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
Slavery Abolition Act 1833 if their lungsReceive our air, that moment they are free.They touch our country, and their shackles fall.That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud.And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then,And let it circulate through every vein. By 1783, an anti-slavery movement to abolish the slave trade throughout the Empire had begun among the British public. In 1793, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe signed the Act Against Slavery. Passed by the local Legislative Assembly, it was the first legislation to outlaw the slave trade in a part of the British Empire. In 1807, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act