Hannah More was a religious British playwright, abolitionist and philanthropist born in 1745. In reading her poem entitled Slavery, it is clear how strong her thoughts were on the disgusting trade of humans from Africa. She was a voice for the abolition of slavery which eventually came in 1807.

It is very modern to view people who are conscious of the suffering of one group of people to express a similar approach to other groups, for example the poor or women. Indeed when Simone de Beauvoir wrote of the state of women in The Second Sex, she frequently compared women’s rights to those of black people and the poor. In the case of Hannah More however that is not right.

Hannah More did not believe that the poor should be taught to read, for they should not rise up above their station. In a letter to the Bishop of Bath and Wells she wrote  ...