In 1870, few Brazilians opposed slavery and even fewer openly condemned it. Pedro II, who did not own slaves, was one of the few who did oppose slavery. Its abolition was a delicate subject. Slaves were used by all classes, from the richest to the poorest. Pedro II wanted to end the practice gradually to soften the impact to the national economy. With no constitutional authority to directly intervene to abolish slavery, the Emperor would need to use all his skills to convince, influence and gather support among politicians to achieve his goal. His first open move occurred back in 1850, when he threatened to abdicate unless the General Assembly declared the Atlantic slave trade illegal.