Slavery in the British and French Caribbean abolished the slave trade but the decree did not come into effect until 1826. France re-abolished slavery in her colonies in 1848 with a general and unconditional emancipation. William Wilberforce's Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. It was not until the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 that the institution finally was abolished, but on a gradual basis. Since slave owners in the various colonies (not only the Caribbean) were losing their unpaid labourers, the government set aside £20 million for compensation but it did not offer the former slaves reparations. With the abolition of the
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