The Clarkson Challenge Audience Purpose Thomas Clarkson spent

The Clarkson Challenge … • Audience & Purpose - Thomas Clarkson spent his whole life trying to end slavery. Join him on a tour round the country and investigate the slave trade in greater detail. You will need to collect evidence and use it cleverly to persuade parliament and the general public to support your anti-slavery campaign. Remember Clarkson had 3 main roles: (1) RESEARCHER/INVESTIGATOR • Collect evidence. (2) DETECTIVE • Find witnesses (3) PERSUASIVE WRITER & SPEAKER • Clarkson had to prepare speeches and pamphlets in order to persuade people in different parts of the country to support the campaign to abolish the slave trade.

STEP 1: KNOW YOUR HISTORY Before Clarkson started his first tour of the country he already had a good understanding of the history of the slave trade. ACTIVITY Before you start your tour make sure you can answer the following questions: • Who was involved in the slave trade? • Why did the slave trade grow? • How did the slave trade operate? Can you explain the slave triangle? • Who benefited from the slave trade? • What motivated people to take part in the slave trade? • Why was the slave trade so profitable?

STEP 2: KNOW YOUR ENEMY ARGUMENTS PUT FORWARD TO DEFEND THE SLAVE TRADE Many Europeans believed that they were superior to other people in the world. They put forward a number of arguments to defend the slave trade: • Most slaves were already prisoners of war. They would have been killed anyway. • Slaves were not captured in a cruel way. • Conditions on the slave ships were good. • Slaves were well treated on the plantations. • Slavery may be evil but it is a necessary evil. It produces a great deal of wealth for our society. Africa is undeveloped – no other type of trade is possible.

STEP 3: DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY … During a parliamentary investigation a witness for the slave trade described how ‘delightful’ the slave ships were, Robert Norris stated: ‘[The slaves] had sufficient room, sufficient air, and sufficient provisions. When upon deck, they made merry and amused themselves with dancing… In short, the voyage from Africa to the West Indies was one of the happiest periods. ’ Was the Middle Passage really one of the ‘happiest periods’ of an African’s life? Look at the following source. How could it be used to challenge Norris?

CLARKSON’S JOURNEY: LONDON (Early 1787) … Granville Sharp • • In 1782 Collingwood, the captain of the slave ship ‘Zong’, ordered that over 130 sick slaves be thrown overboard. The slave ship had left Africa in early September. By late November over 60 slaves had died and many others were seriously ill. Collingwood knew that when he reached Jamaica he would not be able to sell the sick slaves and that the ship’s owners would lose money. Collingwood thought that if they threw the sick slaves overboard the owners would be able to claim money back from the insurance company. Those slaves that put up a fight were chained before they were thrown overboard. Collingwood told the crew to pretend that the ship had run out of water and that this meant that some of the slaves had to be killed in order to save the crew and the ‘more healthy’ slaves. However, when the Zong finally arrived in Jamica on 22 December it still had over 400 gallons of water left. The owners claimed insurance money for the value of the dead slaves. I tried to prosecute the ship’s captain for murder but failed. The judge said that murder was not the issue and that it was ‘just as if horses were killed’.

Argument put Your counter forward to defend argument the slave trade Supporting Evidence Witness Conditions on the ships were good. • Slaves were sometimes chained and thrown overboard. Granville Sharp Conditions for on the slave ships were horrific.

KENT … James Ramsay How can this evidence be used? • • • I lived on St Christopher in the West Indies for 14 years. As a clergyman I preached to the slaves, taught them the bible in their homes and made enemies of the sugar plantation owners. I saw for myself what conditions were like on the plantations. I often saw beatings and weary slaves still carrying cane to the mill by moonlight. New mothers had to bring their babies to the fields, leaving them exposed to the sun and rain whilst they worked.

Argument put Your counter forward to defend argument the slave trade Supporting Evidence Witness Conditions on the ships were good. Conditions on the slave ships were horrific. • Slaves were sometimes chained and thrown overboard. Granville Sharp Slaves were well treated on the plantations Slaves were • They were often beaten. James treated very harshly • They worked long hours. Ramsay on the plantations. • Young mothers were forced to take their children to work with them.

How could you use these visual sources? • Most slaves were already prisoners of war. They would have been killed anyway. • Slaves were not captured in a cruel way. • Conditions on the slave ships were good. • Slaves were well treated on the plantations. • Slavery may be evil but it is a necessary evil. It produces a great deal of wealth for our society.

So … How many pins can you knock over? ARGUMENTS PUT FORWARD TO DEFEND THE SLAVE TRADE Many Europeans believed that they were superior to other people in the world. They put forward a number of arguments to defend the slave trade: • Most slaves were already prisoners of war. They would have been killed anyway. • Slaves were not captured in a cruel way. • Conditions on the slave ships were good. • Slaves were well treated on the plantations. • Slavery may be evil but it is a necessary evil. It produces a great deal of wealth for our society. Africa is undeveloped – no other type of trade is possible.

USING EVIDENCE: Running a Campaign ACTIVITY • You need to form a campaign team. Use your research to produce: • A detailed PAMPHLET or LEAFLET that will inform the general public of the horrors of the slave trade • A powerful IMAGE that will capture the public’s attention • A well written and thoughtfully performed SPEECH that will persuade members of parliament to introduce a law banning the slave trade.