When did Britain abolish slavery?
Britain abolished the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 abolished slavery in most of the British Empire, taking effect in 1834. Full freedom for most enslaved people came in 1838.
British merchants and ships were heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, transporting millions of enslaved Africans to the Americas. Ports such as Liverpool, Bristol and London profited from the trade.
Campaigners such as William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano, a formerly enslaved writer, worked to end the trade.
Abolition and compensation
The Slave Trade Act of 1807 made it illegal to trade enslaved people in the British Empire. However, slavery itself continued.
The 1833 act freed enslaved people, but many were forced to work as apprentices for several more years. Slave owners received large compensation payments from the government, while enslaved people received nothing.
The loan used to fund the compensation was not fully paid off until 2015.
Uprisings by enslaved people, such as the 1831 rebellion in Jamaica, also helped push abolition forward. The history of slavery is remembered at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool.