41 Facts About Thomas Clarkson

Thomas Clarkson was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire.

Thomas Clarkson helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended British trade in slaves.

Thomas Clarkson became a pacifist in 1816 and, with his brother John, was among the twelve founders of the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace.

Thomas Clarkson's siblings were John was born on 1764 and and Anne.

Thomas Clarkson went on to St Paul's School in London in 1775, where he obtained an exhibition.

Thomas Clarkson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1783 and was set to continue at Cambridge to follow in his father's footsteps and enter the Anglican ministry.

Thomas Clarkson was ordained a deacon in 1783 but never proceeded to priest's orders.

In 1785 Thomas Clarkson entered a Latin essay competition at the university that was to set him on the course for most of the remainder of his life.

The topic of the essay, set by university vice-chancellor Peter Peckard, was Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare, and it led Thomas Clarkson to consider the question of the slave trade.

Thomas Clarkson read everything he could on the subject, including the works of Anthony Benezet, a Quaker abolitionist, as well as first-hand accounts of the African slave trade such as Francis Moore's Travels Into the Inland Parts of Africa.

Thomas Clarkson researched the topic by meeting and interviewing those who had personal experience of the slave trade and of slavery.

Thomas Clarkson broke his journey at Wadesmill, near Ware, Hertfordshire.

The essay was influential, resulting in Thomas Clarkson's being introduced to many others who were sympathetic to abolition, some of whom had already published and campaigned against slavery.

Thomas Clarkson approached the young William Wilberforce, who as an Anglican and an MP was connected within the British Parliament.

Thomas Clarkson took a leading part in the affairs of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and was tasked to collect evidence to support the abolition of the slave trade.

Thomas Clarkson faced strong opposition from supporters of the trade in some of the cities he visited.

In 1787, Thomas Clarkson was attacked and nearly killed when visiting the city, as a gang of sailors was paid to assassinate him.

That same year, Thomas Clarkson published the pamphlet A Summary View of the Slave Trade and of the Probable Consequences of Its Abolition.

Thomas Clarkson was very effective at giving the committee a high public profile: he spent the next two years travelling around England, promoting the cause and gathering evidence.

Thomas Clarkson obtained equipment used on slave-ships, such as iron handcuffs, leg-shackles, and thumbscrews; instruments for forcing open slaves' jaws; and branding irons.

Thomas Clarkson published engravings of the tools in pamphlets and displayed the instruments at public meetings.

Thomas Clarkson's research took him to English ports such as Bristol, where he received information from the landlord of the Seven Stars pub.

Thomas Clarkson bought samples from the ship and started a collection to which he added over the years.

Thomas Clarkson noticed that pictures and artefacts could influence public opinion more than words alone.

Thomas Clarkson began to display items from his collection of fine goods to reinforce his anti-slavery lectures.

Thomas Clarkson carried a "box" featuring his collection, which became an important part of his public meetings.

Thomas Clarkson enlisted the help of Alexander Falconbridge and James Arnold, two ship's surgeons he had met in Liverpool.

Thomas Clarkson filled his works with vivid firsthand descriptions from sailors, surgeons and others who had been involved in the slave traffic.

In 1788 Thomas Clarkson published large numbers of his Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade.

Thomas Clarkson asked for aid from the Rev Jones in selling copies of the memoir and arranging for Equiano to visit Cambridge to lecture.

Thomas Clarkson retired from the campaign and spent some time in the Lake District, where he bought an estate, Eusemere, by Ullswater.

Thomas Clarkson appeared to have returned with all his old enthusiasm and vigour.

Thomas Clarkson was especially active in persuading MPs to back the parliamentary campaign.

Thomas Clarkson directed his efforts toward enforcement and extending the campaign to the rest of Europe, as Spain and France continued a trade in their American colonies.

In 1808 Thomas Clarkson published a book about the progress in abolition of the slave trade.

Thomas Clarkson travelled to Paris in 1814 and Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, trying to reach international agreement on a timetable for abolition of the trade.

Thomas Clarkson travelled the country to build support for its goal.

Thomas Clarkson was the principal speaker in 1840 at the opening of the first World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, chaired by Thomas Binney.

In 1846 Thomas Clarkson was host to Frederick Douglass, an American former slave who had escaped to freedom in the North and became a prominent abolitionist, on his first visit to England.

Thomas Clarkson wrote much of his History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade at Hatcham House.

Thomas Clarkson died on 26 September 1846 in Playford, Suffolk.