When was slavery abolished? The history of the emancipation movement in the UK and around the world

It has been estimated Britain abducted and enslaved around 3.1 million people from Africa, transporting them to North and South America, the Caribbean, and other countries in the British colonies

The statue of Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville statue, seen after it had been graffitied with 'son of slavery' and a 'colonialist profiteer' on June 10, 2020 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Anti-racism activists have renewed calls to modify or remove statues and street names across Scotland that honour historical figures with links to the slave trade. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)" width="640" height="360" />

How was slavery abolished in the UK and around the world?

• 1562 – The National Archives claim the first English slave trader who “left England… on the first of three slaving voyages”, was a man named John Hawkins.
• 1619 – In the US, the first group of African slaves were forced on to Virginia’s shores by a Dutchman and were sold at Jamestown. However, the transatlantic slave trade didn’t make a real impact on the American colonies until the end of the 17th century.
• 1661 – The first anti-miscegenation statute, prohibiting marriage between races, was written into law in Maryland. Those laws remained in place in most southern states until the 1960s, and Alabama was the last state to repeal the ban on interracial marriage in 2000.
• 1660 – The British Royal Family, who spearheaded The Royal African Company, gave several charters allowing companies to supply slaves from the west coast of Africa to American colonies.
• 1772 – The pivotal Mansfield case reached the verdict that slavery was unsupported in English law. Lord Chief Justice William Mansfield ruled in the case of James Somerset, a black slave who had been brought to England, against his master that slavery was not lawful in England.

• 1776 – During the American Revolution, the slaveowner Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence, except for slaves or African Americans. Historians have deemed this “the fabric of the American political economy” ever since. Slavery flourished in the tobacco fields of Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, before spreading to the rice plantations further south. At the same time, abolitionist sentiment began to gain traction.

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• 1787 – In the UK, the committee for the abolishment of the slave trade was established by a mixture of Quakers and Evangelical Protestants. Their numbers grew and eventually they had gained around 40 seats in parliament, by allying themselves with key people such as William Wilberforce, a fierce proponent of the abolition movement.
• 1807 – The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act outlawed the British Atlantic slave trade, but not slavery itself. Using their “West Africa Squadron”, the Royal Navy could seize and fine any captain £100 for any slave found on board ship.
• 1808 – American congress banned the slave trade, but not slavery itself. Around 600,000 of 10 million African slaves were sent to American colonies before the slave trade was outlawed.
• 1823 – The Anti-Slavery Society was formed, featuring Mr Wilberforce and Henry Brougham – another vocal abolitionist. It aimed to end slavery itself, in a gradual and sustainable way.
• 1831 – The Baptists War was a slave revolt in Jamaica which escalated after Baptist preachers heard the news that no emancipation had been granted to slaves. The rebellion was quashed with violence and force, resulting in numerous deaths and damaging the islands economy and plantation finances. Two inquiries into the revolt strengthened the case for emancipation.
• 1833 – The British government passed the crucial Abolition of Slavery Act, which ordered the abolition of slavery in all British colonies, and it received Royal Assent on 1 August 1833. It aimed to emancipate all slaves throughout the British colonial empire, but also compensated slave owners for the loss of the slaves. The government took out a loan to pay for slave owner’s compensation which was 40 per cent of government expenditure, and was only paid off fully in 2015. Slaves received no such compensation; they were made to work as apprentices, and permitted food and lodging for a further six years, whilst children aged under six were immediately emancipated.
• 1838 – In the UK, full emancipation for all slaves was made legal.
• 1850 – Brazil outlawed the slave trade, but the smuggling of news slaves did not end.

• 1860 – The US recorded nearly four million enslaved black people – 13 per cent of the population.
• 1865 – The American Civil War began, and was initially fought to keep the north and southern parts of the country together, as opposed to abolishing slavery.
• 1868 – During the Reconstruction era, under the 14th amendment, African American men were granted the right to vote. Also, African Americans were extended birthright citizenship, which extends to descendants of freed black slaves and immigrants today.
• 1888 – Brazil finally enacted emancipation.
• 1954 – The Jim Crow era of segregation saw African Americans shut out from jobs and opportunities. In 1954 in the Brown v Board of Education ruling, the supreme court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional and schools would have to integrate. During the 1960s, civil rights leaders led anti-segregation marches across the country.
• 1964 – President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law.
• 1965 – The Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting and placed restrictions on a number of southern states if they tried to change voting rights laws. Those restrictions were overturned in a 2013 supreme court ruling.
• 1998 – The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was repealed, however slavery remains illegal. It is incorporated into The Human Rights Act of 1998 and The European Convention on Human Rights, which outlaws the holding of any person as a slave.