CATEGORY:COMMEMORATION --------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA Sunday March 25,2007 GRENEDA: A number of activities have been planned for today to mark the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade throughout British colonies which helped to bring about an end to the detestable Trans-Atlantic trade. In the year 1805, the House of Commons passed a bill that made it illegal for any British subject to capture and transport slaves, but the measure was defeated in the House of Lords. In February 1806, Lord Grenville formed a Whig administration. Grenville and his Foreign Secretary, Charles Fox,were brawny opponents of the slave trade. Fox and William Wilberforce led the campaign in the House of Commons, whereas Grenville, had the task of persuading the House of Lords to accept the measure. Greenville made a passionate speech where he argued that the trade was "contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy" and criticized fellow members for "not having abolished the trade long ago". When the vote was taken the Abolition of the Slave Trade bill was passed in the House of Lords by 41 votes to 20. In the House of Commons it was carried by 114 to 15 and it become law on March 25,1807. The passage of the Act itself did not result in the immediate cessation of the slave trade itself; the Act simply outlawed the practice. Many captains of slave ships (slavers) were not willing to give up such a lucrative business and so they continued the practice albeit illegally. The price per slave increased when it became illegal to trade in slaves and the trade continued although on a much reduced scale. A number of measures were then passed in the years following 1807 to pressure captains of slavers to abandon the practice of trading in laves. British captains who were caught continuing the trade were fined £100 for every slave found on board. However, this law did not stop the British slave trade. If slave-ships were in danger of being captured by the British navy, captains often reduced the fines they had to pay by ordering the slaves to be thrown into the sea. Additional measures implemented included transportation to a penal colony and eventually death. Some people involved in the anti-slave trade campaign such as Thomas Clarkson and Thomas Fowell Buxton, argued that the only way to end the suffering of the slaves was to make slavery illegal. However, it was not until 1833 that Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act. There is a view strongly held by many people that the repercussions of the slave trade and slavery echo down the centuries. It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality and complex cultural legacies. Many black leaders from Africa, the Caribbean and Britain are calling for the British government to apologize and make reparations for the significant damages inflicted upon the black race and the economic ruin it brought about (in Africa and the Americas) during the period when the institution of slavery and the slave trade existed. The forced removal of up to 25 million people from the continent of Africa obviously had a key effect on the growth of the population in Africa. It is now projected that in the period from 1500 to 1900, the population of Africa remained stagnant or declined. The human and other resources that were taken from Africa contributed to the capitalist development and wealth of Europe. Africa was the only continent to be affected in this way, and this loss of population and potential population was a major factor leading to its economic underdevelopment. The transatlantic trade also created the conditions for the subsequent colonial conquest of Africa by the European powers and the unequal relationship that still exists between Africa and the world's big powers today. Africa and the Caribbean were impoverished by its relationship with Europe while the human and other resources that were taken from Africa contributed to the capitalist development and wealth of Europe and other parts of the world. The unequal relationship that was gradually created as a consequence of the enslavement of Africans was justified by the ideology of racism - the notion that Africans were naturally inferior to Europeans. This ideology, which was also perpetuated by colonialism, is one of the most significant legacies of this period of history. Sources: spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859 latinamericanstudies.org/slavery/slave-sh lcweb.loc.gov/.../archive/01/0120001r.jpg skidmore.edu/uww/online/kersey/images/coffle