This Date in History: The British Empire Abolishes Slavery

From the African American Registry

On this date in 1834, the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which had been passed in 1833, became law, and slavery became illegal in the United Kingdom.

Slavery was an essential component of the economies of both Britain and the United States. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for transporting 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas through the Middle Passage. This was a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic. The 1807 law did not stop the British slave trade, however. An act making not just the slave trade but slavery itself illegal was passed in 1838.

However, the UK still participated in slavery. According to Wikipedia:

The act was legislated by Whig Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey‘s reforming administration, and it was enacted by ordering the British government to purchase the freedom of all slaves in the British Empire, and by outlawing the further practice of slavery in the British Empire. The Act explicitly delineated 19 separate pots of compensation covering the Caribbean, South Africa, and Mauritius. Although Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were technically included, these had relatively few slaves at this time for other reasons.

While the 1833 Act was a landmark, it did not end slavery throughout the entire British sphere of influence. The Act explicitly excluded territories like British India, where slavery was addressed separately by the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. In regions colonised later, such as Nigeria, the abolition of pre-existing local systems of slavery was a gradual process that extended into the early 20th century. Furthermore, in British protectorates, which retained their own local laws, the institution persisted for much longer. For example, slavery in Bahrain was not legally abolished until 1937.

Discover more Black history in our online galleries.

Or keep up to date with the latest Black news.