The Abolition of Slavery: Key Events
History: KS3, topic 9.1.7
Key Events in the Abolition Movement
The abolition of the slave trade did not happen overnight. There were several key events which led to the end of slavery.
The Somerset Case
- The Somerset Case (Somerset v Stewart) centred on James Somerset. Somerset was an enslaved African man who had been purchased by Charles Stewart, a customs officer in the US.
- In 1771, Somerset escaped but was captured and put on a ship destined for Jamaica. Somerset's supporters challenged his detention.
- In 1772, Lord Mansfield (the Chief Justice of the King's Bench) declared that no law in England sanctioned slavery, so Somerset could not be removed from England and re-enslaved.
- Mansfield's decision did not abolish slavery but was a victory for the abolitionist cause.
The Dolben Act
- In 1788, the Dolben Act was passed.
- The Dolben Act limited the number of slaves that could be on a ship.
Bills for the abolition of the slave trade
- Between 1789 and 1807, the British politician Wilberforce tried to pass a bill against the slave trade in Parliament.
- Even though Wilberforce faced a lot of resistance, he continued to bring the bill up every year.
The abolition of the slave trade in Britain
- In 1807, King George III signed into law the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, banning trading in slaves in the British Empire but not slavery itself.
The abolition of the slave trade in Europe
- In 1815, the Congress of Vienna abolished the slave trade in Europe.
The abolition of slavery in the Empire
- In 1833, slavery was abolished in the whole of the British Empire in the Slavery Abolition Act.
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Chronology of the Abolition Movement
In relation to the slave trade, what happened in 1833?