The Clapham Sect was a group of evangelical Christians from 1790-1830. They strived to end slavery and encouraged missionary work near and far. They were conservatives who believed in class, and keeping class as it is. The Clapham Sect played a huge part in the abolition of slavery and slave trade in England. They supported Hannah Moore, who was a member of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Hannah More then began supporting William Wilberforce’s movement to end slavery in England. In 1788, her poem Slavery was published. In this poem, Hannah More is continuing her work in abolishing slavery.
Brief overview of some of the lines in "Slavery"
“Perish the illiberal thought which would debase.” Here Hannah More is saying that the restriction of freedom that is degrading should be an expired thought.
“See the dire victim torn from social life,
See the sacred infant, hear the shrieking wife!
She, wretch forlorn! is dragged by hostile hands,”
Hannah More is pleading with the readers to see them for who they are. To see their pain and distress, and the anguish the slaves went through.
“What! does the immortal principle within
Change with the casual colour of a skin?
Does matter govern spirit? or is mind
Degraded by the form to which it’s joined?
No: they have heads to think, and hearts to feel,
And souls to act, with firm, though erring zeal;
For they have keen affections, soft desires,
Love strong as death, and active patriot fires:”
Here Hannah More is continuing to remind her readers that slaves are just like us. They all feel emotions just like we do. They suffer and hurt in the same way we do. They have relationships, some of them are fathers, mothers, and even children. She captivates her readers by saying that slaves are humans, just like those reading.