Abolishing slavery

sir – To hear some of the recent student rants one might suppose that the British had invented slavery, yet it is as old as history.

In Genesis, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, as a result of which the Israelites were firmly under slavery in Egypt by about 1700 BC. In Exodus 20, after delivering the Ten Commandments to Moses, God gave him a set of rules for the treatment of slaves, implying that slavery had already been around for long enough to have become abused and to need some regulation.

What we must now recognise is that, in the early 19th century, our national conscience was awoken by such figures as Thomas Clarkson and John Newton, who persuaded the influential Member for Hull, William Wilberforce, to fight for the abolition of trading in slaves through Parliament. This was finally achieved in two stages in 1807 and 1833, against the most powerful self-interest.

That Britain, which at the time was probably deriving more benefit than any other nation from the fruits of the slave trade, should have had the courage to lead the world in renouncing the practice, while accepting the enormous economic penalties, is something of which we should be proud. Ted Wilson

Hucclecote, Gloucestershire

sir – With regard to anti-slavery reparations, perhaps we could pay them from the money the Danes must owe us for the Viking raids and eventual occupation, not to mention the Italian reparations owed us for our occupation and enslavement by the Roman Empire, and the slave raids against this country mounted by the “Moorish” states.

Of course, perhaps we could also deduct the cost of maintaining the West Africa Squadron for several decades, at considerable expense, which attempted to prevent the international slave trade despite considerable opposition. Peter Davey

Bournemouth, Dorset