After Emancipation: Slavery, Freedom and the Victorian Empire

Abstract

In the 26 years between 1807 and 1833, Britain not only put an end to its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, but also abolished slavery in the British Caribbean. These momentous events figure largely in the nation’s imagination and, indeed, its memory. But instead of seeing 1807 and 1833 as acts of closure, as happened in 2007 when the nation paused to mark the bicentenary of the 1807 Abolition Act, it is perhaps more meaningful to see them as part of a broader historical narrative (a specific national history) that spoke to and reinforced Britain’s tradition of humanitarian interventionism. Though it is sometimes easy to forget, Britain would retain a close interest in the slavery question after 1833, not least through its involvement in the suppression of the international slave trade. This complex history is perhaps best explained in terms of four broad and interrelated themes: humanitarian effort on the part of British abolitionists, official government policy, naval suppression of the slave trade and empire. As we shall see, emancipation came to define the morality and purpose of the Victorian Empire, lending it a legitimacy that justified not only its imperialistic ambitions, but also its ability to speak for those who were too weak to speak for themselves.