Charles Stewart was a Scottish-born American merchant and customs officer who was the slaveowner in the Somersett Case, which effectively led to the outlawing of slavery in Britain in 1772.

Early career

Stewart was born in Scotland but emigrated to British America. He became a successful merchant in the port town of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He came to official notice during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

, when in 1762 a ship carrying

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

prisoners of war ran aground near Norfolk. An angry mob set upon the Spaniards, killing two before Stewart intervened to save the lives of the rest. This impressed the authorities, who rewarded him with a post in the customs service. He had risen to be Paymaster General of the American Customs Board by the time he sailed for Britain in 1769.

Somerset Case

In 1749 Stewart had purchased James Somerset a young slave boy recent enslaved in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

and brought across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Somerset learned

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

very quickly. Stewart dressed Somerset in more expensive clothes than his other slaves and took him to important business meetings. Stewart took Somerset with him when he went to Britain to help support his sister Cecilia, whose husband had recently died, and her family. Once in Britain, while working on business for Stewart, Somerset came into contact with a number of free blacks and white abolitionists. Motivated by a desire to secure his freedom, Somerset ran away from Stewart's home in October 1771. Stewart was angered and put up notices about his loss. After Somerset was recaptured in November 1771 he was gaoled aboard the '' Ann and Mary'', which was about to sail for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

where he was to be sold on. Before the ship departed, his abolitionist

godparents In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

challenged his detention on the grounds of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

. The Chief Justice

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

temporarily released Somerset while the two sides prepared their cases. Somerset's cause was taken up by

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...

, a leading abolitionist. Mansfield tried to persuade Stewart to free Somerset, as had happened in several similar recent incidents, thereby avoiding a potentially controversial legal case that might challenge the entire legality of slavery. Stewart refused, and his case was financed by planters in the

who wanted to force a ruling that they believed would confirm that slavery was legal. Although Mansfield indicated to them that he was likely to rule against them, they refused to back down. As a last resort Mansfield tried to persuade Somerset's godmother to buy him from Stewart and set him free, but she declined on principle.Blumrosen p.9-10 In his final ruling, Mansfield ordered that Somerset be discharged and concluded with an attack on the institution of slavery. Although he subsequently insisted his ruling had not entirely outlawed slavery in England, it was widely taken as such.

References

Bibliography

* Hochschild, Adam. ''Bury the Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery''. Macmillan, 2005. * Blumrosen, Alfred W. & Blumrosen, Ruth G. ''Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution''. Sourcebooks, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Charles American merchants American slave traders Scottish slave traders People from Norfolk, Virginia Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Year of death unknown Customs officials Year of birth unknown

Early career

Somerset Case

See also

References

Bibliography