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The Surprising Role of Legal Traditions in the Rise of Abolitionism in Great Britain’s Development

Buchsbaum, Robert Michael, III
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1416651480

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, History.
The abolition of British slavery in the 19th century raises the question of how the British achieved antislavery against colonial opposition. While historical theories have focused on economic, political and religious factors, no account of abolition is complete without a thorough investigation of the history of evolving British legal traditions. This thesis analyzed a number of British homeland court cases and antislavery laws. English legal traditions established principles of freedom long before abolition in Britain, and then upheld them in respect to blacks on British soil in the 18th century. On the other hand, these traditions exposed a void in British homeland law on slavery that failed to provide any positive legal basis for freedom beyond its shores, forcing abolitionists into a long battle to build social and political pressures to create such positive laws. This was facilitated by a gradual expansion of Parliamentary authority to impose such antislavery laws.
Christopher Oldstone-Moore, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Kathryn Meyer, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Opolot Okia, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
87 p.
African American Studies; African Americans; African History; African Literature; African Studies; American Studies; Black History; Black Studies; British and Irish Literature; Economics; European History; European Studies; History; International Law; Law; Legal Studies; Philosophy; Political Science; World History
Abolitionism; Great Britain; Parliamentary authority; Slavery; positive laws; antislavery; legal basis; Slave Trade; British soil; 18th Century Slavery; colonial opposition; abolition; Somerset; law; Anstey; Quakers; David Brion Davis; Drescher; Eric

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Citations

  • Buchsbaum, III, R. M. (2014). The Surprising Role of Legal Traditions in the Rise of Abolitionism in Great Britain’s Development [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1416651480

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Buchsbaum, III, Robert. The Surprising Role of Legal Traditions in the Rise of Abolitionism in Great Britain’s Development . 2014. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1416651480.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Buchsbaum, III, Robert. "The Surprising Role of Legal Traditions in the Rise of Abolitionism in Great Britain’s Development ." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1416651480

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1416651480
1,447
© 2014, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License The Surprising Role of Legal Traditions in the Rise of Abolitionism in Great Britain’s Development by Robert Michael Buchsbaum III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.