Proscription by Degrees

The Abolition of the Slave Trade to the United States

Kenneth Morgan (Brunel University of London)

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Cambridge University Press
31 October 2025

History; History of the Americas

In this book, Kenneth Morgan provides the most comprehensive account of the abolition of the slave trade to the United States since W. E. B. Du Bois's 1896 The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870. Utilising a wider range of resources and exploring the economic, social, moral and political considerations, Morgan creates a multi-layered account that explains why abolition was a protracted affair that proceeded by degrees over nearly half a century. He appraises the role of abolitionist individuals, groups and societies in bringing abolition to the forefront of public discussion across North America, and the decisive role of the US Constitution and the Constitutional Convention that eventually led to proscription in 1808, which made abolition constitutionally possible.

By: Kenneth Morgan (Brunel University of London)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781009597920
ISBN 10: 1009597922
Pages: 276
Publication Date: 31 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

List of tables; List of abbreviations; Preface; Introduction: 1. Colonial restrictions on the slave trade, 1700–1774; 2. The slave trade and revolutionary North America, 1774–1787; 3. The US constitution, the debates over ratification, and the slave trade, 1787–1788; 4. Opposition to the slave trade in the early national period, 1789–1802; 5. Final controversies over the US slave trade, 1803–1807; Epilogue; Bibliography.

Kenneth Morgan is Professor of History at Brunel University of London. He is the author of Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America (2008) and A Short History of Transatlantic Slavery (2014).

Reviews for Proscription by Degrees: The Abolition of the Slave Trade to the United States

'In this deeply researched, well-written and accessible book, Kenneth Morgan highlights the dynamic, often erratic effort to end the slave trade to the US. Building on the pioneering work of W.E.B. DuBois, Morgan's work provides an important historical account of the movement to end the slave trade.' Julie L. Holcomb, author of Moral Commerce: Quakers and the Transatlantic Boycott of the Slave Labor Economy and editor of Quaker History 'This book offers by far the best guide through the maze of colonial, state, and federal legislation on the transatlantic slave trade. Kenneth Morgan has done the field a great favor.' Sean M. Kelley, Professor of History at the University of Essex. He is the author of American Slavers: Merchants, Mariners, and the Transatlantic Commerce in Captives, 1644–1865 'Proscription By Degrees is the most significant addition to scholarship on the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to have appeared in a great many years. Morgan's excellent book will become required reading for everyone interested in this subject.' Simon P. Newman, Professor Emeritus, University of Glasgow. He is the author of Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London