History
The slave trade act 1833 was an act of the parliament of the United Kingdom to abolish slavery throughout the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Slavery was officially abolished in most, if not all of the British Isles on 1st August 1834; however, only slaves below the age of six were freed as any slaves six plus were then ‘apprentices’. Apprentices would have to continue to work/serve their former owner for a period of time after it had definitely been abolished. At the time the slave trade was being abolished there was a lot of debate going on over the factors that contributed to the final success of the bill, these factors were; a change in economic interests. This means that after the time 1776, America had become an independent country, which meant that Britain’s sugar colonies (such as Jamaica and Barbados) refused as when they became independent, it meant that America could instead trade directly with the French as well as the Dutch in the West Indies. Furthermore, as the industrial revolution came around in the 18th century, Britain no longer needed slave-based goods. Britain was being able to flourish in this century as new systems were in place which needed high efficiency, through free trade in addition to free labour. As this was all happening there was a high increase with cotton goods which later on became the main produce of the British economy and English towns, for example Manchester and Salford, became industrial centres of the worlds importance. The second factor which contributed to the slave trade was the resistance by enslaved people. Enslaved people had resisted the trade since it began, although, the French revolution brought many ideas of liberty and equality, which then inspired many people to put an end to slavery. Many slave riots followed this period (such as, in Barbados – 1816, Demerara – 1822, Jamaica between the periods 1831 – 1832). These events somehow reduced profitability and gave a strong indication that, regardless of political opinions, the enslaved people were not going to tolerate enslavement, one single bit! The revolts on the other hand shocked the British government and made them see just how high the costs and risks were of keeping slavery in the West Indies. In places such as Jamaica, many terrified plantation owners were ready just to except the fact that abolition would happen and they decided they would most likely to accept it instead of go against it and risk a widespread war. One more factor for applying the act to abolish slavery was so that parliament could reform. When parliament was finally reformed in 1832, around two – thirds of those who support/supported slavery were swept from power. This meant that the once powerful West India Lobby had lost all of its political strength completely. The final factor for abolishing slavery was to abolition campaigns and religious groups; the demand for freedom for enslaved people had become almost universal, meaning that so many people were demanding freedom for slaves that it was then driven forward, not only by the formal abolition campaign but by a group of non-conformist churches as well as the Evangelicals in the church of England.
