A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery Contributor(s): Sharp, Granville (Author) |
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ISBN: 1108075657 ISBN-13: 9781108075657 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $36.09 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2014 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science - History | Americas (north Central South West Indies) - History | Europe - Great Britain - General |
Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Slavery and Abolition |
Physical Information: 0.41" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.51 lbs) 178 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: This work by the anti-slavery campaigner Granville Sharp (1735-1813) brings together legal and historical documents, as well as the author's own legal arguments, demonstrating that slavery was illegal and therefore could not be upheld in England. Furthering his own intellectual development while working for a linen draper, Sharp later became a government clerk and pursued a writing career. His awakening to the horrors of the slave trade resulted from a chance encounter with an injured slave seeking help from his physician brother. Carrying out the necessary legal research, Sharp published this book in 1769 to demonstrate that slavery has no basis in English law. In 1772, the landmark case of James Somerset was brought before Lord Mansfield, who upheld Sharp's contention: as a result, it was henceforth understood that any slave reaching the shores of England became free. Sharp's memoirs of his life are also reissued in this series. |