The Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade"

Towards the end of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth century, the debate over whether or not to abolish the slave trade and emancipate the slaves became of premiere interest in Britain. An array of popular literature concerning slavery, written during the Romantic period, helped spur public interest in this debate. In this essay, I will first examine two popular Romantic period memoirs of former slaves, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah …

…above do with slavery. Authors favoring emancipation of slaves relied on moral persuasion to convince nineteenth century readers that slavery would ruin their soles, while others believed that it was the British duty to civilize slaves. Despite the differences in opinions expressed, the most touching evidence for the emancipation of slavery came from the memoirs written by the slaves themselves, that showed readers the horrors inflicted by the British on their fellow men and women.