Forced labor and the land of liberty : naval impressment, the Atlantic slave trade, and the British Empire in the eighteenth century

Abstract

British naval impressment and slavery were two major social issues in the British Empire in the long-eighteenth century. Scholars have explored each issue separately, however little has been done comparing both at length. Secondary sources, political theorem, and laws, frame the role of naval impressment and slavery in the eighteenth century British Empire. The two court cases, Rex versus Tubbs and Rex versus Knowles, exemplify each issue in the governmental realm of the eighteenth century. As such, naval impressment and slavery became major imperial issues throughout the eighteenth century, and although social reformer challenged the problems associated with the growth of each institution, the necessity to the empire blocked any far-reaching changes. The study of slavery and naval impressment is divided into three sections. The first section is the introduction, which presents a survey of the scholarly work already done on this work. The second section is comprised of chapter one and two. The overall theme of this section is that the slavery and naval impressment differed in its earlier manifestations and its later ones. The first chapter establishes Britain’s long histories of slavery and impressment. The second chapter concentrates on the growth of the empire and provides a solid comparison of early and later forms of impressment. The third section of this thesis looks at the legal standings of each institution in the eighteenth century. The third chapter contends that leading up to the 1770s the judicial system chipped away at the institution of slavery, while impressment was continually supported. The last chapter argues that the main cases of social reform of each institution, occurring in the 1770s, achieve relative success in Britain, but ultimately with their narrow scopes do very little to change the institutions throughout the empire.