This thesis examines the relationship between Scottish Enlightenment philosophy and Abolitionist activism. This work asserts that Scottish philosophers opposed legislative Abolition, and that Henry Dundas’s ‘gradual’ amendment to Wilberforce’s 1792 Slave Trade bill was partly motivated by fear of radical change. This amendment has been acknowledged by many as the reason the Slave Trade was allowed to continue, despite public disapprobation, until 1807. First, by examining the writings of those Scottish Enlightenment thinkers critical of slavery, this work demonstrates that their ideas were largely theoretical and lacked engagement with the problem of slavery in British society. Second, in examining why, when their writings against slavery have been so lauded, they made so little a direct contribution to the Abolitionist movement, this thesis explores the Scottish Enlightenment theory of spontaneous order in the generation of social institutions. Drawing upon the warnings of some of these Scottish literati, this thesis will argue that their belief in spontaneous order encouraged them to view any attempt at altering social structures (such as the Slave Trade) through legislation as dangerous innovations that should be opposed by enlightened thinkers and politicians. This thesis next examines the parliamentary debates surrounding the 1792 Abolition bill, highlighting the similarities between the Scottish Enlightenment polemic against radical change and the arguments of those opposing Wilberforce’s Slave Trade bill. MPs embraced Dundas’ gradual Abolition idea despite petitions in support of the original bill signed by their constituents, the views of whom were considered secondary to their own judgement on such matters. That the 1792 failure of Abolition was not due to a denial of the principle of ending slavery but a rejection of abrupt change demonstrates that the Scottish Enlightenment, through the agency of Dundas, encouraged delaying the abolition of the Slave Trade for fifteen years.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Richard F. W. Whittemore. Dissertation Committee: Frederick Kershner. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-60).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-114).

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 248-257). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1940. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [i]-xiii).

This dissertation asks how the British anti-slave-trade movement permeated musical culture of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and how musical activities, in turn, were used to support the cause. It examines a group of newly discovered musical scores—described here as “serious antislavery songs”—that were published in the years between the founding of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1787) and the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807. Highlighting the inclusion of such scores in extant personal music collections of contemporary British women, the study explores both who used the scores and how they used them. The dissertation thus paints a detailed picture of musical abolitionism and argues that composing, collecting, practicing, and performing serious antislavery songs enabled female amateur musicians to promote opposition to human trafficking from their homes. The study joins close readings of ideas—found in letters, poems, and musical content—with analyses of activities, such as private musical practice and polite shopping. The first chapter discusses the music of Ignatius Sancho, who died before the start of widespread mobilization against the slave trade but who nevertheless used his music to make a powerful, if subtle, antislavery statement. The second chapter moves to the beginning of the British abolition movement, examining two politically charged poems written in 1788 that became popular songs among female amateur musicians. The next three chapters explore the varied ways that these women incorporated serious antislavery songs into their everyday lives. Chapter 3 maps out the London musical marketplace for scores where women could purchase a variety of songs, including abolitionist and anti-abolitionist songs alike. The fourth chapter explores the activity of music-making and argues that practicing from musical scores and singing through them among friends was a form of conversation. It therefore introduces the term “sociable abolitionism,” of which “musical abolitionism” was one key component. Finally, Chapter 5 uses extant music collections that were once owned by British women to unpack the ethical tensions involved in white Britons’ practice of singing serious, sympathetic songs whose lyrics were written from the imagined perspective of enslaved Africans. The chapter argues that singing these songs was a kind of “musical masquerade”—one where singers could indulge in identity play while encouraging abolitionism from their listeners. The dissertation addresses a major gap in the literature on abolitionism: while literary, theatrical, and visual contributions to the movement have been received ample scholarly treatment, musical scores have remained virtually absent from discussions of antislavery activism. Scores are presented here as key sources for understanding the ways women enacted their opposition to human trafficking and bondage. Problematic but politically useful, scores incorporated easily into the activities of British women’s everyday lives and contributed to the widespread culture of abolitionism.