The abolitionist lobby wielded political clout over Egyptian and East African policy

Evidence

The primary accuser was the aggressive British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in London, which took full advantage of its political clout to lobby for particular British policies in Egypt and East Africa. The Society’s influence eventually reached so far that it felt itself able to pressure and petition Khedive Ismä`ïl directly when it learned of his plans to expand Egyptian influence along the Nile. In one petition, the members of the Society praised the khedive for statements he had made against the slave trade in 1867, but questioned the lack of movement toward abolition of the institution since that time. The members of the Society chose their words carefully in addressing a ruler whose goal of raising Egypt to the level of Europe were well-known. In crushing the trade in slaves, they informed him, “Your Highness would thus become the pioneer of liberty, and Egypt[,] being a land of freedom[,] would take rank among the most civilized nations of the world.” — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 657

Categorization

• XREF: Shows how humanitarian discourse was instrumentally deployed against Egypt - relevant to colonial framing that cast Egypt itself as needing rescue or as partial colonizer of Sudan.