What were Arguments of the anti-slavery lobby?
The anti-slavery society countered the claims of the pro-slavery lobby by providing evidence to disprove the arguments: • There were alternatives to the trade. Much of the evidence that Thomas Clarkson collected during his travels illustrated the potential for practical alternatives. The seeds, minerals and crafts that he carried in ‘the Clarkson box’ were used to demonstrate this. • If something is wrong, it is wrong whether others do it or not. The anti-slavery supporters argued that just because other countries engaged in the trade this did not provide a valid reason for Britain to also participate, even if it was profitable. This argument was used by Baron Grenville in his speech to the House of Lords when he said, “…Can there be a question that the character of the country ought to be cleared from the stain impressed by the guilt of such traffic,…” The argument was also cleverly countered in William Cowper’s Poem ‘A Pity for Poor Africans’. • The slavery that existed in Africa
