How did the Atlantic slave trade end? What major political figures were involved in the process? Why did slavery continue in the Americas into the mid-1800s?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ideal Answer: The ideal answer should:

1. Explain that the cruelties associated with the Atlantic slave trade helped to end the system as did the rise of the Industrial Revolution in England.
2. Note that in the late 1700s, British politicians such as William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and Thomas Clarkson began a religiously based moral crusade against slavery and the slave trade.
3. Point out that Britain's antipathy to the slave trade helped abolition because the British dominated the trade.
4. Explain that the English realized that industry and trade rather than plantation slave-based agriculture provided the most profits during the 1800s.
5. Note that Britain banned the slave trade in 1807. The U.S. followed suit in 1808. But American, Brazilian, and Spanish slavers defied abolition of the slave trade for decades.
6. Conclude that slavery continued in the Americas because of the high demand for cotton and sugar for factory development and elite market sale.