Description: In this book, Kenneth Morgan provides the most comprehensive account of the abolition of the slave trade to the United States since W. E. B. Du Bois's 1896 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870. Utilising a wider range of resources and exploring the economic, social, moral and political considerations, Morgan creates a multi-layered account that explains why abolition was a protracted affair that proceeded by degrees over nearly half a century. He appraises the role of abolitionist individuals, groups and societies in bringing abolition to the forefront of public discussion across North America, and the decisive role of the US Constitution and the Constitutional Convention that eventually led to proscription in 1808, which made abolition constitutionally possible.
Brief description: Kenneth Morgan is Professor of History at Brunel University of London. He is the author of Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America (2008) and A Short History of Transatlantic Slavery (2014).
Review Quotes: 'In this deeply researched, well-written and accessible book, Kenneth Morgan highlights the dynamic, often erratic effort to end the slave trade to the US. Building on the pioneering work of W.E.B. DuBois, Morgan's work provides an important historical account of the movement to end the slave trade.' Julie L. Holcomb, author of Moral Commerce: Quakers and the Transatlantic Boycott of the Slave Labor Economy and editor of Quaker History