Name:
School: St.Andrew High School for Girls
Date: September 2012-13
Candidate Number:
Teacher’s Name: Mrs. Blake-Newell

Acknowledgement
Firstly, the researcher would like to thank God for the Knowledge, wisdom and understanding needed to complete the assessment. Gratitude is expressed to the researcher’s family for moral support and last but not least, Mrs. Blake-Newell for her patience and guidance during the course of this task.

Research Question

To what extent is it true to say that the planters were the main reason why slavery was abolished British West Indies in 1834?

Table of Contents Rationale ……………………………………….……………… 1 Introduction ………………………………….………………... 2
The planters chose not to cooperate with British governments and decided to do what they wanted to do, forcing the British government to take a stand.

Summary of Findings Organized slavery had been introduced to the British West Indies by the mid 17th century. It was supported by colonial law and was the main source of labour for sugar production which was at the time the British West Indies’ main source of income. The planters got the slaves to submit to their orders by different ways and means which was why the abolitionists question was if slavery was of a moral background. These included the beating or whipping of the slaves, cutting off their limbs, placing the slaves in iron fetters and even killing them. This was why the abolitionists formed the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, hoping that by abolishing the slave trade, the planters would not be able to obtain any more slaves and would treat their remaining slaves better. The planters and the West India Lobby who feared competition from England’s new sugar producing colonies. St Lucia, Guiana and Trinidad were feared as they were new to the production of sugar and would have had fertile soil compared to the exhausted soils of the older colonies. They also acquired new machinery which would have enabled them to produce and export cheaper sugar to the