The Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire
“Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the First Day of May One thousand eight hundred and seven, the African Slave Trade, and all and all manner of dealing and trading in the Purchase, Sale, Barter, or Transfer of Slaves, or of Persons intended to be sold, transferred, used, or dealt with as Slaves, practiced or carried on, in, at, to or from any Part of the Coast or Countries of Africa, shall be, and the same is hereby utterly abolished, prohibited, and declared to be unlawful.”
– An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807
On March 25, 1807 the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade received Royal Assent and became law throughout the British Empire. It was the result of a long and arduous campaign in the British Parliament by an alliance of Evangelical Anglicans and Quakers led by William Wilberforce, M.P. (1759-1833).
The 1807 Act did not abolish slavery itself, but prohibited the traffic in slaves, and as such was an incremental step towards recognition of the damaging effects of slavery and towards the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833.
Upper Canada, now Ontario, was a pioneer in this movement. In 1793 Governor John Graves Simcoe passed the Anti-slavery Act. This law freed slaves aged 25 and over and made it illegal to bring slaves into Upper Canada, which became a safe haven for runaway slaves.
Simcoe’s law also made Upper Canada the first jurisdiction in the Empire to move toward the abolition of slavery. Between 1800 and 1865, approximately 20,000 black people escaped to British North America via the Underground Railroad.
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The Royal Navy and the Abolition of the Slave Trade:
www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3938
