FROSSARD, Benjamin-Sigismond.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

La cause des esclaves nègres et des habitans de la Guinée, First edition, a superb uncut copy, of this "esteemed and valuable work, and one of the earliest on the evils of the slave trade" (Sabin). "Of all the books... written in the early days of the French anti-slavery movement, Frossard's careful two-volume survey of the history of the trade and its iniquities was by far the best. The author, a Protestant minister, had been awarded an honorary degree by Oxford in 1784, and while he was in England had become acquainted with the philanthropists there who were fighting slavery. La cause discussed the political and moral implications of slavery with eloquence" (Library Company of Philadelphia, p. 24). Frossard rejects the idea of a "barbaric" Africa and emphasizes the incompatibility of Christian doctrine and slavery. He also traces the history of transatlantic slavery and argues that emancipation could be achieved without harming the colonies. Echoing Adam Smith, he argues that slave labour is less profitable than free labour.

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