Slavery was outlawed in the British Empire in 1833 but was still thriving throughout most of the world seven years later. The abolitionist movement in Britain wanted their government to use the substantial influence of the British Empire to encourage the eradication of slavery worldwide. This movement was controversial because many powerful people in England were still making a lot of money, both directly and indirectly, from slave labor in the Americas. Especially in the United States where the persistence of slave labor provided cheap cotton for England’s newly industrialized manufacturing industry. Turner decided to use his influence as one of Britain’s most popular artists to support the abolitionist cause.
Turner’s success was based upon his power to antagonize emotion with his work. This power came from Turner’s ability to depict light and motion in ways no painter had ever done before. Early in his career he moved his audience with depictions of man struggling against nature’s overwhelming force. Later in his career he played to Britain’s nationalist sentiment by juxtaposing her past glories against the crushing weight of industrialization. But the kind of emotions invoked by The Slave Ship emerge nowhere else in Turner’s vast cannon. This time Turner was calling for horror, disgust, and outrage.
Most of what historians know about Turner’s personality and opinions has been inferred from his work and descriptions of him from friends and contemporaries. He was a quirky, aloof, and often enigmatic artist who had few friends but many acquaintances. He lived inside his own little world that he shared through his art.
Turner never vocally championed social causes because it wasn’t in his personality to do so. But with The Slave Ship he took a clear stance on an important issue in the only way he could. Turner knew the resonance his work would have with the British public and must have felt an obligation to do his part in the fight against slavery. In a career defined by artistic triumph, The Slave Ship stands alone as a work of moralistic triumph.