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The article explores how colonial labor systems in British crown colonies were influenced by state policies and the actions of enslaved Africans during the late stages of slavery.

March 26, 2026Open Access

‘To Go and Look for Law’: Late-Stage Slavery, Amelioration, and the Colonial State in the British Crown Colonies

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Key Points

The article explores how colonial labor systems in British crown colonies were influenced by state policies and the actions of enslaved Africans during the late stages of slavery.
Analyzed the policies of amelioration in British crown colonies acquired during the Napoleonic Wars.
Examined historical records to assess the dynamics between the state and enslaved Africans.
Investigated the structural foundations of post-emancipation rule as influenced by colonial labor discipline.
Identified the reciprocal construction of authority between rulers and the ruled in colonial labor systems.
Highlighted the impact of amelioration policies on the social and legal dynamics following slavery's end.
Demonstrated how responses from enslaved Africans shaped the implementation of state oversight.

Abstract

Focusing on the crown colonies acquired by Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, this article examines the integration of state oversight with colonial labor discipline during the final decades of slavery. The structural foundations post-emancipation rule in the crown colonies were laid by the policies of amelioration, but the social, cultural, and legal dynamics built on these foundations were profoundly shaped by the responses of enslaved Africans. The role of the state in these colonial labor systems was thus reciprocally constructed by the rulers and the ruled, albeit from vastly asymmetrical positions of authority.

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Sascha Auerbach

University of Nottingham

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‘To Go and Look for Law’: Late-Stage Slavery, Amelioration, and the Colonial State in the British Crown Colonies

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