Anti-slavery bowl, early 1800s
Anti-slavery pottery was made in Britain in the early 1800s to support the growing movement to abolish slavery. Pieces were aimed at women and designed to appeal to their âmaternalâ instincts. That is why this bowl is printed with a picture of an enslaved woman holding her baby.
The poem asks British women to join the campaign against slavery. It reminds them that African women were often separated from their children when they were forced into slavery.
The poem reflects several British ideas about slavery in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Enslaved Africans were seen as helpless, looking entirely to the British for freedom. In reality many enslaved Africans fought against their enslavement.
The poem also reflects the growing realisation at the time that slavery was not just cruel, it was fundamentally unjust. Africans were treated as goods to be bought and sold rather than human beings, because of their ethnic background.
Women played an important role in the anti-slavery campaign. Unmarried or widowed women found it easier to participate because they had less responsibility within the home.
Widow Elizabeth Hayrick was a leading radical figure. She argued that the gradual abolition of slavery was a stalling tactic by politicians to defeat the anti-slavery campaign. Other women wrote poetry in support of abolition. Many women refused to buy sugar produced by slaves on Caribbean plantations. Women were key promoters of the sugar boycott in the home.
Women also joined anti-slavery societies. By 1831 there were 73 womenâs anti-slavery societies. In 1833 women signed a national petition to Parliament calling for the abolition of slavery.
Enslaved women also took an active role in resisting slavery. They wrote poetry to highlight their position as slaves and played an important part in slave uprisings. An enslaved woman called Nanny Grigg played a prominent role in a slave rebellion in Barbados in 1816. Granny Nanny, another female slave, helped in the Jamaican resistance.
