World Anti-Slavery Convention

Isaac Crewdson (Beaconite) writer Samuel Jackman Prescod - Barbadian Journalist William Morgan from Birmingham William Forster - Quaker leader George Stacey - Quaker leader William Forster - Anti-Slavery ambassador John Burnet -Abolitionist Speaker William Knibb -Missionary to Jamaica Joseph Ketley from Guyana George Thompson - UK & US abolitionist J. Harfield Tredgold - British South African (secretary) Josiah Forster - Quaker leader Samuel Gurney - the Banker's Banker Sir John Eardley-Wilmot Dr Stephen Lushington - MP and Judge Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton James Gillespie Birney - American John Beaumont George Bradburn - Massachusetts politician George William Alexander - Banker and Treasurer Benjamin Godwin - Baptist activist Vice Admiral Moorson William Taylor William Taylor John Morrison GK Prince Josiah Conder Joseph Soul James Dean (abolitionist) John Keep - Ohio fund raiser Joseph Eaton Joseph Sturge - Organiser from Birmingham James Whitehorne George Bennett Richard Allen Stafford Allen William Leatham, banker William Beaumont Sir Edward Baines - Journalist Samuel Lucas Samuel Fox, Nottingham grocer Louis Celeste Lecesne Jonathan Backhouse Samuel Bowly William Dawes - Ohio fund raiser Robert Kaye Greville - Botanist Joseph Pease, railway pioneer M.M. Isambert (sic) Mary Clarkson -Thomas Clarkson's daughter in law William Tatum Saxe Bannister - Pamphleteer Richard Davis Webb - Irish Nathaniel Colver - American not known John Cropper - Most generous Liverpudlian Thomas Scales William James William Wilson Thomas Swan Edward Steane from Camberwell William Brock Edward Baldwin Jonathon Miller Capt. Charles Stuart from Jamaica Sir John Jeremie - Judge Charles Stovel - Baptist Richard Peek, ex-Sheriff of London John Sturge Elon Galusha Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor Rev. Isaac Bass Henry Sterry Peter Clare -; sec. of Literary & Phil. Soc. Manchester J.H. Johnson Thomas Price Joseph Reynolds Samuel Wheeler William Boultbee Daniel O'Connell - "The Liberator" William Fairbank John Woodmark William Smeal from Glasgow James Carlile - Irish Minister and educationalist Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney John Howard Hinton - Baptist minister John Angell James - clergyman Joseph Cooper Dr. Richard Robert Madden - Irish Thomas Bulley Isaac Hodgson Edward Smith Sir John Bowring - diplomat and linguist John Ellis C. Edwards Lester - American writer Tapper Cadbury - Businessman not known Thomas Pinches David Turnbull - Cuban link Edward Adey Richard Barrett John Steer Henry Tuckett James Mott - American on honeymoon Robert Forster (brother of William and Josiah) Richard Rathbone John Birt Wendell Phillips - American M. L'Instant from Haiti Henry Stanton - American Prof William Adam Mrs Elizabeth Tredgold - British South African T.M. McDonnell Mrs John Beaumont Anne Knight - Feminist Elizabeth Pease - Suffragist Jacob Post - Religious writer Anne Isabella, Lady Byron - mathematician and estranged wife Amelia Opie - Novelist and poet Mrs Rawson - Sheffield campaigner Thomas Clarkson's grandson Thomas Clarkson Thomas Morgan Thomas Clarkson - main speaker George Head Head - Banker from Carlisle William Allen John Scoble Henry Beckford - emancipated slave and abolitionist Use your cursor to explore (or Click "i" to enlarge)
1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention.[1] Move your cursor to identify delegates or click the icon to enlarge
  1. ^ The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1841, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG599, Given by British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1880

The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840.[1] It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge.[1][2] The exclusion of women from the convention had important ramifications for the women's suffrage movement in the United States.[3]

Background

Engraving depicting the exterior of Exeter Hall, reproduced on a 1905 postcard.

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was principally a Quaker society founded in the eighteenth century by Thomas Clarkson. The slave trade had been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1807. In August 1833 the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act, advocated by William Wilberforce, which abolished slavery in the British Empire from August 1834, when some 800,000 people in the British empire became free.[4]

Given the perceived need for a society to campaign for anti-slavery worldwide, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS) was accordingly founded in 1839.[1] One of its first significant deeds was to organize the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840: "Our expectations, we confess, were high, and the reality did not disappoint them."[5] The preparations for this event had begun in 1839, when the Society circulated an advertisement inviting delegates to participate in the convention.[1] Over 200 of the official delegates were British. The next largest group was the Americans, with around 50 delegates. Only small numbers of delegates from other nations attended.[1]

The circular message, distributed in 1839 provoked a controversial response from American opponents of slavery. The Garrisonian faction supported the participation of women in the anti-slavery movement. They were opposed by the supporters of Lewis Tappan. When the latter group sent a message to the BFASS opposing the inclusion of women, a second circular was issued in February 1840 which explicitly stated that the meeting was limited to "gentlemen".[1]

Despite an earlier statement that women would not be admitted, seven female abolitionists, including Lucretia Mott and Lady Byron, appeared at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Wendell Phillips proposed that female delegates should be admitted, and much of the first day of the convention was devoted to discussing whether they should be allowed to participate.[1]

A painting of the proceedings was commissioned that today is in the National Portrait Gallery. This very large and detailed work shows Alexander as Treasurer of the new Society.[6] The painting portrays the 1840 meeting and was completed the next year.[7] The new society's mission was "The universal extinction of slavery and the slave trade and the protection of the rights and interests of the enfranchised population in the British possessions and of all persons captured as slaves."[6]

Proceedings (incomplete)

The convention's organising committee had asked the Reverend Benjamin Godwin to prepare a paper on the ethics of slavery.[8] The convention unanimously accepted his paper which condemnation of slavery but also the world's religious leaders and every community who had failed to condemn the practise. The convention resolved to write to every religious leader to share this view. The convention called on every religious communities to eject any supporters of slavery from their midst.[9]

George William Alexander reported on his visits in 1839, with James Whitehorn, to Sweden and the Netherlands to discuss the conditions of slaves in the Dutch colonies and in Suriname. In Suriname, he reported, there were over 100,000 slaves with an annual attrition rate of twenty per cent. The convention prepared open letters of protest to the respective sovereigns.[5]

Joseph Pease spoke and accused the British government of being complicit in the continuing existence of slavery in India.[10]

Legacy

Ten years later the National Women's Rights Convention was held in America as a result of women, namely Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who had met here and been denied full access to the proceedings.

One hundred years later the Women's Centennial Congress was held in America to celebrate the progress that women had made since they were prevented from speaking at this conference.

Incomplete list of delegates (and women who attended)

Delegate Country In painting? Comments
Prof William Adam US very top right from Massachusetts
Edward Adey UK very far right from Leighton Buzzard
George William Alexander UK left Treasurer
Richard Allen UK right from Dublin
Stafford Allen UK left mid committee
William Allen UK front mid left Committee member
Sir Edward Baines M.P. UK left News
Edward Baldwin UK right front from Dublin
Saxe Bannister UK right Pamphleteer
Edward Barrett Freed slave far right former slave
Richard Barrett US very far right
Isaac Bass UK far right from Brighton
Henry Beckford Jamaica front centre former slave
Abraham Beaumont UK left
Mrs John Beaumont UK front far right
William Beaumont UK left from Newcastle on Tyne
George Bennett UK right front
Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney UK far right from Isle of Wight
James Gillespie Birney US left
John Birt US back far right from New York
Jonathan Backhouse UK left from Darlington
W.T.Blair UK mid from Bath
William Boulbee UK far right from Birmingham
Samuel Bowly UK far left back of Gloucester
George Bradburn US left Massachusetts politician
William Brock UK rbbb from Norwich
John Burnet UK mid Abolitionist Speaker
Anne Isabella, Lady Byron UK bonneted far right
Tapper Cadbury UK right back row Businessman
Mary Clarkson UK bonnet left Speaker's daughter in law
Thomas Clarkson UK main speaker Abolitionist leader
Nathaniel Colver US right
Josiah Conder UK ? Committee
Daniel O'Connell Ireland far left "The Liberator"
Francis Augustus Cox UK left
Isaac Crewdson UK back row Beaconite writer
John Cropper UK right front from Liverpool
William Dawes UK far left from Ohio
Prof. James Dean US? ? from Vermont
Sir John Eardley-Wilmot UK mid left MP
Joseph Eaton UK ? from Bristol
John Ellis UK far right from Leicester
William Forster UK front Quaker leader
William Forster – UK front Anti-Slavery ambassador
Josiah Forster UK front mid right Quaker leader
Samuel Gurney UK under speaker the Banker's Banker
George Head Head UK Front right Banker from Carlisle
M.M. Isambert France mid from Paris
Rev. John Keep US ? from Ohio
William Knibb Jamaica front mid right Missionary
Samuel Jackman Prescod Barbados front middle Journalist
William Morgan UK middle front from Birmingham
Dr. Murch UK yes Baptist Union
John Scoble Canada front right
Joseph Ketley Guyana front right
George Stacey UK front Quaker leader
George Thompson UK & US front mid right Edinburgh
J. Harfield Tredgold South Africa under speaker secretary
Dr Stephen Lushington UK left MP and Judge
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton UK left
Rev. B.Godwin UK mid from Oxford
Vice Admiral Moorsom UK left
William Taylor UK mid
John Morrison UK mid
Dr George Prince UK ? from Chesterfield
Joseph Soul ??? ???
Joseph Sturge UK left front Organiser from Birmingham
James Whitehorne Jamaica ? of Bristol and Jamaica
Joseph Marriage UK left front from Chelmsford
William Leatham UK left
Samuel Lucas UK left
Samuel Fox UK left back
Louis Celeste Lecesne UK left back
Robert Greville UK far left botanist
Joseph Pease UK mid right
William Tatum UK right from Rochester and Chatham
Richard D. Webb UK right from Dublin
Rev. Thomas Scales UK right front from Leeds
Rev. William James UK right from Bridgewater
William Wilson UK right from Nottingham
Rev. Thomas Swan UK right from Birmingham
Rev. Edward Steane UK right Baptist Union
Col. Jonathon Miller US right front from Vermont
Capt. Charles Stuart Jamaica right
Sir John Jeremie – Judge Colonies rbbb
Charles Stovel UK far right frontBaptist Union
Richard Peek UK far right front ex Sheriff of London
John Sturge UK far right .
Robert Forster UK very far right
Elon Galusha US right
Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor US far right
Henry Sterry (committee) UK far right
Peter Clare UK far right sec. of Society in Manchester
Rev. J.H. Johnson UK far right from Devizes
Dr. Thomas Price UK far right committee
Joseph Reynolds UK far right from Bristol
Samuel Wheeler UK far right from Rochester
Wiliam Fairbank UK far right from Sheffield
Rev. John Woodmark UK far right committee
William Smeal UK far right fromGlasgow
James Carlile Ireland far right minister
John Howard Hinton UK far right Baptist minister
John Angell James Ireland far right clergyman
Joseph Cooper UK far right
Dr. Richard Robert Madden Ireland/ Jamaica far right
Alderman Thomas Bulley UK far right from Liverpool
Isaac Hodgson UK far right from Leicester
Edward Smith UK far right from Sheffield
Sir John Bowring UK far right
Anne Knight – Feminist UK bonneted far right
C. Edwards Lester US far right American writer
Thomas Pinches ? far right from Birmingham
David Turnbull UK far right
John Steer UK very far right
Henry Tuckett UK very far right committee
James Mott[11] US very far right
Richard Rathbone UK very far right
Wendell Phillips US very far right
M. L'Instant Haiti front far right from Haiti
Henry Stanton US front far right
Mrs Elizabeth Tredgold South African back row right
Rev. T.M. McDonnell ? very far right from Birmingham
Mary Anne Rawson UK far right from Sheffield
Elizabeth Pease UK very far right Suffragist
Jacob Post UK very far right Quaker
Amelia Opie UK front far right Novelist and poet
Rev. Thomas Morgan UK mid right from Birmingham
Elizabeth Cady Stanton[12] US No married to Henry Stanton
Elizabeth Jesser Reid ?? No
Norton Strange Townshend US No
Rev A Harvey[13] ?? No from Glasgow
Mary Grew[11] US No
Lucretia Mott[11] US No
Eliza Wigham UK No Edinburgh
Abby Southwick[11] US No
Henry Grew[11] US No
Elizabeth Ann Ashurst Bardonneau[14] UK No
William H. Ashurst[15] UK No from Darlington..and women's rights
Sir George Strickland, bart[16] UK No
Thomas Hodgkin[17] UK No Dr. representing Aborigines' Protection Society
William Busfield[17] UK No M.P. for Bradford
Ellis Cunliffe Lister[17] UK No M.P. for Bradford
Gerrit Smith[17] UK No
James Canning Fuller[17] US No
Samuel Joseph May[17] US No from Massachusetts
John Greenleaf Whittier[17] US No poet from Pennsylvania
Cornelius Manning[17] UK No from Stoke Newington
Charles Pelham Villiers[17] UK No
Matilda Ashurst Biggs[18] UK No
Lucy Townsend[19] UK No
Elizabeth Neall[11] US No
Ann Greene Phillips[11] US No
Charles Lenox Remond[20] US No ex slave
Nathaniel Peabody Rogers[20] US No
Benjamin Barron Wiffen[21] UK No knew about Spain
Emily Winslow[11] US No
Isaac Winslow[11] US No

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 McDaniel, W. Caleb (2007). "World's Anti-Slavery Convention". In Peter P. Hinks; John R. McKivigan; R. Owen Williams. Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition. 2. Greenwood. pp. 760–762. ISBN 0313331448.
  2. ↑ Maynard 1960, p. 452.
  3. ↑ Sklar 1990, p. 453.
  4. ↑ Slavery and Abolition, ODNB, accessed 10 July 2008
  5. 1 2 The Dublin Magazine, 1840 accessed 13 July 2008
  6. 1 2 "> The Baptist Magazine, 786, 1854, accessed 10 July 2008
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Paper presented to the General Anti-Slavery Convention, Rev. Benjamin Godwin, 1840
  9. ↑ The Baptist Magazine, page 374, retrieved 24 July 2014
  10. ↑ Madhavi Kale (1 January 1998). Fragments of Empire: Capital, Slavery, and Indian Indentured Labor Migration in the British Caribbean. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 120. ISBN 0-8122-3467-7.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mary Grew, Abolitionist and Feminist, 1813–1896, accessed 19 July 2008
  12. ↑ "Women's Rights". www.americaslibrary.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  13. ↑ DOCUMENT 4 (1: 53–62): World's Anti-Slavery Convention, London, England, June 1840, accessed February 2013
  14. ↑ Jonathan Spain, ‘Ashurst, Elizabeth Ann [Eliza] (c.1814–1850)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 July 2015
  15. ↑ Matthew Lee, ‘Ashurst, William Henry (bap. 1791?, d. 1855)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 July 2015
  16. ↑ BFASS Convention 1840, List of delegates, Retrieved 2 August 2015
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 BFASS Convention 1840, List of delegates, Retrieved 27 August 2015
  18. ↑ Jonathan Spain, ‘Biggs, Matilda Ashurst (1816/17–1866)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2011 accessed 30 July 2015
  19. ↑ Clare Midgley, ‘Townsend , Lucy (1781–1847)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 July 2015
  20. 1 2 [A Collection from the Miscellaneous Writings of Nathaniel Peabody Rogers], N.P.Rogers, 1949, p106, accessed April 2009
  21. ↑ Truman, R. W. "Wiffen, Benjamin Barron". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29361. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

References

Further reading

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