Cambridge Library Collection - Slavery and Abolition

This part of the History list within the Cambridge Library Collection focuses on the practices of slave-trading and slave-holding during the colonial period and their eventual abolition: it is sometimes forgotten that the efforts of the British emancipation movement were not finally successful until 1833, 26 years after the trade in slaves was outlawed. The series contains eye-witness accounts of the conditions endured by slaves on board ship across the Atlantic and on the plantations of the Caribbean and the Americas, including testimonies by former slaves, both male and female. It includes publications arguing for and against abolition by social reformers such as Clarkson and Wilberforce, and by plantation owners and commodity merchants. In addition, there are reports of naval expeditions targeting slave traders and of the judicial proceedings against individuals accused of human trafficking. Further context is provided by books on the geography, history, society, laws and economics of these regions from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.