Abolition

Precursors


Image: The First Reformed House of Commons (Hayter, 1833).

The 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and 1811 Slave Trade Felony Act were failed precursors to the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.

“Legislation was finally passed in both the Commons and the Lords which brought an end to Britain's involvement in the trade...It was now against the law for any British ship or British subject to trade in enslaved people.”
— Royal Museums Greenwich ("How Did the Slave...", 2021).
“Although the abolitionists had won the end of Britain's involvement in the trade, plantation slavery still existed in British colonies.”
— Royal Museums Greenwich ("How Did the Slave...", 2021).

Beginning in 1808, the Royal Navy's West African Squadron patrolled the African coast to deter slave smuggling, but slavers evaded this by falsely using Spanish or Portuguese flags, countries where slavery remained legal (“Great Britain Abolishes Slavery: 1833”, 2014).

Image: HMS Dido, part of Royal Navy's West African squadron (Goldsworthy, 1845).

“With lucrative gains to be made, trafficking between Caribbean Islands would persist for several years. By 1811, a new law would help to curb this practice somewhat with the introduction of Slave Trade Felony Act which made slavery a felony.”
— Jessica Brain, Historic UK (Brain, 2019).
The 1807 and 1811 Acts hedged around the abolition of British slavery — trafficking remained common and slavery was not abolished — demanding more legislation leading to the turning point: The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

The Turning Point Challenges

(Slaves Cutting the Sugar Cane, 1823).