Abstract
Through analysis of the Church of England’s Incorporated Society for the Conversion andReligious Instruction and Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West India Islands (The
Conversion Society) and the Anglican Evangelical Church Missionary Society (CMS), this
thesis demonstrates how Anglican missionary societies developed a version of amelioration in
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, prior to its official political implementation in
the 1820s. It considers how their actions and motivations shaped the system of colonial slavery
in the Anglophone Caribbean and how they became vehicles of proslavery Christianity. To do
so, it undertakes quantitative and qualitative analysis of sources from both Britain and the
Caribbean. Firstly, it examines the financial support of both societies in Britain to determine
the extent to which the West India Interest supported them, and to consider how much influence
donors had. Secondly, it assesses how Anglican missionaries functioned in the West Indies,
including schooling systems and through daily interactions with enslaved people. The
motivations of the missionary societies and their funders reveal important aspects of both the
Church of England, and the British Government’s attitudes towards colonial slavery,
determining that Anglican missionaries became ameliorative advocates for the British
Government, ultimately working to prolong emancipation. Concurrently, examinations of
interactions between missionary and enslaved people reveal new ideas about enslaved people’s
religious experiences in the British Caribbean. This leads to the argument that while Anglican
missionaries were integral to the British Government’s plans for amelioration, enslaved
people’s decisions shaped the extent to which their objectives were achieved.
| Date of Award | 23 Jan 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Hilary M Carey (Supervisor) & Jessica Moody (Supervisor) |