Proscription By Degrees - The Abolition of the Slave Trade to the United States

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.

List of contents

List of tables; List of abbreviations; Preface; Introduction: 1. Colonial restrictions on the slave trade, 1700-1774; 2. The slave trade and revolutionary North America, 1774-1787; 3. The US constitution, the debates over ratification, and the slave trade, 1787-1788; 4. Opposition to the slave trade in the early national period, 1789-1802; 5. Final controversies over the US slave trade, 1803-1807; Epilogue; Bibliography.

About the author

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).

Product details

• Authors: Kenneth Morgan, Kenneth (Brunel University of London) Morgan
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.08.2025
• EAN: 9781009597944
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0959794-4
• No. of pages: 296
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / United States / General, c 1800 to c 1900, Economic history, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Social and cultural history, History of the Americas, Slavery & abolition of slavery, C 1700 To C 1800, Slavery and abolition of slavery, c 1800 to c 1809, Relating to African American / Black American people