The counter-revolutionary Atlantic: white West Indian petitions and proslavery networks

Following recent research into imperial networks and their materialities, this paper addresses the geographies of the early-modern Atlantic. Its focus is the defensive response of white West Indian colonists to the emergence of popular antislavery sentiment in Britain during the ‘age of abolition’ (c. 1780–1833), which led to the increasing marginalization of slave-holding interests. This response included the production of corporate legislative petitions that sought to prevent or delay the reform of slavery. The paper argues that these petitions should be understood not as rhetorical forms of ‘influence’ that can be analysed in terms of their language, but as material objects whose potential efficacy derived from how, and in what textual company, they travelled. Tracing these material networks of petitioning provides a means to operationalize ‘circum-Atlantic’ perspectives and thus explore the spaces of the Atlantic. The paper also considers how theories of creolization, which underpin much thinking about the Atlantic, might be informed by a consideration of these petitionary networks.

L'Atlantique contre-révolutionnaire: les demandes des blancs des Antilles et les réseaux favorables à l'esclavagisme

Cet article fait suite aux recherches récentes effectuées sur les réseaux impériaux et leurs matérialités et s'intéresse aux géographies du début de l'époque moderne de l'Atlantique. Il met l'accent sur la réaction défensive des colons blancs des Antilles devant l'arrivée du sentiment populaire anti-esclavagiste en Angleterre pendant «l'ère abolitionniste» (1780–1833) qui a contribué à la marginalisation des propriétaires d'esclaves. Cette réaction comprenait des pétitions légales relevant de sociétés privées dont le but était d'empêcher ou de retarder le projet de réforme de l'esclavagisme. Cet article montre que ces pétitions ne devraient pas être vues comme des formes rhétoriques «d'influence» pouvant s'analyser en fonction de leurs modes linguistiques, mais comme des objets matériels dont la capacité de rendement résultait des manières et des formats textuels par lesquels elles pouvaient voyager. Remonter jusqu'aux réseaux concrets qui ont permis de protester par des pétitions est un moyen d'opérationnaliser les approches «circon-Atlantique» et d'explorer ainsi les espaces de l'Atlantique. Par ailleurs, l'article tente de montrer comment l'étude de ces réseaux de pétitions peut éclairer les théories de la créolisation qui sous-tendent la plupart des réflexions sur l'Atlantique.

El Atlántico contra-revolucionario: peticiones y organizaciones a favor de la esclavitud de la gente blanca de las Antillas

Con referencia a las recientes investigaciones de redes imperiales y su aspecto material, este papel trata las geografías del antiguo atlántico moderno. Se centra en la reacción defensiva de los colonos blancos de las Antillas al surgimiento del sentimiento popular antiesclavitud en Gran Bretaña durante ‘la era de la abolición’ (c. 1780–1833), que dio lugar a una marginación cada vez mayor de los intereses de los negreros. La producción de peticiones colectivas legislativas para tratar de impedir o retrasar la reforma de la esclavitud formó parte de esta reacción. Este papel sugiere que hay que ver estas peticiones no como formas retóricas de ‘influencia’ que se puede analizar por su lenguaje sino más bien como objetos materiales, la eficacia potencial de los cuales viene de cómo, y en qué compañía textual se viajaban. Un análisis del origen de estas redes materiales de peticionar posibilita el funcionamiento de perspectivas ‘circum-atlánticas’ y, por consiguiente, una exploración de los espacios del Atlántico. El papel también considera como teorías de criollización que son fundamentales al pensamiento actual sobre el Atlántico pueden ser informadas por un estudio de estas redes de peticionar.     

“The Strength that Union Gives”: Western Women and Pragmatic Antislavery Politics

Western female antislavery organizations, including the Ohio State Female Anti‐Slavery Society, were characterized by pragmatism and cooperation. Unlike many eastern female antislavery societies, those in the old northwest organized at the local, county, and state levels to form a unified and inclusive antislavery voice. Movement leaders such as Betsey Mix Cowles, Lucy Wright, and Maria Sturges developed shrewd antislavery tactics that appeared to be well within the range of female activity but nonetheless challenged the social and legal status quo in ways that had political manifestations. The Ohio women engaged in a variety of local activities, including concerts, publications, education, and petitions that both nourished their own sense of accomplishment and raised the visibility of abolitionism. By combining their cooperative approach with a subtle political agenda, the women of Ohio initiated a campaign that would have a long‐term influence on antislavery and politics across the North.     

In Search of ‘Affectionate Regard’: American Merchant Lobbies and the State during the Atlantic Imperial Crisis*

This article revisits the politics of British merchants trading to North America in the period between 1763 and 1783. Their political success and failure in this critical period have been examined primarily in terms of their impact on the escalation of imperial crisis, with the day‐to‐day operation of merchant politics rarely taken into full account. This article takes an alternative approach of studying the political influence of merchants trading to North America within the context of their interaction with the state. By looking into the organisation, the process of lobbying, and the arguments that the merchants adopted, the article highlights how, in response to many sources of tension and uncertainty inherent within their relationship with the state, they demarcated their own areas of contribution to the shaping of commercial and colonial policy. Through the case study of merchants trading to North America, this article sheds further light on the necessity to understand the evolution of such modern political institutions as commercial lobbies in their specific economic and political contexts.