An Abolitionist in York: a Display for Black History Month
Slavery and Abolitionism in Britain
From the mid-seventeenth century, the British economy thrived on the slave trade and slavery. British people made money by kidnapping human beings in Africa, transporting them to the West-Indies and America, selling them as chattel, and then transporting and selling the goods those enslaved people produced in Britain. They also owned plantations in America, and benefited directly from the labour of the enslaved people.
In the late eighteenth century, some British people began to notice that this was wrong. They founded the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (SEAST) in 1787. In the nineteenth century, they began arguing for the abolition of slavery itself.
Diagram of a slave ship, drawn by Thomas Clarkson
SEAST
The members of SEAST were white Christian men:
Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, and ten London Quakers who met at the printshop of James Phillips.
SEAST reached out to anyone interested in defending the abolitionist cause (provided they were men). This included some Black abolitionists, such as Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano.
Granville Sharp (1735-1813)
Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846)
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano
Also known as Gustavus Vassa (his slave name), Equiano was born in West Africa and kidnapped as a child. Sold into slavery first to an African family, he was brought to the coast and forced to board a slave ship to be transported to the West Indies. There he was *bought* by a british naval office, Michael Pascal, and he sailed with him for eight years. In between trips, young Equiano stayed with Pascal’s nieces. They had him baptised and taught him to read. When Equiano thought he would be freed, Pascal sold him off and he was transported to a plantation in Montserrat. There he was able to make and save enough money to purchase his own freedom. He came back to London, travelled the world as a free sailor, and eventually settled to become an abolitionist author.
A painting of kidnapped Africans aboard a trafficking ship.
Dea/G. Dagli Orti/Getty Images
Equiano’s philosophy
The Interesting Narrative is not just an autobiography but also a piece of anti-slavery propaganda. As such it makes use of several philosophical tools and arguments.
Republicanism: Freedom as non-domination
Equiano felt secure in his freedom, because his master, Pascal, let him do as he wished, read books and earn money as a hairdresser. He was shocked to find that he was nonetheless still enslaved when Pascal sold him:
'Then,' said he 'you are now my slave.' I told him my master could not sell me to him, nor to any one else. 'Why,' said he, 'did not your master buy you?' I confessed he did. 'But I have served him,' said I, 'many years, and he has taken all my wages and prize-money, for I only got one sixpence during the war; besides this I have been baptized; and by the laws of the land no man has a right to sell me.'
Equiano was subject to the domination of his master: his master had not in fact interfered with him but, at any point, he could have done. Republicanism is associated with the idea that freedom requires non-domination.
Situated knowers: Standpoint Epistemology
Equiano presents himself to his readers as having a particular understanding of the value of liberty because of having been enslaved.
When a friend of his, Annis, is captured by a slaver and he attempts to rescue him, he explains that he acted because he:
“proved the only friend he had, who attempted to regain him his liberty, if possible, having known the want of liberty myself.”
His particular access to knowledge of freedom and lack of it is what motivates his moral struggle to free others.
Standpoint epistemology is the idea (influential in epistemology, feminist philosophy, and the philosophy of science) that social disadvantage can be an epistemic advantage.
Equiano in York
To publicise his book and defend the abolitionist cause, Equiano went on a book tour of Britain and Ireland.
He stopped in York at the house of William Tuke, a quaker, on Castlegate.
The house still stands, and is now a dental clinic.
William Tuke
(1732-1822)
Quakers, Abolitionism and Chocolate
The Quakers were important in the abolitionist movements in Britain and America. But in York, they also made money from selling tea, coffee sugar and chocolate.
The Tuke family business was bought by the Rowntrees, who were responsible for bringing Smarties and KitKats to the world. But tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate were products of the slave trade and slave labour. The York quakers must have been conflicted to say the least!
If you’re interested in reading more….
By Equiano:
Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2001.
On Equiano in York:
http://www.sandrineberges.com/the-voices-of-the-abolition/olaudah-equiano-in-york
On voices of the abolition:
http://www.sandrineberges.com/the-voices-of-the-abolition
On Equiano and standpoint epistemology:
Zeyad el Nabolsy (2025) Standpoint epistemology, internal critique, and the characterization of Equiano as an Enlightenment thinker, Atlantic Studies, 22:1, 34-63, DOI: 10.1080/14788810.2024.2365059