Ottobah Cugoano’s importance in Britain’s cultural history derives from his treatise
Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Specieswhich was published in London in 1787.
In 1770, aged about 13, Cugoano was kidnapped by African slavers and shipped to Grenada where he was sold to a plantation owner named Alexander Campbell. Two years later, in 1772, Campbell took Cugano with him to London, and on 20 August 1773 he was baptized at St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, London, with the name John Stuart. The date of Cugoano’s arrival in London is significant since in June 1772, in the Court of the King’s Bench, Lord Mansfield had issued his judgement in the famous case of Somerset v. Steuart that there was no legal basis in English
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Citation: Clark, Robert. "Ottobah Cugoano". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 October 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14974, accessed 23 November 2024.]
