African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and ReasonThe eighteenth century was a time of great cultural change in Britain. It was a period marked by expeditions to the New World, Africa, and the Orient, and these voyages were reflected in the travel literature of the era. It was also a period in which seventeenth-century empiricism and the scientific method became dominant, and in which society became increasingly secular. Fundamental to the eighteenth-century worldview was the notion of the Great Chain of Being, in which all creatures and their Creator stood in a hierarchical relationship with one another. The years from 1660 to 1833 witnessed both Britain's participation in slavery and the appropriation of the Great Chain of Being by social anthropologists and political leaders. With the rise of the slave trade, blacks were brought to Britain against their will, where they were enslaved. At the same time, intellectuals of the period tried to place these slaves within the hierarchical frame provided by the Great Chain of Being. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 38
... claims of blacks ' inferiority to whites , and to support his call for verifiable scientific and anthropological ... Claiming to have read Hume's " Of National Characters " only after his own essay had been completed , Estwick expresses ...
... claims that certain inventions made possible new geographical discoveries and his elevation of certain inventions to the status of " art " are mediated by the political economies of conquest and slavery . For Bacon , invention as art is ...
... claimed ownership of a slave that Harvey had befriended and employed . Attor- neys for Harvey claimed that by the ... claims that slavery was constitutional law rather than natural law and that English laws made all indi- viduals free ...
Contents
Enlightenment Humanism | 1 |
Perspectives on a Theological Chain | 31 |
Conclusion | 149 |
Copyright | |
1 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and ... Helena Woodard No preview available - 1999 |