10 facts about thomas clarkson

Why did thomas clarkson want to end slavery
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Thomas clarkson essay

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Biography

Thomas Clarkson was among the foremost British campaigners against both slavery and the slave trade. He was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 28 March 1760 and educated at the grammar school there where his father, the Rev. John Clarkson, was headmaster. In 1775, he went to St. Paul's School in London where he excelled. He went up to Cambridge in 1780 where he was an outstanding student. His awareness of slavery originated in an essay, originally written in Latin, as an entry in a Cambridge University prize competition, which it won. (In fact, Clarkson had already won a BA competition, and he wanted and became the first person to win the MA competition as well.) The question - and there was only one - was "is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?" (Anne Liceat Invitos in Servitutem Dare?) The question was set by the vice-chancellor, Peter Peckard, a man of liberal views who later wrote two abolitionist pamphlets himself. Although Clarkson knew nothing about this subject, it engaged his curiosity and he soon discovered the works of Anthony Benezet,

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ASSOCIATES

Gustavus Vassa was acquainted with a number of prominent individuals, and he probably knew others for whom there is no documentary evidence. He also referred to other individuals whom he knew, especially in London, about whom little if anything known beyond Vassa's reference. There were also several associations and affiliations that referred to groups, such as the Huntingdonians, the Black Poor, the Sons of Africa, and the London Corresponding Society. By highlighting the individuals Vassa knew or possibly knew, Vassa's world expands considerably, and the list increases exponentially with his book tours and the sale of subscriptions to his autobiography, ultimately generating hundreds of individuals who purchased at least one copy of his book. Vassa's associates are divided into seven categories: Family, Slavery, Abolition, Religion, Scientific, Military and Subscribers.

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Family

Gustavus Vassa was born in 1745 in the Igbo region of the Kingdom of Benin, today southern Nigeria. He was the youngest son in a family of six sons and a daughte

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Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846)

Portrait of Thomas Clarkson ©Clarkson was a leading campaigner against the slave trade and slavery in Britain and the British empire.

Thomas Clarkson was born on 28 March 1760 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. He was the son of a clergyman who also taught at the local grammar school. In 1779, Clarkson went to Cambridge University where he won a Latin essay competition on the subject of whether it was lawful to make slaves of others against their will.

While travelling from Cambridge to London in June 1785, Clarkson found himself thinking not about the competition, nor about the promising church career awaiting him, but about slavery. He got off his horse and sat down by the roadside at Wadesmill in Hertfordshire, feeling that someone should do something about this evil. Ending slavery became his driving passion for the remaining 61 years of his life. He translated his prize-winning essay into English and it was published in 1786. The essay attracted a lot of attention and enabled him to meet other abolitionists, including Granville Sharp.

In 1787,