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Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade

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Act of Parliament, finally passed 25 March 1807.


Campaign against Slave Trade

One of the leading figures fighting against slavery was William Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons since 1780. Together with Thomas Clarkson, a schoolteacher, he lead a group of educated and political influential men. The 'Society for Effecting the Abolition of Slave Trade' (short: 'Abolition Society') understood the fight against slavery as a Christian commandment and with their wide spread campaign, they managed to put pressure on Parliament. As a result of their early work, even as early as 1787, a petition in Manchester proved two thirds of the male citizens being against slavery. In 1792, 592 petitions showed approximately 400.000 subscriptions. In 1833, 1.500.000 people supported Wilberforce's ideas.

Wilberforce and his followers did not only give the people the bare facts but they also addressed the people's emotion. For example, Joshua Wedgewood, a porcelain manufracturer, had a mass-production of a little medal that showed an African man - chained hands pointing towards the sky and praying - and the insciption read: "Am I not a Man and a Brother?" (Wende 2008: 142). Another measure were propaganda writing, some was even written by former slaves, e.g. the autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself published in 1789.


Act passed in Parliament

On 5 February and 24 March 1807, both chambers of the British Parliament agreed on the abolition of slave trade.

Vote figures show a vast majority:

  • House of Lords
    • 100 to 34
  • House of Commons
    • 283 to 16

On 25 March 1807, the law comes into effect by Royal Assent.


Abstract from the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade

"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 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 […]" (Beck 2006: 245)


Reactions

Before the law comes into effect, Prime Minister W.W. Grenville called it „[o]ne of the most glorious acts that [has] ever been done by any assembly of any nation in the world“.


But…

What this act regulated or forbade was only the trade of slaves. The complete abolishion of slavery could not yet be accomplished because the indefeasibly protection of personal property fixed by English law was also valid for the British plantation owners and their slaves. So, slavery did still continue until 1833, when the Emancipation Act released all 800.000 slaves in the British colonies.


Sources

  • Beck, Rudolf / Schröder, Konrad (Ed.): Handbuch der britischen Kulturgeschichte. Paderborn: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2006.
  • Niedhart, Gottfries: Geschichte Englands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. München: C.H. Beck, 1987.
  • Wende, Peter: Das Britische Empire. München: C.H. Beck, 2008.
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