Abolition of Slavery Timeline

1772
Granville Sharpe, an evangelical civil servant, succeeded in winning the ‘Somerset case’, which established the principle that slavery in England was unlawful and made it illegal to remove a slave from England without his consent.

1783
The first anti-slavery movement was founded by the Quakers and a Quaker petition was formally brought to government by Sir Cecil Wray Member of Parliament for Retford.

1787
The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed. The committee was made up of members of the Clapham Sect of evangelical reformers as well as the Quakers who had founded the original movement.

Thomas Clarkson became the group’s main researcher - gathering evidence about the slave trade, interviewing both sailors and former slaves at ports such as Bristol, Liverpool and London.

A network of local abolition groups was established and these campaigned through public meetings, pamphlets and petitions. These groups were supported by Quakers, Baptists and Methodists who gained support from the new industrial workers in the midlands and north of England.

Many women and other un-politicised groups became involved.  Women and dissenters were not eligible to become British MPs, so the Anglican evangelist William Wilberforce was persuaded to lead the parliamentary campaign.

1789
One of the earliest books promoted was “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” the autobiography of the freed slave and abolitionist who played a significant role in the abolition movement, travelling widely across Britain and Ireland.

1792
519 petitions bearing approximately 400,000 signatures supporting abolition arrived at the House of Commons while 4 arrived supporting the slave trade. The House of Commons resolved to abolish the slave trade by 1796, however, the House of Lords refused its assent.

1793
The declaration of war against France severely inhibited ant-slavery politics. Wilberforce continued to bring an annual abolition petition in the commons throughout the 1790s but, by the end of the decade, stopped - feeling that it was pointless.

1801
Following the failure of the 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen, the 1801 Act of Union meant that, rather than having a parliament in Dublin, Ireland would send 100 Irish MPs to Westminster.

1804
Irish MPs voted as a group to abolish the slave trade and there was a triumphant victory in the Commons. But three readings were required and, over time, Irish Mps either changed their votes or returned home.

Napoleon’s rise in France and his efforts to restore French slavery (which had been abolished in the revolution) gave the abolitionists the opportunity to assert Britain’s moral superiority.

1806
The general election of 1806 saw large numbers of abolitionist MPs returned to Westminster and Lord Grenville replaced William Pitt in the House of Lords.

Attacking French interests by abolishing the slave trade to French colonies was used as a “Trojan horse”.  It effectively abolished two thirds of Britain’s slave trade. The Foreign Trade Act of 1806 caught traders and planters unawares.

In June 1806 both houses declared the slave trade to be “contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy”.

The Slave Trade Act 1807

On 5th February 1807 Lord Grenville secured an Abolition Bill through the Lords by 100 to 34.

Three weeks later, on 23rd February, the Commons followed suit - the bill being passed by a huge majority of 283 to 16.

The Slave Trade Act 1807 was given royal assent and passed by the British Parliament on 25th March 1807. The bill came into force on 1st May 1807.

The act imposed a fine of £100 for every slave found on board a British ship.  Often slaves were simply thrown overboard if there was a risk of being caught by the Royal Navy.

In 1827 Britain declared that participation in the slave trade was piracy and punishable by death.