L&T Archive 1998-2003

On servants and slaves

] Do you really believe that JA really appreciated our so- called inequalities in her society? i.e. servants, slavery etc.

It's important when thinking about JA to distinguish between her attitude to servants and to slavery. I think you're right when you say that she accepted the notion of the servant class, but there is evidence that she had a different attitude to slavery, much of which appears in the archives here, so I'll just summarise it.

] Is there any evidence that JA ever went to an industrial town, a coal mine or factory and saw the *real* inequalities there?

Probably not.

] Did she ever go to a plantation and see slavery first hand?

No, but she certainly knew someone who had: one of George Austen's students was from plantation-owning family in Antigua.

} Did she ever meet anyone who could have given her some anti-slavery information?

Almost certainly. Britain at her time was awash with anti-slavery information, since there was a massive campaign against it, particularly against the slave-trade. And she wrote that Thomas Clarkson, one of the leading Abolitionists, was one of her heroes. By the time she wrote Mansfield Park, the anti-slave trade sentiment in Britain was so strong that the British negotiators at the Congress of Vienna had to include the abolition of the European slave trade as one of their requirements for the Congress.

Messages In This Thread

Bad Jane..
Whitewashing JA
One possible cause?
Cassandra and Whitewashing
Actually, Cassandra is innocent of burning Jane's letters...
Thank you, Mary. News indeed1 NFM
Yes, Mary..have you got time for more?
"Time for more" about Caroline and Cassandra...
LOL! Thank you, Mary!
Re: Cassandra not burning letters..
Cassandra and the letters
What's The Problem
The problem is..
Is It, Then?
Oh, Jack!
Point Taken -- Sorry nfm
Basis for argument..?
Dear Aunt Jane
Jane the Impaler
Women are rational creatures
Really? Then you might enjoy...
Lovely Insights
As I said
A Bit Thin
Good or bad ?
What *is* wrong with having servants?
On servants and slaves
Thomas Clarkson
Follow this link
THE industrial town - depicted by Jane
And the town you are referring to is...? nfm
And the Answer Is
The Royal Naval Dockyard, Portsmouth
I take your point, but
Portsea
You got me! Good point. nfm
And another industrial site.....
You can't fool me! It's Lyme, of course. nfm
True, but
Hmm......
St Giles and Seven Dials
British public opinion in 1814
To be fair to the more egalitarian side
Another idea?
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery
Brought Up To It