Queens' members and the Slave Trade

Written by William Woodis Harvey (1798-1864) while a student at Queens’ College (1824-7), this book describes the aftermath of the revolution that occurred in Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (1791-1804). There, a violent uprising of enslaved people had brought about a new nation state, offering a stark warning to all who continued to profit from enslavement elsewhere in the Americas. Born in Penzance, Harvey’s early calling as a Wesleyan preacher led him to undertake missionary work in Haiti in 1818-24. A key objective for Harvey’s book was to counter arguments of those who saw slaves as ‘destined by providence to live in subjection to us, and to administer to our pleasure’ (p. 216). On the contrary, Harvey saw in Haiti: ‘a people newly escaped from slavery’ and ‘laudably endeavouring to lay the foundation of an empire, which may perhaps be compared hereafter with nations the most celebrated for their civilization and refinement’. Harvey’s accounts of enslaved people are frequently couched in ways that rightly attract censure today on account of their paternalistic and racial undertones. Yet his promotion of racial equality and the Haitian state was an attempt to shape those debates that ultimately led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 and Britain’s prohibition of slavery.<br><br>
For a follow up account of Harvey's <i>Sketches of Hayti</i>, please see the <a href="https://queenslib.wordpress.com/2021/10/21/harvey-legacies-of-enslavement/"><u>Librray blog post</u></a>.
<br><br>
<b>Author:</b> William Woodis Harvey<br>
<b>Title:</b><i> Sketches of Hayti </i> (London, 1827) <br>
<b>Shelfmark:</b> <a href="”">Y.1.8 </a>
<br><br>
<b>We are grateful to the Friends of the National Libraries for their generous contribution toward the purchase of this copy for this exhibition. </b>

9 / 16

Written by William Woodis Harvey (1798-1864) while a student at Queens’ College (1824-7), this book describes the aftermath of the revolution that occurred in Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (1791-1804). There, a violent uprising of enslaved people had brought about a new nation state, offering a stark warning to all who continued to profit from enslavement elsewhere in the Americas. Born in Penzance, Harvey’s early calling as a Wesleyan preacher led him to undertake missionary work in Haiti in 1818-24. A key objective for Harvey’s book was to counter arguments of those who saw slaves as ‘destined by providence to live in subjection to us, and to administer to our pleasure’ (p. 216). On the contrary, Harvey saw in Haiti: ‘a people newly escaped from slavery’ and ‘laudably endeavouring to lay the foundation of an empire, which may perhaps be compared hereafter with nations the most celebrated for their civilization and refinement’. Harvey’s accounts of enslaved people are frequently couched in ways that rightly attract censure today on account of their paternalistic and racial undertones. Yet his promotion of racial equality and the Haitian state was an attempt to shape those debates that ultimately led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 and Britain’s prohibition of slavery.

For a follow up account of Harvey's Sketches of Hayti, please see the Librray blog post.

Author: William Woodis Harvey
Title: Sketches of Hayti (London, 1827)
Shelfmark: Y.1.8

We are grateful to the Friends of the National Libraries for their generous contribution toward the purchase of this copy for this exhibition.

Enslavement Harvey exhibition