Chart of the World on Mercator's Projection: Illustrative of the Impolicy of Slavery
- Title:
- Chart of the World on Mercator's Projection: Illustrative of the Impolicy of Slavery
- Alternate Title:
- The Impolicy of Slavery
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Cropper, James, 1773-1840
- Other Creators:
- J. Cross, publisher
- Date:
- 1823
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1039.01
- File Name:
- PJM_1039_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1800 - 1869
- Materials/Techniques:
- color printing
- Subject:
- Unusual Graphics/Text
Slavery/Race - Measurement:
- 10.5 x 18.5 on sheet 21 x 25.5 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This polemic map argues that import prohibitions and high duties on sugar were artificially inflating prices and inhibiting manufacturing in England. It was published by J. Cross, but the anonymous author of the map was soon identified as James Cropper, a successful and wealthy Quaker merchant, philanthropist and disciple of Adam Smith. Cropper was a major force in the anti-slavery movement and believed that eliminating tariff protections would lead to the end of slave labour in the West Indies. Venebles (DNB); Davis 1961, 154-55.
The map was first published in the Liverpool Mercury in October 1823. It was republished in the Kaleidoscope Or Literary and Scientific Mirror in June 1824 and in several other publications through 1828. As explained in the legend, the tiny red dots in the Western Hemisphere represent Jamaica and the other West Indian sugar-producing colonies of England. While sugar may be grown in vast reaches of the world 30 degrees north and south of the equator - including India, shown in pink as "Hindostan" -- import of that sugar into Britain was effectively barred, either directly or by prohibitive duties. Because sugar was an important commodity not only for food but for certain chemical processes, Cropper argued that these restrictions, "imposed for the exclusive protection and support of slave cultivation in the West Indian colonies," were constraining "British manufactures, to an extent that would give employment to all the destitute population of Ireland and Great Britain." Apart from the employment opportunities lost, Cropper put the cost of the trade barriers at 1.2 million pounds annually.
Cropper had interests in East Indian sugar and therefore stood to benefit from the reduction of tariffs, which colored his role in the abolition movement. Nevertheless, Cropper "may be one of those occasional cases in which conduct is not primarily influenced by self interest." (Major 2012, 306, quoting L. J. Ragatz
see Davis 1961). He we went on to play an important part in passage of the cornerstone Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 and in uniting the efforts of British and American anti-slavery organizations. "In Cropper's mind the intensity of Quaker Quietism had fused with the economic optimism of Adam Smith. Anti-slavery confirmed this union, endowing laissez-faire with an immediate moral and spiritual purpose, and enriching his faith in the inevitability of human progress." (Davis 173).
For other polemic maps regarding the economics of slavery, see ID # 1064 and 1065.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Liverpool Mercury, October 31, 1823.
- Repository:
- Private Collection of PJ Mode
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.