The enforcement of the anti-slave trade laws as an issue in British politics, 1833-1850
Johnson, James Rafe
Doctor of Philosophy, Texas Tech University, December (1973)
Abstract
The slave trade and slavery first emerged as important issues in British politics in the late eighteenth century. Various segments of English society began to demand that Parliament outlaw the English slave trade and free all slaves in the British possessions. These opponents of slavery first focused on the slave trade, because it was not only an integral part of the system but one which could not be easily 
defended by the proponents of slavery. Then too, the general public was more susceptible to anti-slave trade propaganda than it was to arguments against the entire institution of slavery. From the beginning, the abolitionists relied on public pressure to persuade Parliament to pass laws against slavery. They believed that the British government was the only force powerful enough to abolish the slave trade and slavery. The slave trade and slavery, until they were totally abolished, remained major issues in British politics.
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