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. |
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... Slavery " ( xx ) . Burke's stance on the slavery issue ultimately strengthened regulations for slavery's continuance rather than its total destruction , though this view contradicts his efforts in the 1780s to fight for slavery's ...
... Slavery and for the ending of slavery — he appealed to the humanitarian arguments , which had been outlined by Shaftesbury , Hutcheson , and Smith . To the Prince of Wales , Cugoano urged that those in power put a stop to the trad- ing ...
... slavery's legality- the Yorke and Talbot Joint Opinion ( 1729 ) definitively removed baptism altogether from consideration as protection against enslavement . For a study of Britain's common law practices on slavery , see Edward Fiddes ...
Contents
Enlightenment Humanism | 1 |
Perspectives on a Theological Chain | 31 |
Conclusion | 149 |
Copyright | |
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African-British Writings in the Eighteenth Century: The Politics of Race and ... Helena Woodard No preview available - 1999 |