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Napoleon Bonaparte was declared emperor of France in 1804, and the English statesman William Pitt sat across a dining table, each carving out a piece from a plum pudding in the shape of the world. "The diminutive Napoleon, rising from his seat to…

Image depicting a slave trading port in Savi, Benin.

John Gay's The Beggar's Opera uses caricature and parody to mock the corruption of both the upper class and the criminal underworld. Instead of noble heroes or virtuous leaders, Gay presents a world where thieves and politicians are barely…

Writing by John Newton in 1788 titled 'Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade'. 1st print.

The statue is in memory of Joseph Sturge at his home city of Birmingham, England.

This painting depicts the moment on June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress. The document stated the principles for which the Revolutionary War was being fought and which…

Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is a satirical essay where Swift suggests, with chilling seriousness, that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the rich. Swift used extreme irony and…

John Newton (1725-1807), Slave trader, clergyman and friend of the poet William Cowper.

These are excerpts from Joseph Sturge's book, A Visit to the United States in 1841, and they show what he saw on his visit to the United States. He promoted for the abolition of slavery in the U.S. especiallly after his visit.