Josiah Westwood is the creator of The Kneeling Slave, 'Am I not a man and a brother?'. He was a member of the Clapham Sect seeking to end the slave trade. This emblem was used across many of their different materials, such as medals and cufflinks. Through his creative invention, the message of abolishing was spread throughout Britain, spreading his work to both those who agreed with their cause and those who didn’t. Westwood was an active member of the group, and his contributions improved the cause of the abolitionists.
The significance of this image cannot be understated; its influence in the Clapham Sect allowed their message to expand through means other than oral. Its versatility allowed it to spread like wildfire. The meaning helped people empathize with the enslaved people seeking freedom, drawing strong emotion to their cause. Westwood portrays a black man at his wit's end, begging for equality and his personhood. Looking heavenward, he seeks what should be endowed for him: being treated as an equal, made-in-the-image-of-God human.
Works Cited
American Anti-Slavery Society. The Kneeling Slave, “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?,” 1991, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Am_I_not_a_man_and_a_brother%3F_LCCN2008661312_%28cropped%29.jpg. Accessed 2025.