signatures for petitions to be sent to Parliament. 80 This campaigning was
attainable in England because places such as Manchester already had an
established cultural infrastructure for anti-slavery activists to promote their
cause in social clubs, philanthropic societies, and through the medium of newspapers. 81 In contrast, Wales’ population was sparse and did not have an established weekly newspaper until 1804. 82 There was even strong opposition to
abolition by copper masters such as Thomas Williams. In 1788, he petitioned to
the House of Lords against the new laws to regulate the slave trade as he argued
that they would ruin trade with Africa that was crucial for the employment of many local people. 83 The economic benefits of the slave trade were
acknowledged by Members of Parliament (MPs) who initially sympathised with
the pro-slavery advocates, but this dwindled after 1806 when the ruling class began to support abolitionism. 84 The supporters of slavery lost the vote by 283 votes to 16 in the House of Commons, which resulted in the passing of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807. 85 Although this made it illegal for
British ships and subjects to trade slaves, slavery remained in the West Indies,
and there were approximately three-quarters of a million unfree slaves still on British sugar plantations. 86 The campaigners anticipated that the planters would
shift towards free labour or improve the conditions of their slave population, but
they continued to embrace slavery instead. By the 1820s, it was evident that further action was needed as the Act was ineffective. 87
80 Manchester collected 10,000 signatures for a petition by early 1788. Ibid., p. 61. 81 Evans, ‘Was Wales opposed to the slave trade?’, p. 15.
82 David Morris, The events leading up to the emancipation of an American slave at Swansea (2020), <https://archives.wales/2020/08/23/1585/> [accessed 28 October 2021]; Evans, Slave Wales, p. 61. 83 ‘House of Lords Journal Volume 38: July 1788 1 - 10’, Journal of the House of Lords, 38 (1787-1790), 251-263 (p. 261). 84 Evans, Slave Wales, p. 77. 85 Ibid. 86 Ibid., p. 78. 87 Ibid.
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