Slave Shackle

Slave Shackle

In the 17th century, the Enlightenment burst forth on the stage of European Intellectual life. It was a movement that stood out from the Renaissance by its focus on breaking free of the past, looking for more reasoned answers to questions, both new and old (Wiesner-Hanks, 367). The Enlightenment led to discussions, debates, and the development of new ideas, particularly in the areas of politics, religion, and ethics. It was out of this age that we have inherited modern ideals of equality, democracy, secular states, and even gender parity (Taylor, 84). Slavery, and the slave trade, were vigorously debated topics during this period, with various philosophers discussing the morality of keeping slaves, and weighing it against the clear economic benefits of the slave trade for Europe. On the one hand, the rhetoric pursued by many Enlightenment thinkers was highly egalitarian such as Philosopher Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat’s calls for universal human rights, and language critical of the slave trade found in Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie (Wiesner-Hanks, 383). Yet, on the other hand, many Enlightenment philosophers used the new ideas and reasoning techniques to cement support for slavery. David Hume, for example, asserted that scientific developments of the modern era had proved Africans to be inferior to Europeans given their geographical origins, which he used to justify their continued enslavement (Wiesner-Hanks, 387). Other philosophers during this period seemed uncomfortable with slavery, yet were unwilling to openly challenge the institution, or to call for the abolition of the slave trade. In perhaps his most famous work, Candide, Voltaire portrays slavery in its monstrous reality when his protagonist meets a Black man in Surinam who gives a very accurate description of what life is like for slaves in South America. “They give us one pair of linen trunks twice a year as our only clothing. When we work in the sugar mills and catch our fingers in the grinder, they cut off our hand. When we try to escape, they cut off our leg” (Voltaire, 81). Yet despite this blunt description of the institution, Voltaire was known for including racist comments in his other works and never publicly called for the abolition of slavery (Gordon, 13).
Suppression of the Slave Trade began in the early 19th century, most notably with the British abolition of the trade in 1807, which they attempted to enforce throughout the entire Atlantic. All slavery was formally abolished in most European colonies during the 1840s. Interestingly, much of the impetus for abolition came not from Enlightenment leaders, but instead from religious groups. The movement was led largely by religious groups often considered on the fringe of society such as the Quakers and the Methodists who felt that Christian morals forbade the continuation of slavery; a consensus many Enlightenment thinkers, both Christian and secular, had failed to come to (Wiesner-Hanks, 526). Notably, the United States, a nation founded on Enlightenment principles, retained legal slavery in parts of the country until 1863, several decades beyond most European nations.

Unknown

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1700-1899

Free Re-use