The Anti Slavery Movement In Britain in Birmingham - Coursework Example

This is because of the fact that though Britain was one of the most influential and prosperous nations in this regard, other nations were no les behind. The practice of slave trade was rather a tricky affair and the basis of such trade was 'need'. Ships from ports such as Liverpool and Bristol used to head towards the backward African mainland laden with small goods such as spices, fabrics, arms and knives etc. things were by far petty and simple for the white man, but something that was of extreme value and demand to the African people.

This is because these were some of the many things that the African were deprived of in those days given their backwardness. More often, such goods used to be of very cheap quality, for which Africa proved to be a lucrative 'dump'. As the topic of the essay ges to say, the anti slavery movement has an important association with Britain, and among these, the city of Birmingham has come to hold an important place. Most of these low quality and sub-standard goods were made in Birmingham and were popularly referred to as 'Brummagem ware'.

In return for these goods, the African people had to pay the heaviest price they could have ever thought of-'themselves'. Goods were exchanged for large number of African people, who were then brought back or taken to other territories, where they were either sold of slaves or made to do hard work in the form of slaves in those territories. Many of them were captured in armed conflicts with the Europeans winning all of them given the kind of firearms they possessed in comparison to the bows and arrows, wherein the former outclassed the latter.

After having been captured or being brought in as part of the trade, these people were then packed like sardines into these slave ships and were brought home to Britain in such inhuman and inhospitable conditions that many of them would perish midway. The conditions were so worse that they would not have the opportunity to do even the commonest of other daily activities (as they were jam-packed), which resulted in the outbreak of disease. By the turn of the eighteenth century, the trade of slaves had risen to such terrific proportions that ships from Britain were now bringing back as many as 50,000 slaves every year.

Those slaves who managed to survive through all the above-mentioned hardships were then sold for transportation to places such as the windies or the America to work in plantations, factories, mills etc1. The goods produced by the slaves within those regions would then come back to Britain, where they were then sold or sold in the colonies for exorbitant prices. Thu, it can be understood that the practice of slave trade profited Britain in particular, and the countries of Europe in general have benefited in huge ways by making huge profits on many trade-related fronts.

On the other hand, the slaves who labored hard were made to live and work in inhospitable conditions ridden with poverty and disease. Thus, their fruits of labor were enjoyed by the people back in Britain (and Europe). Moreover, there was no sense of knowledge within the British public largely about the conditions that existed in these plantations and factories, while many just did not bother to know any2. But, as time passed by and decades rolled past, a sense of consciousness began to emerge