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Sir John Gladstone and the Debate over the Amelioration of Slavery in the British West Indies in the 1820s

Burnard, Trevor; Candlin, Kit

Authors

Kit Candlin



Abstract

© 2018 The North American Conference on British Studies. Sir John Gladstone made a fortune as a Demerara sugar-planter and a key supporter of the British policy of amelioration in which slavery would be improved by making it more humane. Unlike resident planters in the British West Indies, who were firmly opposed to any alteration to the conditions of enslavement, and unlike abolitionists, who saw amelioration as a step toward abolition, Gladstone was a rare but influential metropolitan-based planter with an expansive imperial vision, prepared to work with British politicians to guarantee his investments in slavery through progressive slave reforms. This article intersects with recent historiography highlighting connections between metropole and colony but also insists on the influence of Demerara, including the effects of a large slave rebellion centered on Gladstone's estates (which illustrated that enslaved people were not happy with Gladstone's supposedly enlightened attitudes) on metropolitan sensibilities in the 1820s. Gladstone's strategies for an improved slavery, despite the contradictions inherent in championing such a policy while maintaining a fierce drive for profits, were a powerful counter to a renewed abolitionist thrust against slavery in the mid to late 1820s. Gladstone showed that that the logic of gradual emancipation still had force in imperial thinking in this decade.

Citation

Burnard, T., & Candlin, K. (2018). Sir John Gladstone and the Debate over the Amelioration of Slavery in the British West Indies in the 1820s. Journal of British Studies, 57(4), 760-782. https://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2018.115

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 15, 2018
Online Publication Date Nov 8, 2018
Publication Date Oct 1, 2018
Deposit Date May 26, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of British Studies
Print ISSN 0021-9371
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 4
Pages 760-782
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2018.115
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3579621