Edexcel A-Level History 9HI0
The Crusades, c1095–1204Paper 1
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and ReligionPaper 1
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and SettlementPaper 1
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and ReformPaper 1
Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to YeltsinPaper 1
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96Paper 1
Germany and West Germany, 1918–89Paper 1
Britain Transformed, 1918–97Paper 1
Anglo-Saxon England and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, c1053–1106Paper 2
England and the Angevin Empire in the Reign of Henry II, 1154–89Paper 2
Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55Paper 2
The Dutch Revolt, c1563–1609Paper 2
France in Revolution, 1774–99Paper 2
Russia in Revolution, 1894–1924Paper 2
The Unification of Italy, c1830–70Paper 2
The Unification of Germany, c1840–71Paper 2
Mao’s China, 1949–76Paper 2
The German Democratic Republic, 1949–90Paper 2
India, c1914–48: The Road to IndependencePaper 2
South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’Paper 2
The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy, c1911–46Paper 2
Spain, 1930–78: Republicanism, Francoism and the Re-Establishment of DemocracyPaper 2
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and RecoveryPaper 2
The USA, 1955–92: Conformity and ChallengePaper 2
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399–1509Paper 3
Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors, 1485–1603Paper 3
The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750Paper 3
Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain, 1759–1928: Forging a New SocietyPaper 3
Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780–1939Paper 3
Britain: Losing and Gaining an Empire, 1763–1914Paper 3
The British Experience of Warfare, c1790–1918Paper 3
Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780–1928Paper 3
Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923Paper 3
The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and RealityPaper 3
Germany, 1871–1990: United, Divided and ReunitedPaper 3
The Making of Modern Russia, 1855–1991Paper 3
The Making of Modern China, 1860–1997Paper 3
Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850–2009Paper 3
Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882–2004Paper 3
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform
Economic and financial factors in abolition
- 3 things to know
- Paper 1
Overview
Recall questions on Adam Smith's argument, the Williams thesis and Drescher's reply, the weakening West Indian interest, and the cost of compensation and suppression.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What evidence is used against the Williams thesis?
How had the West Indian interest weakened by the 1820s?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What was the economic argument against slavery associated with Adam Smith?
Model answer
That slave labour was more expensive than free labour because the slave had no incentive to work well, so slavery was inefficient as well as unjust.
- 2
What is the Williams thesis?
Model answer
Eric Williams's argument that abolition followed the declining profitability of the West Indies and the rise of industrial capitalism, so economic interest rather than humanity drove it.
- 3
What evidence is used against the Williams thesis?
Model answer
Seymour Drescher showed the British slave economy was expanding, not declining, when the trade was abolished, so Britain destroyed a profitable system.
- 4
How had the West Indian interest weakened by the 1820s?
Model answer
Sugar prices fell, competition from Cuba and Brazil grew, absentee planters were heavily indebted, and the group's political weight in parliament declined.
- 5
How did compensation shape the 1833 Act?
Model answer
£20 million, about 40 per cent of annual government expenditure, was paid to slave owners, and the apprenticeship system kept the freed working unpaid for years afterwards.
- 6
How did free trade arguments affect the sugar colonies?
Model answer
The equalisation of sugar duties in 1846 exposed West Indian producers to competition from slave-grown Cuban and Brazilian sugar, which they had long resisted.
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