Kmflett's Blog

Britannia’s sons,though slaves ye be,

God your Creator made you free,

He, life and thought and being gave,

But never,never made a slave.

All men are equal in his sight,

The bond,the free, the black, the white,

He made them all, them freedom gave,

He made the man- Man made the slave

These words attributed to the Chartist Thomas Cooper, were sung at a Yorkshire Chartist camp open air meeting in February 1848 held to support the French Revolution of that year. They are quoted in the Dignity of Chartism, a collection of the writings of the late socialist and feminist historian Dorothy Thompson.

The references to God are a reminder of the strong religious element to some of English radicalism (much criticised by Engels) although there was also a freethough tradition associated with the followers of Robert Owen. The emphasis on ‘men’ is a reminder too that while there were many female Chartists the immediate demand was for adult male suffrage.

Finally as Rule Britannia is sung at the Last Night of the Proms  these words remind us that many saw slavery relating to the labour relationship and to black and white even in 1848..