Campaigners from history

The abolition of the slave trade in 1807 was achieved by a mass movement that brought together many different sections of society, including enslaved Africans who resisted and rebelled against slavery, and African anti-slavery campaigners, as well as British abolitionists and ordinary members of the public.

The fight for freedom campaign aims to revitalise the abolitionist spirit of 200 years ago. Anti-slavery campaigners from the movement against the slave trade, down through history to the present day, can inspire and inform our efforts. Over the course of the campaign we will be highlighting the contribution of a variety of campaigners from the anti-slavery movement.

Highlights from history: some of the people who shaped the movement

Olaudah Equiano published his autobiography himself and used it as a campaigning tool. He spent some five years travelling the country promoting the book and his anti-slavery message. He was an astute campaigner who knew how to win support from both the general public and decision makers alike. A newspaper at the time reported that Equiano was "well known in England as the champion and advocate for procuring a suppression of the Slave Trade."

Granville Sharp was an early abolitionist and defender of slaves. He argued it was illegal to hold people as slaves in Britain, successfully freeing numerous slaves and protecting Africans in Britain from capture.

Toussaint L'Overture was born into slavery in 1743 as François Dominique Toussaint Bréda in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), Toussaint eventually rose to become the leader of the Haitian revolution, the most influential slave rebellion in the world.

William Wilberforce MP became the parliamentary spokesperson for the movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He first tabled his Bill to abolish the slave trade in 1789. It was easily defeated but Wilberforce continued to push for Parliamentary abolition of the slave trade, leading the campaign in the House of Commons that ended in victory with the passage of the Act in 1807.

Samuel Sharpe, a respected Baptist deacon, triggered a rebellion of thousands of slaves in Jamaica in 1831 by reportedly telling them that they had been freed and that they should stop work and claim their freedom. Before his own execution Sharpe said "I would rather die upon yonder gallows than live in slavery".

Thomas Clarkson was a pivotal figure in the campaigns against the slave trade and then slavery. His research into the conditions and treatment African slaves were forced to endure, revealed the horror of the slave trade to the public. He was a pioneering campaigner, travelling thousands of miles around the country, to raise awareness and seek support for the abolitionist cause.

Elizabeth Heyrick was one of those more radical voices who did much to maintain and revitalize the anti-slavery movement through the 1820s. She sympathised with slave insurrections; campaigned for a sugar boycott which included the shops that sold slave produced goods and not just the products; and inspired the setting up of 70 women's anti-slavery societies.

Watch this space for more about these and other inspirational campaigners from history throughout the campaign.

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