Behind the Bastards

Part Three: X-Mas Special: The Heroes Who Ended The Slave Trade

Date: December 25, 2025
Host: Robert Evans (with guest James Stout, author)
Production: Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

In this special holiday episode, the focus shifts from the usual villains of history to the remarkable individuals and collective efforts that fought to end the Atlantic slave trade in Britain. Host Robert Evans and guest Dr. James Stout explore the messy, deeply human, and often inspiring campaign that ultimately led to the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 and inspired emancipation movements worldwide. The episode weaves personal stories, activist tactics, and cultural shifts, making clear that social progress emerges from persistent, sometimes flawed, but courageous action.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Zorg” Case, Granville Sharp, and Abolition’s Early Days

• Gregson v. Gilbert ("Zorg" case): The abolitionist cause gets a jumpstart with this landmark court case about the mass killing of enslaved people on a slave ship.
  • Granville Sharp meticulously documents these atrocities and begins disseminating information to build public outrage and momentum against the slave trade. (04:00)
  • Sharp’s outreach: Sends a comprehensive report to the Lords of the Admiralty demanding murder charges and an "entire stop to the slave trade... or God will destroy the destroyers of the earth." (05:07)
    • Quote: “He argued [the slave trade] would damn the entire country and unquestionably mark it with the avenging hand of God, who has promised to destroy the destroyers of the earth.” — Bobby Finger (05:10)

2. The Role of the Church and Academia: Peter Peckard and the Essay Contest

• Reverend Peter Peckard: Inspired by Sharp, organizes an essay contest at Cambridge with the prompt “Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?” Radical for its time, this sparks engagement from young intellectuals. (06:30)
  • Thomas Clarkson wins the contest, launching his journey into abolitionism.
    • Initially ignorant of the trade, Clarkson is moved to action by research, especially reading American Quaker Anthony Benezet.
    • Quote: “It was but one gloomy subject from morning to night. In the daytime, I was uneasy. In the night, I had little rest... I sometimes never closed my eyelids for grief.” — Clarkson, as read by Bobby Finger (11:00)
  • Clarkson’s essay rails against the inhumanity of slavery:
    • Quote: “You have no right to touch even the hair on their heads without their own consent. It is not your money that can invest you with a right. Human liberty can neither be bought nor sold. How wicked must be that servitude which cannot be carried on without the continual murder of so many innocent persons.” — Clarkson, via Bobby Finger (12:36)

3. Building the Abolitionist Movement: Activist Networks and Strategies

• The essay’s influence draws Clarkson into Quaker-dominated abolition activism and connects him with Sharp. They organize with others, including William Wilberforce, to form the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade — Britain's first unified, somewhat “big tent” anti-slavery organization. (18:31)
  • The Society compiles evidence, runs a widespread pamphlet campaign, and leverages contacts inside and outside parliament to press for legislative change.
  • Internal divisions exist (Quakers’ outsider status is both an asset and challenge).

4. Black Abolitionists: Olaudah Equiano, Ottobah Cugoano, and the Sons of Africa

• Highlighting firsthand testimony: Formerly enslaved people publish bestselling memoirs, such as Equiano's and Cugoano's, directly challenging racist justifications for slavery.
  • Their works and organizing radically shift public perceptions:
    • Quote: “Previously, most bystanders in England had passively accepted claims that Africans were happy being forced laborers... Equiano and Cugoano's books blasted those myths apart.” — Bobby Finger (21:00)
  • The Sons of Africa: Group of freed Black men, led by Equiano, coordinate independent lobbying, write letters to government, and meet with the Prime Minister and legislative leaders. Their role is central, strategic, and never merely passive. (22:21)

5. The First Legislative Reforms and Cultural Weapons

• The Dolben Act (1788): The first UK bill to regulate conditions on slave ships — a deeply incremental step inspired by public testimony (27:00).
  • Black activists’ testimonies are finally presented directly to Parliament.
  • Former slave ship captain John Newton publishes an influential memoir exposing the horrors he saw and perpetuated aboard slaving ships — a rare inside account (28:33).
    • Newton’s admission of guilt and moral awakening provides powerful ammunition for the movement:
      • Quote: “I was once an active instrument in a business which at which my heart now shudders.” — Newton, via Bobby Finger (41:32)

6. The Data and the “Weaponization” of Facts

• Thomas Clarkson’s on-the-ground research: He sneaks aboard ships, interviews sailors, gathers shackles and torture instruments, and documents high death rates among crews and captives alike. (44:35)
• Countering economic arguments: Clarkson’s evidence debunks claims that the slave trade benefits the British navy and economy.
  • Quote: “They’re being worked to death in a nightmare.” — Bobby Finger (45:33)

7. The Propaganda War: Images and Boycotts

• Pro-slavery propaganda: Slave traders present wildly false accounts of slave ships as almost pleasurable cruises. (52:00)
  • Quote: “When they come on deck, there are two men attending with cloths to rub them perfectly dry...they go to games of chance. It's basically a cruise.” — Bobby Finger (52:11)
• Abolitionist counter: Josiah Wedgwood creates the ubiquitous “Am I not a man and a brother?” medallion, a viral symbol of the movement.
  • The iconic diagram of the slave ship Brooks viscerally illustrates the horror of slave ship conditions for the public; thousands of posters are circulated. (54:50)

8. Setbacks, Rebounds, and the Final Push for Abolition

• Political obstruction: Momentum stalls due to British political crises (King George’s “madness”), interference by the House of Lords, and war with France. (55:37; 58:18)
• Haitian Revolution and Caribbean slave rebellions (1791 onward) shift British public opinion further by making clear that enslaved people do not accept their condition, and that sugar and slavery are inseparable.
  • The British sugar boycott mobilizes 300,000 consumers, showing early “consumer activism” power. (57:15)
• 1807: Victory—Abolition of the Slave Trade Act passed; Royal Navy is tasked with suppressing the trade. (60:35)
  • Quote: “This is not at all an end to slavery...but it’s the beginning of the end.” — Robert Evans (61:07)
• Legacy: The act’s passage energizes global abolitionism, even as abolition within the British Empire (1833) and the U.S. are still to come.

9. Personal Legacies and Historical Impact

• Granville Sharp: Dies in 1813, widely admired—having spent 42 years on abolition.
  • Quote: “He merited the esteem and respect of all men among whom liberty and humanity are not disregarded.” — John Adams, via Bobby Finger (62:28)
• Thomas Clarkson: Sees abolition through 1833, then supports U.S. abolition. Keynote speaker at the first World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840.
  • Touching final moment: Frederick Douglass’s encounter with Clarkson as an old man:
    • Quote: “He took one of my hands with both of his and in a tremulous voice said, God bless you, Frederick Douglass. I have given 60 years of my life to the emancipation of your people. And if I had 60 years more, they should all be given to the same cause.” — Douglass on Clarkson (64:25)
  • This underscores the literal hand-to-hand connection between the British abolitionists and the later U.S. Civil Rights movement.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On moral courage and activism:
  • “No one's going to want to be a fucking sailor after half your friends die.” — Robert Evans (46:42)
  • “If the contents of the essay were true, it was time some person should see those calamities to their end.” — Thomas Clarkson, via Bobby Finger (13:37)
• On the persistence of movement building:
  • “It would have been so easy to give up—nightmare continuing—just be like, it’s impossible. Things are just fucked forever. You can’t fix any of this. But they didn’t.” — Bobby Finger (65:31)
• On the legacy:
  • “Look at that...it goes to women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement...many of the best things that have happened in the last 200 years.” — Robert Evans (65:01)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Granville Sharp’s campaign and the “Zorg” case: 03:41–06:00
• Cambridge essay contest – Thomas Clarkson’s awakening: 06:30–13:00
• Rise of the Society for Effecting Abolition: 18:20–20:00
• Equiano, Cugoano, and Black abolitionists organize: 21:41–24:38
• The Dolben Act and legislative beginnings: 27:01–28:33
• John Newton’s confessional memoir: 28:33–41:32
• Clarkson’s research and the power of data: 44:35–48:00
• Propaganda war & the Brooks slave ship diagram: 52:11–56:00
• Sugar boycott and final push (Haitian Revolution): 57:04–58:17
• Passage of the 1807 Slave Trade Act: 60:35–61:07
• Clarkson and Douglass’s meeting: 64:25

Tone and Style

• Warm, humanistic, laced with dark humor (“No one discovered [good book titles] yet... The first good title is Moby Dick.” — Robert Evans, 10:24), but deadly serious about the crimes and the scale of suffering.
• Critical of slow incrementalism, but appreciative of its necessity in context.
• Emphasis on the imperfect, dogged, sometimes flawed, but critical leadership of Black and white abolitionists.

Final Thoughts

The episode powerfully demonstrates that social change comes from ordinary people who choose not to look away. Despite daunting setbacks and slow incremental progress, their efforts ripple forward, inspiring new generations and movements.

“Be the Clarkson you want to see in the world.” — Bobby Finger (66:19)

For listeners wanting to continue the story:

• The British abolition of the slave trade in 1807 was only a beginning. Full emancipation in the Empire would come in 1833, and the U.S. struggle would stretch still further. But the movement’s tools—investigation, storytelling, coalition-building, activism, and relentless hope—remain a playbook for justice-seekers today.