1

Comparative Slavery, or a Sketch of the Present Condition of Negroes under Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French, American, and British Masters

Wilberforce House, Hull

Comparative Slavery Plantation Slave Treatment French Dutch Spanish Portuguese American British Caribbean Colonies

Unpublished manuscript dated September 1831, written during Captain James Alexander's tour of plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas in 1831-32 on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. Alexander denounces slavery in principle, but argues that the British planters treat their slaves well, in comparison to American slaves and those in other European colonies. He is opposed to the immediatism of the abolitionists, suggesting instead religious instruction and gradual emancipation.

Alexander's published travel writing includes the two volume Transatlantic Sketches, comprising visits to the most interesting scenes in North and South America, and the West Indies; with notes on Negro slavery and Canadian emigration (London: R. Bentley, 1833).