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Every Case Tells a Story

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Factual: Crime & Justice

Clive Anderson presents a legal discussion series.

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Every Case Tells a Story: The Case Against Slavery

08/06/2015

The Case Against Slavery

BBC Radio 4 - Every Case Tells a Story, The Case Against Slavery

Clive Anderson and guests explore the Somersett Case from 1772.

Clive Anderson and guests explore the Somersett Case from 1772, which paved the way for the abolition of the slave trade.

Clive Anderson looks at a variety of famous and infamous court cases and retells the story that the case brought into the public eye.

In this programme he explores the Somersett Case from 1772.

James Somersett was an escaped slave in London. His master Charles Stuart tracked him down and tried to transport him back to the Caribbean to be sold. The court case that ensued, in which defenders of James Somersett argued in front of the most powerful judge in the country, Lord Justice Mansfield, that a human being cannot be forced out of the country against their will would go on to pave the way for the abolition of the slave trade a generation later.

Featuring Amma Asante, Professor Norman Poser, Professor James Walvin and Steven M. Wise.

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