Accounts of the British Empire

Effects on the English

Sticking with the holistic, in-depth overview of the African Slave Trade Newton describes to the English public how the Slave Trade is a blight on their very own countrymen. Newton attempts to appeal from a political standpoint with the fact that they have suffered, and will continue to suffer, the rapid loss of so many seamen, something that "deserves the attention of a maritime peoples" (8). Newton continues with, "[T]he neighborhood of our sea-ports is continually drained, of men and boys, to supply the places of those who die abroad" (8-9). He lists several reasons as to the cause of such a great reduction of sailors: the number one reason being the fevers attained during the tedious rainy seasons abroad (9-10), ships being cutoff from their routes (8), the unusual diets the sailors must partake in while abroad (10), conflicts with the Natives over women (11), and insurrections orchestrated by the captured slaves (12). He finishes with saying that, "[A]t least, one fifth part of those who go from England to the Coast of Africa, in ships which trade for slaves, never return from thence" (12-13). Adding this section, albeit small in the entirety of the work, is a smart move by Newton as an attempt to appeal to readers that may be more apathetic to the plight inflicted on the Africans. Newton makes sure to inform his readers that the English, not just the Africans, have a very real and deadly stake in the Slave Trade.

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