26 October 2006
200-year old text challenges modern-day slavery and racism
A controversial antislavery pamphlet has been republished in
advance of next year's Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave
Trade Act. Originally available in 1774, John Wesley's Thoughts
Upon Slavery challenged those in the society of his day to wake up
to the evils of slavery.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church and celebrated
preacher, was well known as an opponent of slavery. He wrote
Thoughts Upon Slavery to confront the widespread acceptance of
slavery and to call for the abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
Although he never lived to see this happen, his writings and
preaching were instrumental in the abolitionist movement.
Thoughts Upon Slavery has been reproduced with additional
biographical details, including links to resources and information
on the current set all free campaign to combat modern forms of
slavery. The book also contains the reprint of a letter written by
Wesley to William Wilberforce, offering encouragement in his
opposition to slavery, written six days before Wesley's death in
1791.
Naboth Muchopa, Methodist Secretary for Racial Justice said; 'It is
essential that we remember that the slave trade is not dead. We
cannot turn a blind eye to the modern forms of slavery that
surround us such as people trafficking, immigrants being paid slave
wages and unfair trade laws that force countries into poverty and
debt. The Methodist Church today must go back to Wesley and his
call to name the evil that we would term 'racism' and shame us of
our contemporary ills.'
The pamphlet was considered highly controversial when it was first
published because of the common and often unchallenged acceptance
of slavery, which was highly lucrative for Britain and its
colonies. But Thoughts Upon Slavery is not simply a moral argument
about the evils of slavery; it offers an insight into the way
slaves were treated and the conditions under which they were forced
to live. Wesley discusses the gross punishments suffered by
disobedient slaves and the rewards offered to those who killed or
captured slaves who had run away.
At one point he quotes Sir Hans Sloane; 'After they are whipped
till they are raw all over, some put pepper and salt upon them;
some drop melted wax upon their skin; others cut off their ears,
and constrain them to broil and eat them.'
All this leads Wesley to ask; 'Where is the justice of taking away
the lives of innocent, inoffensive men; murdering thousands of them
in their own land, by their own countrymen; many thousands, year
after year, on shipboard, and then casting them like dung into the
sea; and tens of thousands in that cruel slavery to which they are
so unjustly reduced?'.
Other resources available for the 2007 bicentenary include a set of
seven posters jointly produced by the Methodist Church and set all
free. The posters feature images of abolitionists and freedom
fighters, together with their thoughts on the slave trade.