World Anti-Slavery Convention
The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organized by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exclusion of women from the convention gave a great impetus to the women's suffrage movement in the United States.
Background
The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was principally a Quaker society founded in the eighteenth century by Thomas Clarkson. The slave trade had been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1807. In August 1833 the British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act, advocated by William Wilberforce, which abolished slavery in the British Empire from August 1834, when some 800,000 people in the British empire became free.Similarly, in the 1830s many women and men in America acted on their religious convictions and moral outrage to become a part of the abolitionist movement. Many women in particular responded to William Lloyd Garrison's invitation to become involved in the American Anti-Slavery Society. They were heavily involved, attending meetings and writing petitions. Arthur Tappan and other conservative members of the society objected to women engaging in politics publicly.
Given the perceived need for a society to campaign for anti-slavery worldwide, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was accordingly founded in 1839. One of its first significant deeds was to organize the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840: "Our expectations, we confess, were high, and the reality did not disappoint them." The preparations for this event had begun in 1839, when the Society circulated an advertisement inviting delegates to participate in the convention. Over 200 of the official delegates were British. The next largest group was the Americans, with around 50 delegates. Only small numbers of delegates from other nations attended.
Benjamin Robert Haydon painted The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840, a year after the event that today is in the National Portrait Gallery. This very large and detailed work shows Alexander as Treasurer of the new Society. The painting portrays the 1840 meeting and was completed the next year. The new society's mission was "The universal extinction of slavery and the slave trade and the protection of the rights and interests of the enfranchised population in the British possessions and of all persons captured as slaves."
The question of women's participation
The circular message, distributed in 1839 provoked a controversial response from some American opponents of slavery. The Garrisonian faction supported the participation of women in the anti-slavery movement. They were opposed by the supporters of Arthur and Lewis Tappan. When the latter group sent a message to the BFASS opposing the inclusion of women, a second circular was issued in February 1840 which explicitly stated that the meeting was limited to "gentlemen".Despite the statement that women would not be admitted, many American and British female abolitionists, including Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lady Byron, appeared at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Wendell Phillips proposed that female delegates should be admitted, and much of the first day of the convention was devoted to discussing whether they should be allowed to participate. Published reports from the convention noted "The upper end and one side of the room were appropriated to ladies, of whom a considerable number were present, including several female abolitionist from the United States." The women were allowed to watch and listen from the spectators gallery but could not take part.
In sympathy with the excluded women, the Americans William Garrison, Charles Lenox Remond, Nathaniel P. Rogers, and William Adams refused to take their seat as delegates as well, and joined the women in the spectator's gallery.
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who eight years later organized the Seneca Falls Convention, met at this Convention.
Proceedings (incomplete)
The convention's organising committee had asked the Reverend Benjamin Godwin to prepare a paper on the ethics of slavery. The convention unanimously accepted his paper, which condemned not just slavery but also the world's religious leaders and every community who had failed to condemn the practise. The convention resolved to write to every religious leader to share this view. The convention called on every religious communities to eject any supporters of slavery from their midst.George William Alexander reported on his visits in 1839, with James Whitehorn, to Sweden and the Netherlands to discuss the conditions of slaves in the Dutch colonies and in Suriname. In Suriname, he reported, there were over 100,000 slaves with an annual attrition rate of twenty per cent. The convention prepared open letters of protest to the respective sovereigns.
Joseph Pease spoke and accused the British government of being complicit in the continuing existence of slavery in India.
Legacy
After leaving the convention on the first day, being denied full access to the proceedings, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton "walked home arm in arm, commenting on the incidents of the day, we resolved to hold a convention as soon as we returned home, and form a society to advocate the rights of women." Eight years later they hosted the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York.One hundred years later, the Women's Centennial Congress was held in America to celebrate the progress that women had made since they were prevented from speaking at this conference.
Incomplete list of delegates (and women who attended)
The official list of delegates has 493 names.| Delegate | Country | In painting? | Comments |
| Prof William Adam | UK | very top right | Professor |
| Edward Adey | UK | very far right | Baptist Minister |
| George William Alexander | UK | left | Financier |
| Richard Allen | Ireland | right | Philanthropist |
| Stafford Allen | UK | left mid | Philanthropist |
| William Allen | UK | front mid left | Scientist |
| Sir Edward Baines | UK | left | Member of Parliament |
| Edward Baldwin | UK | right front | Former Attorney-General of New South Wales |
| Saxe Bannister | UK | right | Pamphleteer |
| Edward Barrett | US | far right | Former Slave |
| Richard Barrett | Jamaica | very far right | |
| Isaac Bass | UK | far right | |
| Henry Beckford | Jamaica | front centre | Former Slave |
| Abraham Beaumont | UK | left | |
| Mrs John Beaumont | UK | front far right | |
| William Beaumont | UK | left | |
| George Bennett | UK | right front | |
| Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney | UK | far right | Minister |
| James Gillespie Birney | US | left | Attorney |
| John Birt | US | back far right | |
| Jonathan Backhouse | UK | left | Banker |
| W. T. Blair | UK | mid | |
| William Boulbee | UK | far right | |
| Samuel Bowly | UK | far left back | Advocate |
| George Bradburn | US | left | Minister |
| William Brock | UK | rbbb | Minister |
| John Burnet | UK | mid | Minister |
| Anne Isabella, Lady Byron | UK | bonneted far right | |
| Tapper Cadbury | UK | right back row | Businessman |
| Mary Clarkson | UK | bonnet left | Speaker's daughter in law |
| Thomas Clarkson | UK | main speaker | Abolitionist Speaker |
| Nathaniel Colver | US | right | Minister |
| Josiah Conder | UK | ? | Author |
| Daniel O'Connell | Ireland | far left | Member of Parliament |
| Francis Augustus Cox | UK | left | Minister |
| Isaac Crewdson | UK | back row | Minister |
| John Cropper | UK | right front | Philanthropist |
| William Dawes | UK | far left | Royal Marine Officer |
| James Dean | US? | ? | Professor |
| Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet | UK | mid left | Member of Parliament |
| Joseph Eaton | UK | ? | |
| John Ellis | UK | far right | Member of Parliament |
| William Forster | UK | front | Minister |
| Josiah Forster | UK | front mid right | Philanthropist |
| Wm. Lloyd Garrison | US | no | Journalist, publisher |
| Samuel Gurney | UK | under speaker | Banker |
| George Head Head | UK | Front right | Banker |
| François-André Isambert | France | mid | Lawyer |
| Rev. John Keep | US | ? | Minister; trustee of Oberlin College |
| William Knibb | Jamaica | front mid right | Minister |
| Samuel Jackman Prescod | Barbados | front middle | Journalist |
| William Morgan | UK | middle front | Lawyer |
| William Harris Murch | UK | yes | Minister |
| John Scoble | Canada | front right | Lawyer |
| Joseph Ketley | Guyana | front right | Minister |
| George Stacey | UK | front | Minister |
| George Thompson | UK & US | front mid right | Member of Parliament |
| J. Harfield Tredgold | South Africa | under speaker | Chemist |
| Stephen Lushington | UK | left | Member of Parliament |
| Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet | UK | left | Member of Parliament |
| Benjamin Godwin | UK | mid | Minister |
| Vice Admiral Constantine Richard Moorsom | UK | left | Royal Navy Officer |
| William Taylor | UK | mid | |
| John Morrison | UK | mid | |
| Dr George Prince | UK | ? | |
| Joseph Soul | UK | ??? | Reformer |
| Joseph Sturge | UK | left front | Minister |
| James Whitehorne | Jamaica | ? | |
| Joseph Marriage | UK | left front | |
| William Leatham | UK | left | Banker |
| Samuel Lucas | UK | left | Journalist |
| Samuel Fox | UK | left back | |
| Louis Celeste Lecesne | UK | left back | |
| Robert Greville | UK | far left | Botanist |
| Joseph Pease | UK | mid right | Minister |
| William Tatum | UK | right | |
| Richard D. Webb | Ireland | right | Publisher |
| Rev. Thomas Scales | UK | right front | Minister |
| William James | UK | right | Minister |
| William Wilson | UK | right | |
| Rev. Thomas Swan | UK | right | Baptist Minister |
| Rev. Edward Steane | UK | right | Minister |
| Colonel Jonathon Miller | US | right front | United States Army Officer |
| Captain Charles Stuart | Jamaica | right | Royal Navy Officer |
| Sir John Jeremie | Colonies | rbbb | Judge |
| Charles Stovel | UK | far right front | Minister |
| Richard Peek | UK | far right front | Sheriff of London |
| John Sturge | UK | far right | |
| Robert Forster | UK | very far right | Philanthropist |
| Elon Galusha | US | right | Lawyer |
| Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor | US | far right | Minister |
| Henry Sterry | UK | far right | |
| Peter Clare | UK | far right | |
| Rev. J.H. Johnson | UK | far right | |
| Dr. Thomas Price | UK | far right | |
| Joseph Reynolds | UK | far right | |
| Samuel Wheeler | UK | far right | |
| Wiliam Fairbank | UK | far right | |
| Rev. John Woodmark | UK | far right | |
| William Smeal | UK | far right | Minister |
| James Carlile | Ireland | far right | Minister |
| John Howard Hinton | UK | far right | Minister |
| John Angell James | Ireland | far right | Minister |
| Joseph Cooper | UK | far right | |
| Dr. Richard Robert Madden | Ireland/ Jamaica | far right | Doctor |
| Alderman Thomas Bulley | UK | far right | |
| Isaac Hodgson | UK | far right | |
| Edward Smith | UK | far right | |
| Sir John Bowring | UK | far right | Member of Parliament |
| Anne Knight | UK | bonneted far right | Wright |
| C. Edwards Lester | US | far right | Writer |
| Thomas Pinches | ? | far right | |
| David Turnbull | UK | far right | Author |
| John Steer | UK | very far right | |
| Henry Tuckett | UK | very far right | |
| James Mott | US | very far right | Merchant |
| Richard Rathbone | UK | very far right | Businessman |
| Wendell Phillips | US | very far right | Attorney |
| M. L'Instant | Haiti | front far right | |
| Henry Stanton | US | front far right | Attorney |
| Mrs Elizabeth Tredgold | South African | back row right | |
| T.M. McDonnell | UK | very far right | Minister |
| Mary Anne Rawson | UK | far right | |
| Elizabeth Pease | UK | very far right | Suffragist |
| Jacob Post | UK | very far right | Minister |
| Amelia Opie | UK | front far right | Novelist |
| Rev. Thomas Morgan | UK | mid right | Minister |
| Elizabeth Cady Stanton | US | No | married to Henry Stanton |
| Elizabeth Jesser Reid | ?? | No | |
| Norton Strange Townshend | US | No | Doctor |
| Rev. A Harvey | UK | No | Minister |
| Mary Grew | US | No | |
| Lucretia Mott | US | No | |
| Eliza Wigham | UK | No | |
| Abby Southwick | US | No | |
| Henry Grew | US | No | Teacher |
| Elizabeth Ann Ashurst Bardonneau | UK | No | |
| William H. Ashurst | UK | No | Solicitor |
| Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet | UK | No | Member of Parliament |
| Thomas Hodgkin | UK | No | Doctor |
| William Busfield | UK | No | Member of Parliament |
| Ellis Cunliffe Lister | UK | No | Member of Parliament |
| Gerrit Smith | UK | No | Philanthropist |
| James Canning Fuller | US | No | |
| Samuel Joseph May | US | No | Minister |
| John Greenleaf Whittier | US | No | Poet |
| Cornelius Manning | UK | No | Philanthropist |
| Charles Pelham Villiers | UK | No | Member of Parliament |
| Matilda Ashurst Biggs | UK | No | |
| Lucy Townsend | UK | No | |
| Elizabeth Neall | US | No | |
| Ann Greene Phillips | US | No | |
| Charles Lenox Remond | US | No | Freeman |
| Nathaniel Peabody Rogers | US | No | Publisher |
| Benjamin Barron Wiffen | UK | No | Businessman |
| Emily Winslow | US | No | |
| Isaac Winslow | US | No | Politician |