailed information on how slavery was abolished. This paper will expound on the diverse methods employed in eradicating slavery in many parts of the world.
Abolishment of slavery is one of the greatest achievements that took place in the world. It took approximately two centuries for it to be eradicated since it involved overcoming opposition and cunning inversions from diverse parties. The signs of abolishment of slavery started being visible in the early 18th century when evangelical Christians made up of mostly Britons held an anti-slavery political crusade (Sowell, 210).
The crusade managed to mobilize most Britons into exerting pressure on the British government. “British governments found themselves forced to push the anti-slavery effort further and further towards its logical conclusion”, (Sowell, 210).
To meet the demands of their citizens, the British government was forced, not only to do away with the international slave trade, but also to abolish the practice of slavery throughout the British Empire. Additionally, the British governments were forced to take part in bribing and coercing other nations into stopping slavery.
The abolishment of slavery in Britain empires and the involvement of the British in preaching against slavery contributed immensely towards the end of slavery in the United States and France. It also led to the French government to take part in intercepting ships involved in slave trade via the effort of its navies.
The effort employed by the British government also led to the spread of Western civilization to many nations including despotic governments such as Russia.
The Quakers also played a significant role towards ending slavery in the world. They were the ones who laid an example that was followed by the worldwide political revolution. Worldwide political revolution, headed by William Wilberforce, was made up of the evangelical leaders from Church of England, involved itself greatly in preaching against slavery.
Its effort led to Henry Thornton, a renowned banker, to start up an anti-slavery crusade. Additionally, the effort put by Wilberforce, Thornton and their allies played a significant role towards ending slavery. They spent over 20 years pressing for the abolishment of slavery via drafting slavery abolishing bills.
Protests also played a significant role towards ending slavery. For instance, the memorandum penned by black Americans in early 1688 led to the reduction of the number of Negro slaves in the United States (Doren, 276). According to the Negros, only fervent protests could stop Europeans from inhumanly handling the blacks. The perception of the Negros about slavery also played a significant role towards Newton’s confession.
It led to him denouncing slavery and note that it was a crime that needed eradication. Additionally, the diminishing acts of the Europeans led to many slaves opposing them. In most occasions, “they charged slaves with blasphemy while in the midst of cruel punishments that resulted from their enslaved status” (Schwartz, 430)
Emergence of international antislavery opinions also played a significant role towards ending slavery. According to Bender (19), “international antislavery opinions led to the evolution of man’s moral perception” (Bender, 19). It made slaves not only to understand themselves, but also their roles in the society.
It also made men under slavery to realize that no man was born to be a slave. Additionally, the experiences gathered by men with lordship and bondage contributed to their quest for their rights.
Publication devices such as books and pamphlets and presentations such as poems, sermons and plays played a significant role towards eradicating slavery. They achieved this by not only airing out the “problems of slavery in Western Culture, but also creating public awareness” (Bender, 25). Additionally, they aided people from different areas to share ideas pertaining to slavery.
In her article, Dorchen Leidholdt expounds on how children and women were and still are exploited sexually. According to her, any sort of dominance contributed immensely towards advancement of slavery. For instance, she argues that men dominance over women, adults over children, and first world over third world countries contributes immensely towards the occurrence of oppression among the disadvantaged in the society.
According to her, it is also evident that “most slavers were motivated by a desire for sexual gratification, economic gain, or power and domination, or a combination of these factors” (Leidholdt, 2). However, formation of a coalition among continents such as Africa, Australia, and Asia played and a significant role towards eradicating slavery.
In most occasions, “the Coalition worked against all slavery-like practices such as sexual violence, sex trafficking, and exploitation” (Schwartz, 1). Its work played a significant role in abolishing slavery practices in different nations.
Poverty and acceptance of prostitution as a viable practice in the society have also been associated with women and children involvement in sexual practices. They lead not only to many women and children being exploited by their employees, but also advancing sex tourism in most countries (Leidholdt, 7).
According to Leidholdt (3), the Coalition “urges the Working Group to continue addressing slavery and slavery-like practices that affect primarily women and children in order solve slavery problems.”
In conclusion, slavery is one of the oldest institutions in the world that existed almost everywhere. Most of its victims were the blacks; majority of the Europeans overworked the blacks in order to increase their revenue. Unfortunately, most religions also took part in enslaving the blacks in the past.
It took about two centuries for slavery to be abolished fully. Among the things that led to the eradication of slavery include abolishment of slavery practice in British governments and involvement of British in coaxing other nations to stop slavery. The formation of anti-slavery political crusade in the 18th century by the evangelical Christians also contributed immensely towards the abolishment of slavery.
Wilberforce, Thornton and their allies also played a momentous role towards its abolishment. However, it is evident that slavery-like practices still exist in most societies. Poverty, as well as acceptance of prostitution as a societal element plays a significant role in advancing sexual slavery.
Works Cited
Bender, Thomas. The Antislavery Debate. Capitalism and Abolitionism as a Problem in Historical Interpretation. New York: Cornell University. 1992. Print.
Doren, V. Charles. A History of Knowledge. New York: Ballantine Books. 1992. Print.
Leidholdt, Dorchen. Prostitution – A Modern Form of Slavery. New York. Web.
Schwartz, B. Stuart. Black Latin America: Legacies of Slavery, Race, and African Culture. New York: Duke University Press. 2002. Print.
Sowell, Thomas. Race and Culture. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. 1994. Print.