1789: Pro-slavery writer Robert Norris published a short account of the slave trade arguing that the widespread practice of polygamy in Africa made the conti…

1789: Pro-slavery writer Robert Norris published a short account of the slave trade arguing that the widespread practice of polygamy in Africa made the continent an inexhaustible source of surplus inhabitants. He claimed that the trans-Atlantic traffic actually “rescued” millions from certain death in their own country, portraying the trade as a beneficial enterprise sanctioned by the state and clergy. Norris criticized the emerging abolitionist movement, characterizing the proposed restrictions on the trade as an infringement on the rights of British planters and manufacturers. His work reflects the deeply entrenched moral and economic justifications used by the slave-trading interest to resist the growing call for regulation.