Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) [Paperback]

Christopher Leslie Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2006

Revisiting the origins of the British antislavery movement of the late eighteenth century, Christopher Leslie Brown challenges prevailing scholarly arguments that locate the roots of abolitionism in economic determinism or bourgeois humanitarianism. Brown instead connects the shift from sentiment to action to changing views of empire and nation in Britain at the time, particularly the anxieties and dislocations spurred by the American Revolution.

The debate over the political rights of the North American colonies pushed slavery to the fore, Brown argues, giving antislavery organizing the moral legitimacy in Britain it had never had before. The first emancipation schemes were dependent on efforts to strengthen the role of the imperial state in an era of weakening overseas authority. By looking at the initial public contest over slavery, Brown connects disparate strands of the British Atlantic world and brings into focus shifting developments in British identity, attitudes toward Africa, definitions of imperial mission, the rise of Anglican evangelicalism, and Quaker activism.

Demonstrating how challenges to the slave system could serve as a mark of virtue rather than evidence of eccentricity, Brown shows that the abolitionist movement derived its power from a profound yearning for moral worth in the aftermath of defeat and American independence. Thus abolitionism proved to be a cause for the abolitionists themselves as much as for enslaved Africans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An impressive array of primary sources. . . . Capturing the complexity of abolitionism's development . . . A significant study that sheds new light."
— The Journal of Religion

"This is a carefully crafted study that will be widely appreciated by historians of slavery, imperial history, the American Revolution and eighteenth-century British domestic politics."
— Patterns of Prejudice

"A comprehensive and encyclopedic analysis of early British abolitionism that will be standard reading for all interested in the subject."
— Journal of the Early Republic

This outstanding and timely study will have a broad impact. Essential.
—iChoice

"Effectively reframe[s] our traditional portraits of antislavery as well as humanitarian reform more generally at the turn of the eighteenth century."
— William and Mary Quarterly

About the Author

Christopher Leslie Brown is associate professor of history at Rutgers University and coeditor of Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (March 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807856983
• ISBN-13: 978-0807856987
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a powerful intellectual history of the anti-slavery movement, December 29, 2009

By 

hmf22 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) (Paperback)

Moral Capital is a powerful and intricate exploration of the ideas and motives that underlay the British anti-slavery movement. Brown begins by positing that moral disapproval alone is not sufficient to end a practice like slavery-- the issue must acquire weight in the public mind and must attract individuals who are willing to devote time, energy, and creativity to creating a concrete plan to end it. He illuminates the tangled motives of the early abolitionists; some sought to help the British empire adjust to a new geopolitical reality in the wake of American independence, while the vigorous evangelical wing of the movement sought to save souls. Brown suggests that, had the American Revolution not occurred, emancipation might have been more difficult to achieve-- not because the moral will wasn't there, but because ending slavery would have been seen as a politically divisive move in a fragile empire.

As another reviewer noted, this is a long, dense book, laden with historiographical musings, and it can be slow going. It is more suitable for scholars than for popular readers. But if you persevere through all 462 pages, your patience will be rewarded with valuable insights not just into the history of British anti-slavery, but also into the structural dynamics of moral movements in general.

3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moral Capital Indeed; but not in the United States, February 29, 2008

By 

John L. Graves "univer91jlg" (NY.NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) (Paperback)

This is a great attempt to understand how the British turned against the enslavement of Africans. It is sad to note that it took a bloody Civil War, the worse conflict involving Americans, to end slavery on these shores.

3 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars well...., April 19, 2009

By 

Senna777 "cartfan" (california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) (Paperback)

I had to read this for a graduate seminar, and it was inetresting. Brown tries to argue that the abolishionist movement sprung from the American Revolution. Its an inetresting argument and one worth reading.

HOWEVER....my biggest problem of the book has to do with what it is trying to combat. The Clarkson Thesis states that abolition sprung out of religious philanthropy. Brown says this is ludacris and their were other reasons. There is absolutely no way to determine if someone trully in their heart wanted to free slaves because they felt that it was morally wrong. There is no way to show one way or another; therefore, it is futile to even try arguing for or against. It seems that the core of his book seems to refute the christian philanthropy stance.....I suppose the foundation to his argument is in limbo then.

However, the complaint aside, Brown makes an interesting observation concerning the relationship between the American Revolution and teh rise of the abolition movement.