the abolition of slavery in britain was on 1 august 1834.
the abolition of slavery in britain was on 1 august 1834.
when was the abolition of slavery in britain?
1 august 1834
josiah conder's political work included a tract on the superior value of free labour over slave labour. in 1839 he became a founding committee member of the "british and foreign anti-slavery society for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade throughout the world", which is today known as anti-slavery international. in this role he was an organiser of, and delegate to, the world's first anti-slavery convention, which was held in london in 1840 - an event depicted in a large painting by benjamin haydon that hangs in the national portrait gallery, london. his poem 'the last night of slavery' dated 1 august 1834, evoking the horrors of the middle passage, was published in his collection, "the choir and the oratory, or praise and prayer", 1837. it was republished in the anthology, "slavery, abolition and emancipation: writings in the british romantic period" (london: pickering & chatto) in 1999. josiah conder's "biographical sketch of the late thomas pringle", the secretary of the anti-slavery society, was published in 1835, and widely sold bound together with thomas pringle's own "narrative of a residence in south africa" (1834).
josiah conder (editor and author)
abolitionists in the americas and in europe became vocal opponents of the slave trade throughout the 19th century. the importation of slaves to the colonies was often outlawed years before the end of the institution of slavery itself. it was well into the 19th century before many slaves in the caribbean were legally free. the trade in slaves was abolished in the british empire through the abolition of the slave trade act in 1807. men, women and children who were already enslaved in the british empire remained slaves, however, until britain passed the slavery abolition act in 1833. when the slavery abolition act came into force in 1834, roughly 700,000 slaves in the british west indies immediately became free; other enslaved workers were freed several years later after a period of forced apprenticeship. slavery was abolished in the dutch empire in 1814. spain abolished slavery in its empire in 1811, with the exceptions of cuba, puerto rico, and santo domingo; spain ended the slave trade to these colonies in 1817, after being paid ₤400,000 by britain. slavery itself was not abolished in cuba until 1886. france abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848.
history of the caribbean