page_title: Abolitionism in the United Kingdom
section_title: Slavery Abolition Act 1833
hierarchical_section_title: Abolitionism in the United Kingdom / Slavery Abolition Act 1833
caption_attribution_description: English: Plate entitled "To the friends of Negro Emancipation", celebrating the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. (Having abolished the slave trade in 1807, popular interest in the issue of slavery declined. However, the revival of anti-slavery agitation, political reform campaigns at home and a massive slave rebellion in Jamaica in 1831 brought the issue to public notice. From 1830 the Anti-slavery Society campaigned for emancipation across all Britain’s colonies. An Abolition of Slavery Bill was eventually passed by parliament in 1833 with abolition set to take place in 1834. £22 million was paid to planters as compensation, although true freedom was not achieved until 1838. Creator: Rippingille, Alexander [artist] (1796-1858); Lucas, David [engraver]; Moon, Francis Graham [publisher] Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London)
context_page_description: Abolitionism in the United Kingdom was the movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to end the practice of slavery, whether formal or informal, in the United Kingdom, the British Empire and the world, including ending the Atlantic slave trade. It was part of a wider abolitionism movement in Western Europe and the Americas.
  The buying and selling of slaves was made illegal across the British Empire in 1807, but owning slaves was permitted until it was outlawed completely in 1833, beginning a process where from 1834 slaves became indentured "apprentices" to their former owners until emancipation was achieved for the majority by 1840 and for remaining exceptions by 1843. Former slave owners received formal compensation for their losses from the British government, known as compensated emancipation.
context_section_description: After the 1807 Act, enslaved persons could still be held, though not sold, within the British Empire. In the 1820s, the abolitionist movement may have revived the campaign against the institution of slavery. In 1823 the first Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Britain. The Society's members consisted of a union of non-conformist churches and many had previously campaigned against the slave trade. In 1831, enslaved man Sam Sharpe led the Christmas Rebellion (Baptist War) in Jamaica, an event that catalyzed anti-slavery sentiment. This combination of political pressure and popular uprisings convinced the British government that there was no longer any middle ground between slavery and emancipation.
  On 28 August 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act received Royal Assent, paving the way for the abolition of slavery within the British Empire and its colonies. On 1 August 1834, all enslaved persons in the British Empire (except for India) were emancipated, but they were indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system that meant gradual abolition: the first set of apprenticeships came to an end on 1 August 1838, while the final apprenticeships were scheduled to cease on 1 August 1840, two years later.
  The apprenticeship system was deeply unpopular with enslaved persons. On 1 August 1834, as the Governor in Port of Spain, Trinidad addressed an audience about the new laws, the mostly elderly, unarmed enslaved persons began chanting: "Pas de six ans. Point de six ans" ("Not six years. No six years"), drowning out his voice. Peaceful protests continued until the government passed a resolution to abolish apprenticeship and the enslaved persons gained de facto freedom. Full emancipation for all enslaved persons was legally granted on 1 August 1838, ahead of schedule, making Trinidad the first British slave society to fully end slavery. The government set aside £20 million for compensation of slave owners for their "property" across the Empire, but it did not offer formerly enslaved people compensation or reparations. This was because abolitionists had not planned for much more than the long-awaited reform of the law, and felt that freedom along with the option of returning to Africa to live in Freetown, or the nearby state of Liberia, was infinitely preferable to continued chattel slavery.
  In context, the £20 million voted by Parliament to compensate slave owners under the 1833 Act can be compared with the Gross Domestic Product of the UK in 1832, which was £459 million.
caption: "To the Friends of Negro Emancipation", an engraving in the West Indies, celebrating the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833.
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