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An appeal to the religion, justice, and humanity of the inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the negro slaves in the West Indies

Anti-Slavery International, 'Recovered Histories' collection. Friends House Library, London. Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature, University of London. Rhodes House, Oxford. Wilberforce House, Hull. British Library. Kongelige Bibliotek, Danmark.

Appeal Religion Justice Humanity Britain Slavery Caribbean West Indies Empire

In this pamphlet, Wilberforce describes the dehumanising influence of slavery in the British colonies as a "national crime" (2) and "stain of dishonour" (77). He condemns the lack of religious instruction on Caribbean plantations, and uses the travel accounts of Park and Golberry to demonstrate that enslavement in the 'New World' had a profoundly negative impact on Africans. As in Clarkson's 'Thoughts', Wilberforce predicts that future generations would be horrified by slavery: "That such a system should so long have been suffered to exist in any part of the British Empire will appear, to our posterity, almost incredible" (32). He calls for real progress towards freedom and the creation of a "grateful peasantry" (74), before the example of the emancipated populations of Haiti and Latin America, and other "transatlantic convulsions" (73), could endanger British imperial control in the Caribbean.

Two editions published in 1823.