Norwich and Norfolk and the Fight Against Slavery

From the 1780s onwards campaigns against the evils of the trans Atlantic slave trade and the harsh treatment of African slaves in the West Indian colonies grew in importance nationally. Ian will explore the response in Norwich and Norfolk.
How many local people attended meetings? Or signed petitions? And did people actually stop consuming sugar and rum produced by slaves? What roles in the national campaign were played by local figures such as Joseph John Gurney, Amelia Opie and Harriet Martineau?
The anti-slavery movement broke new ground. Never before had petitioning of parliament been deployed so intensively. Never before had weapons like the boycott of goods been used. Never before had public opinion been successfully aroused over the abuse of civil rights in a distant part of the world. Ian evaluates what part Norwich and Norfolk might have played in this success.
The Speaker
Ian Smith is well-known to us as an erudite and fascinating speaker about 18th Century Norwich. After a career in the Diplomatic Service he enrolled at the UEA where he completed a masters degree and began a Ph.D focusing on the history of Norwich during this period. His talk this time will be on Norwich and Norfolk and the Fight against Slavery.