In 1830, there were more than 800,000 slaves in the British colonies, including 331,000 in Jamaica, 81,000 in Barbados, 76,000 in Mauritius, and 70,000 in Demerara .1 On vast sugar plantations, under the scorching sun or torrential rain for 18 hours a day, thousands of slaves, showered with blows from overseers, bent their backs on a handful of white planters. For example, on the island of Nevis, 10 thousand slaves accounted for 10 families of planters, on Tobago-13 thousand slaves for 15 families of slaveholders .2
A researcher dealing with the problem of slavery in the English colonies of the first third of the nineteenth century is faced primarily with a paucity of sources. The British government was interested in concealing the real situation: many English magazines, distorting the facts, painted the paradise life of the population of the colonies, depicting slavery as a necessary condition for the prosperity of not only Great Britain, but also the colonies themselves .3 At the same time, the English abolitionists, united in 1823 in the "Society for the Abolition of Slavery", published magazines that published reports directly from the English colonies, articles on the situation of slaves, as well as numerous reports on parliamentary debates on slavery and the slave trade, speeches by prominent abolitionists in parliament, etc. These journals, in particular the collection stored in the Vorontsov Fund of the Scientific Library of Odessa University, covering the publications of 1823-1834, can be considered as an important source on the history of slavery and slavery.

English abolitionists played a major role in the struggle for the abolition of slavery in the colonies of Great Britain. They appealed to public opinion. Abolitionists were divided into two camps, which gave different reasons for their struggle for the abolition of slavery. The first group included the so-called "saints": V. Ganberu, V. Wilberfors and others, who considered slavery as a phenomenon contrary to Christian morality. Another, more numerous group: T. Clarkson, J. Stephan, T. Buxton - referred to the fact that slavery hinders the development of colonies, worsens the situation of emigrants because of the abundance of cheap labor. With considerable financial resources, as well as the support of a number of prominent members of Parliament, the Abolitionists were an influential force in public and political life in Great Britain. The Society for the Abolition of Slavery had its branches in major cities of the country (Manchester, Liverpool), as well as in some colonies. The president of the Society was the King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester. The actual management of the "Society" was carried out by the Council of vice-presidents, consisting of 26 members, and a committee of 40 people. The secretary of the" Society " was the journalist V. Ganberu4 . The most prominent members are

1 V. Godwin. Lectures on British Colonial Slavery. L. 1830, p. 2.

2 Ibid., p. 18.

3 См., например, "New Monthly Magazine". Vol. 2, 1814, p. 206; vol. 9, 1818, pp. 426 - 428; "The Farmer's Magazine". Vol. 20, 1819, pp. 319 - 321; "Westminster Review", 1829, October; "The Penny Magazine", 1833, N 51, pp. 22 - 23; N 54, p. 51 и др.

4 "Report of the Committee of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery". L. 1824, p. 2.

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The London branch was represented by: writer T. F. Buxton, member of the House of Commons, author of the book "The Slave Trade and the means of its destruction"; parliamentarian W. Wilberforce, who often wrote articles in abolitionist magazines; T. Clarkson, who wrote the pamphlet " Is the situation of slaves better than that of British peasants?"5; J. R. R. Tolkien Stephen, author of several articles on the situation of slaves on the island of Jamaica, and others. The most popular abolitionist magazine was the Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter.

Already in its first issue, published in 1823, the article "A brief description of colonial Slavery" provides numerous facts about the mistreatment of slaves in the West Indian colonies of England, and in particular states: "Many slave owners in Jamaica had huge, specially trained dogs that often accompanied their master during the inspection of plantations, and if the slave owner noticed that one of the slaves, in his opinion, did not work hard enough, a sign was given to the dogs and they tore up the unfortunate victim. " 6 Jamaica was no exception in this respect. As commission agent R. V. Harris wrote, slaves on the island of Barbados "are deprived of any protection even in the case of the most severe abuse of them by slave owners. They can force a slave to work anywhere and for as long as they want, and punish him in the most severe way. " 7 A traveler who visited Mauritius sent a letter to the editor of the magazine stating: "In July 1821, at Bel Ombre, I met a Black man from Mozambique with a disfigured face. It turned out that six months ago, for a minor offense, this Negro was punished with 150 lashes across the face, after which his face turned into a bloody mess." The letter goes on to describe the punishment of two young women accused of attempting to escape. "The naked women were tied to a stake, then each received 160 lashes; after such a monstrous torture, the slaves could no longer get up." 8
The Cape Colony administration maintained that the slaves were not treated harshly. At the same time, she referred to a special law regulating the life of slaves, issued in 1816. This law provided for the punishment of those slaveholders who treated their slaves cruelly. The official New Monthly Magazine quoted Cape Colony slaveholders as saying: "Our slaves are as well fed and clothed as English peasants, and certainly much better than the poor Irish." 9 But a letter published in an abolitionist body by an East India Company employee, W. Thomas, who had been in the Cape Colony for several years, said: "I resided for some time in Elgoa Bay. One day, late at night, an old slave girl who had run away from her mistress because of ill-treatment entered the house. Her body showed signs of such treatment: three broken ribs, a crippled arm, and deep scars from beatings on her back and chest. " 10 An important piece of evidence for atrocities against slaves is "The Case of Lieutenant Smith" 11 , published by abolitionists. Lieutenant Smith served in Jamaica for some time and witnessed the brutality of slave owners. He was so shocked that he wrote about what he saw in the Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter in London. The colonial authorities, learning of this, accused him of slander. Only the intervention of abolitionists saved Smith from trial. From the lieutenant's letters, it is clear that numerous overseers on the plantations of Jamaica were armed with special whips made of buffalo skin and lead wire, and they had special tools for torture at their disposal .12 In punishing the slaves, the overseers sought to mutilate them in such a way as to intimidate others. "I once saw," Smith wrote, " an overseer strike a young woman in the eye with a whip, and the eye began to leak out, poor girl

5 "Negro-Slavery", 1823, N XI.

6 " Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter "(hereinafter - ASMR), 1823, N l, p. 3.

7 ASMR. 1826, N 14, p. 210.

8 ASMR, 1829, N 44, pp. 380 - 381.

9 "New Monthly Magazine". Vol. XXXI, 1826, p. 481.

10 ASMR, 1826, N 20, p. 292.

11 ASMR, 1830, N 63.

12 Ibid., p. 303.

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the slave girl began to scream terribly, and the overseer began to beat her on her naked back with a whip, and all this happened in the presence of many slaves. " 13
Abolitionist publications also reflected the resistance of slaves to the oppression of slaveholders. They mention riots on the island of Mauritius, during which slaves set fire to crops on plantations, killed overseers and slave owners. The rebels were brutally dealt with. These publications contain, however, only indirect information about the number of people killed. To some extent, this can be judged by the data on the dynamics of the number of slaves. Mauritius had 85,423 slaves in 1816 , 14 and by 1830 the number had dropped to 76,000, although the importation of slaves from Madagascar continued unabated. 15 In addition, the natural increase must also be taken into account. Significant losses were incurred by slave owners in Barbados during the riots of 1816 and 182516 . In the Cape Colony, slaves were used mainly on farms, mines, vineyards and as domestic servants: there was virtually no plantation economy here. However, there were also slave riots. The Abolitionist Journal reported: "In October 1824, there were two attempts by slave girls to poison their hated mistress. In the same year, there were slave riots in Bokveld due to their mistreatment. In the end, they were flogged. Nevertheless, they came to demand justice with pitchforks raised in their hands, and in doing so destroyed the buildings of several colonists, for which some of the slaves were hanged, and the rest were sentenced to hard labor for life in the mines." 17
According to the abolitionist press, the most "disturbing" of all the West Indian colonies was Jamaica, where the most significant slave demonstrations took place. Thousands of runaway slaves ("Maroons") formed the core of the rebels who fought against slavery throughout the eighteenth century. A major performance in Jamaica occurred in 1816. A special commission arrived from London to "investigate the causes of the riots" on the spot .18 In the following years, unrest on this island did not stop. On December 22, 1826, the Jamaica Slave Act was passed by the authorities, according to which"a slave who is absent for 5 days or is 18 miles from home without permission is considered to have run away from his master." Each adult slave, according to this law, had to have a special certificate, where his basic data and the name of the owner were entered. If the slave did not have such a document, he was considered a fugitive and was subject to severe punishment. 19 With the help of this law, the colony administration wanted to destroy the "Maroons". Nevertheless, in 1831-1832, new unrest occurred in Jamaica, accompanied by arson and murder of planters. The local administration was forced to request military assistance from other West Indian colonies of Great Britain .20
The abolitionist press reflected their use of the parliamentary rostrum to speak out against slavery. Particularly striking were the statements of T. Buxton and W. Wilberforce, who in their speeches cited information contained in the colonial press and reflected the dissatisfaction of slave owners with the legislation, although the latter, as a rule, only formally restricted their rights.

It is known from abolitionist journals that in some of the West Indian Islands (Jamaica, Trinidad, and Tobago) there were branches of the "Society for the Elimination of Slavery". Local abolitionists collected facts about the atrocities of slaveholders and sent these materials for publication in the Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter magazine. In Jamaica, most abolitionists were missionaries. They raised funds for the redemption of their children and placed them in mission schools to be raised .21 The magazine wrote about a meeting of abolitionists in Trinidad, which emphasized that

13 Ibid., p. 308.

14 ASMR, 1825, N 3, p. 20.

15 "Penny Cyclopedia". L. Vol. XV, 1826, p. 20.

16 ASMR, 1826, N 14, p. 240.

17 ASMR, 1826, N 20, p. 293.

18 "Documents from the Jamaica Royal Gazette". L. 1816. pp. 18 - 21.

19 "Slave Law of Jamaica". L. 1828, p. 85.

20 "Observations on the Present State and Future Prospects of the Island of Jamaica". L. 1837, pp. 18 - 72.

21 ASMR, 1825, N 3, p. 14.

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the whip is the main means of " communication between whites and slaves." The following quote was quoted from the slave owners ' Gazette of Trinidad:" We have used and will continue to use the whip as a necessary tool for maintaining discipline in the West Indies. " 22
The debates that took place in the English Parliament on the issue of the status of slaves, caused by the incessant unrest in the colonies, ended with the adoption on May 15, 1823, of recommendations for the dissemination of Christian education among slaves, the cessation of the sale and purchase of slaves in the colonial markets on Sundays, the admission of slaves to the courts for testimony, the legalization of the same family, the abolition of humiliating corporal punishment for women, the prohibition of the use of overseers on plantations. These measures created the appearance of restricting slavery and caring for slaves. However, judging by the numerous materials published in abolitionist magazines, slaveholders completely ignored these recommendations and laws, although in themselves they did not affect the essence of slave exploitation. Guianan slave owners strongly objected to the recognition of the legality of slave marriages, saying that "this would lead to additional difficulties for slave owners" .23 In Barbados, where slaves were allowed to buy themselves and their families out of slavery under a contract with their owners, the latter easily circumvented this law: "The Negro John Thomas Atherley managed to buy himself, his wife and four children out of slavery for a large sum, but soon died, and then the slaveholder turned his wife and children into his own slaves " 24 .

The hypocritical nature of the legislation is also revealed when reading other materials of the abolitionist press. Due to the growing unrest of slaves in the West Indies, in particular in Jamaica, local authorities, according to the already mentioned law "On the Slaves of Jamaica", were obliged to "protect the lives of slaves", in addition, the law allowed marriages between slaves. However, this law had numerous reservations that negated it. Future spouses were expected to be Christians, and "their behavior must be blameless." 25 The law "On the Restriction of Cruel Punishments" adopted in 1831 was of the same character, according to which a slave could be lashed no more (!) than 39 lashes at a time .26 But these and other attempts to somehow limit the atrocities of the slaveholders were met with resistance on their part. The colonial administration consistently supported slave owners. The Governor of Trinidad, R. Woodford, having received a government circular dated July 9, 1823, on some relaxation of the slave regime, refused to comply with it, citing Spanish laws that had not been repealed by anyone .27
Abolitionists also wrote extensively about the slave trade. They noted that "every year thousands of slaves are exported from various African colonies of England, France and Portugal, and this despite the prohibition of the slave trade in England in 1807." 28 Wilberforce sent to the editorial offices of major European newspapers data on the participation of a number of European states and the United States in the shameful human trafficking. He reported that Portugal had taken 1,700 slaves from Sierra Leone to the West Indian colonies of England in 1822 alone. French capitalists played an equally important role in the slave trade. A note from the British Ambassador to France, Charles Stewart, in 1822 stated that "from the French colonies of Senegal, Gambia, and Guadeloupe, ships loaded with slaves are regularly sent to the West Indian colonies of Great Britain." 29
The polemic of abolitionists with supporters of slavery is also of interest. No. 18 of the "Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter" for 1826 contains a reply to letters from a certain "Dominic the Planter" published in the Morning Chronicle and New Times, which "proved" not to be true.

22 ASMR, 1825, N 3, p. 19.

23 Ibid., p. 18.

24 ASMR, 1826, N 19, p. 272.

25 ASMR, 1828, N 38, pp. 261 - 276.

26 ASMR, 1831, N82, p. 300.

27 "On Negro Slavery". L. 1824, pp. 6 - 8.

28 "An Adress to the Inhabitants of Europe on the Iniquity of the Slave Trade". L. 1824, p. 4.

29 "Eighteenth Report of the Directors of the African Institution". L. 1824, p. 14.

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Abolitionists pointed out that it was "the cruel system of slavery that enrages the slaves, who fiercely hate their masters, so it is necessary to eliminate slavery, and peace and quiet will reign in the West Indian colonies." 30
The abolitionists and their press were fiercely attacked by a number of newspapers and magazines influenced by the London West India Committee. This is shown in the article "The West India Committee and its Mercantile Press" 31, which is interesting as a source for describing its activities. This committee included the wealthiest and most influential slave planters from the English West India colonies. The main figures of the committee-S. Franklin, G. Takwin, M. Berkley, etc., possessing huge funds, actively used the press to justify their policy in the colonies. The main mouthpiece of the committee was the West Indian Reporter, but the Edinburgh Review, the Morning Journal, the Quarterly Review, and the Westminster Review were also influenced by West Indian slaveholders. The committee's functions ranged from conducting trade negotiations to collecting funds to buy slaves in Africa and transport them illegally to the West Indian colonies. This article gives examples of gross misrepresentation of facts by authors who were supported by West Indian planters, who wrote about the good situation of "Negroes in the West Indian Islands", condemned them for burning estates, cattle, property, and even killing slave owners, and called for "brutally and without any regret to suppress indignation." slaves and strengthen the position of slave owners in the colonies " 32 .

When slavery began to noticeably slow down the development of the capitalist economy in Great Britain, the law of 1833 declared slaves free in all English colonies, and their owners were promised monetary compensation. Slaveholders sought to delay the emancipation of slaves in every possible way. The abolitionists continued to use their press to fight for the complete abolition of slavery. They published information about how slave owners resisted the abolition of slavery .1 In the Cape Colony, the Anti-Slavery Monthly Reporter wrote, the 1833 law provoked serious opposition among slave owners, as the abolition of slavery deprived large farmers, mine owners and vineyard owners of cheap labor. The Governor of the colony, B. Durban, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary on December 2, 1833, stated that the said "law is untimely" and "causes open hostility" among a certain section of slaveholders .33 It was not until August 1, 1834, that slaves in the Cape Colony formally became free. However, slave owners still used their former slaves, resorting to the "apprenticeship" formula, according to which slaves continued to work for their old masters as "apprentices" and "apprentices". The masters treated them with the same cruelty as before the abolition of slavery. This is confirmed by an excerpt from a letter sent from the Cape Colony on 2 June 1835: "James, an apprentice to Abraham Marais, received 30 lashes on 14 April 1835 for carelessness in his work, and after complaining, received an additional 15 lashes, and was hung by his feet a foot off the ground." "Eva, a female apprentice to the widow de Leeuun, was sentenced on April 15, 1835, for insolence, to forced labor in chains for 1 month." 34
From August 1834, the English abolitionists began to publish a new magazine, The Abolitionist. The first issue published data on the number of slaves in the world, from which it follows that in the United States of America there were 2,250 thousand slaves, in Brazil - 2 million, in the Spanish colonies - 500 thousand, in the French - 300 thousand, in the Portuguese, Dutch and Danish colonies - 100 thousand. The editorial board of the magazine, commenting on the fact that there are still 5,150 thousand slaves in the world, called on "the Christian governments of these countries to follow the example of Great Britain and abolish slavery in their colonies." English abolitionists were not satisfied with the fact that, formally, by 1835, they were in pain.-

30 ASMR, 1826, N 18, p. 252.

31 ASMR, 1828, N 45, pp. 427 - 429; 1829, N 50, pp. 28 - 29; N 51, pp.33 - 35.

32 ASMR, 1829, N 53, pp. 104, 123.

33 ASMR, 1836, N 113, p. 339.

34 "Statements and Observations on the Working of the Law of the Abolition of Slavery". L. 1836, p. 47.

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in most of the British colonies, slavery was abolished. The Abolitionist magazine provides examples of the plight of slaves in the colonies of the United States and various European countries. They also exposed the facts of the illegal slave trade. On January 8, 1834, according to the magazine, the English warship Dispatch captured the Spanish ship Rosa with 292 slaves while trying to enter the bay of the English colony of Barbados. Similar reports were published by abolitionists in almost every issue of this magazine .35
The English abolitionist press played a major role in educating the British public about the true situation of slaves in the colonies. Numerous reliable facts about the extreme cruelty of slave owners, which were published in the pages of the abolitionist press, caused just indignation and became the cause of long debates in parliament and discussions in the press. That is why, for the student of the history of slavery, the slave trade, and the struggle of slaves against slaveholders and the entire system of British colonial oppression, the journals of English abolitionists are an important and interesting source.

I. M. Shklyazh

35 "The Abolitionist". 1834, N 1, pp. 6, 8, 19.

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