History of slavery many years of lobbying by the abolitionist movement, led primarily by William Wilberforce, the British Parliament voted to make the slave trade illegal anywhere in the Empire with the Slave Trade Act 1807. Thereafter Britain took a prominent role in combating the trade, and slavery itself was abolished in the British Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade. Akitoye, the 11th Oba
History of slavery in Maryland freedom in the North grew, so did the reward for their capture. In 1806 the reward offered for the recaptured slaves was $6, but by 1833 it had risen to $30. In 1844 recaptured freedom seekers fetched $15 if recaptured within of the owner, $50 if captured more than away. By the 1850s few Marylanders still believed that colonization was the solution to the perceived problems of slavery and free blacks in society. Although one in every six Maryland families still held slaves, most slaveholders held only a few per household. Support for the institution of slavery was localized, varying