Parliament Abolishes the Slave Trade
After eighteen years of campaigning, Britain outlaws the buying and transporting of enslaved people across the Atlantic
Quick facts
- Royal assent
- 25 March 1807
- Vote in the Commons
- 283 to 16
- Key campaigners
- Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce
What happened
Campaigners including Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, and William Wilberforce had pressed Parliament since founding the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787. After repeated failed bills, the Slave Trade Act passed the Commons by 283 votes to 16, far beyond expectations, and received royal assent on 25 March 1807, taking effect that May. The Act prohibited British subjects from buying, selling, or transporting enslaved people across the Atlantic, and the Royal Navy began patrolling West African waters to intercept trafficking ships. It did not free a single person already enslaved in Britain's colonies.
Why it matters
The 1807 Act ended Britain's own participation in the trade that had carried millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic in British ships, but slavery itself continued in British colonies for another 26 years, and the compensation for it, when it came, went to slaveholders rather than the enslaved.
How we know
The UK Parliament's own record of the debate and vote documents the bill's passage and its limits.
Sources
- The National Archives (UK). Slavery: How did the Abolition Acts of 1807 and 1833 affect the slave trade? · Reputable sourcenationalarchives.gov.uk · The domain "nationalarchives.gov.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- UK Parliament. Parliament abolishes the slave trade · Reputable sourceparliament.uk · The domain "parliament.uk" is on our Reputable source registry.
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Part of a timelineThe British Empire30 events · From a Tudor sea captain's turf-cutting ceremony in Newfoundland to the last governor sailing out of Hong Kong harbour, four centuries of the largest empire in history, its wealth, and the people it ruled, enslaved, and starvedView all →