# Canonical recap data for Slavery Abolished in British Empire (1833)
# Source: https://recap.at/1833/slavery-abolished-british-empire
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: slavery-abolished-british-empire
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1833/slavery-abolished-british-empire"
title: Slavery Abolished in British Empire
aliases:
- Slavery Abolition Act 1833
- British Emancipation
- August 1, 1834
- End of slavery in the British Empire
subtitle: Slavery Abolished in British Empire
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1833-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1833
decade: 1830
country:
name: United Kingdom
slug: united-kingdom
summaryShort: Slavery Abolished in British Empire (1833) - United Kingdom.
summaryLong: Slavery Abolished in British Empire (1833) - United Kingdom.
lede: On August 28, 1833, the British Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, ending slavery across the entire British Empire-affecting roughly 800,000 enslaved people in colonies from Jamaica to India. The law took effect on August 1, 1834, making Britain the first major European power to abolish slavery nationwide, though it compensated slaveholders £20 million while freeing people received nothing.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281816-1837%29.svg/1280px-Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281816-1837%29.svg.png"
heroImageCredit: "\"Betsy Sawyer\" by Mark.Stevenson is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/."
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 55
keyFacts:
- label: People freed
  value: Approximately 800,000 enslaved people
- label: Compensation to slaveholders
  value: £20 million (roughly 40% of government revenue that year)
- label: Compensation to enslaved people
  value: £0
- label: Implementation date
  value: August 1, 1834
- label: Parliamentary vote
  value: Passed August 28, 1833
- label: Prime Minister
  value: Earl Grey
- label: Largest enslaved population affected
  value: Jamaica (roughly 311,000 people)
- label: Transition period
  value: 4-6 years of 'apprenticeship' for former enslaved people
timeline:
- date: 1772-01-01
  title: Somerset v Stewart ruling
  description: Lord Mansfield rules that slavery cannot exist on English soil, establishing legal precedent that enslaved people become free upon arriving in England.
- date: 1807-03-25
  title: Slave Trade Act 1807
  description: Britain abolishes the transatlantic slave trade but permits slavery itself to continue in colonies; William Wilberforce leads the campaign.
- date: 1823-05-15
  title: Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery founded
  description: Reformers including Wilberforce establish organization pushing for end of slavery; use of 'gradual' reflects political compromise.
- date: 1831-01-01
  title: Baptist War in Jamaica
  description: Enslaved people led by Samuel Sharpe stage major uprising; suppression kills roughly 500 people but accelerates abolitionist momentum in Parliament.
- date: 1833-08-28
  title: Slavery Abolition Act receives Royal Assent
  description: Parliament passes legislation abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire; compensation structure heavily favors slaveholders.
- date: 1834-08-01
  title: Emancipation Day
  description: 800,000 enslaved people become legally free; most enter mandatory apprenticeship system lasting four to six years.
- date: 1838-08-01
  title: End of apprenticeship system
  description: Apprenticeship period concludes for most colonies; fully uncompensated formerly enslaved people enter labor markets with no assets.
- date: 1840-06-12
  title: World Anti-Slavery Convention opens in London
  description: Britain hosts international gathering celebrating its abolitionist status; American and Caribbean delegates highlight ongoing racism and inequality.
sources: []
related: []
impactStatement: "The abolition fundamentally reshaped the British Empire's economic and moral standing, forcing a transition from coerced labor to wage systems across colonies and establishing Britain as an anti-slavery power-a status it weaponized in diplomacy for decades. The act also catalyzed compensationism as policy: paying slaveholders rather than the enslaved set a precedent that shaped reparations debates into the 21st century."
categories:
- revolution
taxonomy:
domain: social_movement
eventTypes:
- activist_campaign
- identity_movement
canonicalClasses:
- transformation
- mobilization
- governance
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: Britain abolishes slavery across its empire in 1833, freeing 800,000 people. Compensation goes to slaveholders, not the freed.
gallery:
- url: "https://live.staticflickr.com/920/43054742032_b4b938d67d_b.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://live.staticflickr.com/920/43054742032_b4b938d67d_b.jpg"
  caption: (Previous hero, demoted by topical-relevance swap)
  credit: ""
  width: 0
  height: 0
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Enslaved people in British Empire territories
  thenValue: approximately 800,000
  thenYear: 1833
  nowValue: 0 (legally prohibited)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The 1833 figure primarily reflects Caribbean and Indian Ocean colonies
- metric: Government compensation to slave owners
  thenValue: £20 million
  thenYear: 1833
  nowValue: £0 (no reparations to descendants)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Equivalent to roughly £2 billion in 2024 currency; no equivalent compensation paid to formerly enslaved people or their descendants
- metric: Countries with legal slavery
  thenValue: majority of world powers practiced slavery
  thenYear: 1833
  nowValue: 0 (legally abolished everywhere)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Mauritania was the last country to formally abolish slavery (1981) and criminalize it (2007)
- metric: British involvement in slave trade enforcement
  thenValue: West Africa Squadron had ~20 ships
  thenYear: 1833
  nowValue: Modern naval task forces conduct anti-trafficking operations
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Squadron expanded significantly after 1833; modern efforts focus on human trafficking and modern slavery
consequences:
- title: Apprenticeship system implemented across colonies
  year: 1834
  description: Approximately 800,000 formerly enslaved people bound to 4-6 year unpaid labor contracts with former masters, replacing chattel slavery with indentured servitude rather than genuine freedom
- title: Apprenticeship system terminated early
  year: 1838
  description: Colonial resistance and administrative breakdown forced premature end to apprenticeship across most British territories; full freedom realized, though without land redistribution or economic opportunity
- title: Royal Navy anti-slavery patrols intensified
  year: 1840
  description: West Africa Squadron expanded operations and naval treaties expanded, intercepting slave ships across Atlantic and Indian Oceans; Britain positioned as moral guardian while maintaining economic dominance
- title: Colonial economic restructuring
  year: 1845
  description: Caribbean plantations shifted labor models; indentured laborers from India and China imported to maintain profit margins, creating new hierarchies of exploitation in former slave colonies
- title: Diplomatic pressure on other slaveholding powers
  year: 1850
  description: Britain's abolitionist stance became leverage in foreign policy; gradual global pressure mounted on Brazil, United States, and other nations to follow-though enforcement remained inconsistent for decades
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Sweet Thames, Run Soft Till I End My Song
  artist: Traditional/William Byrd
  note: Not created in 1833, but antislavery movement drew on centuries of musical tradition and protest hymns
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: The 1830s British cultural moment centered on Romantic ideology, industrial transformation, and evangelical Christian moral certainty. The abolition movement intersected with broader reform movements-the Great Reform Act (1832) preceded slavery abolition by one year, creating momentum for democratic and moral progress. William Wilberforce died in July 1833, weeks before the act passed; his death symbolized the movement's generational shift. Meanwhile, Britain's literary culture (Dickens' Oliver Twist serialized 1837-1838) increasingly focused on domestic poverty and social injustice, sometimes displacing antislavery discourse with British working-class narratives. The cultural consensus in Britain celebrated abolition as moral triumph, enabling the nation to view itself as enlightened even as industrial capitalism accelerated and colonial extraction intensified.
translations:
es:
lede: El 28 de agosto de 1833, el Parlamento británico aprobó la Slavery Abolition Act, acabando con la esclavitud en todo el Imperio británico, afectando aproximadamente a 800,000 personas esclavizadas en colonias desde Jamaica hasta India. La ley entró en vigor el 1 de agosto de 1834, convirtiendo a Gran Bretaña en la primera gran potencia europea en abolir la esclavitud a nivel nacional, aunque compensó a los propietarios de esclavos con £20 millones mientras que las personas liberadas no recibieron nada.
summaryShort: Abolición de la esclavitud en el Imperio británico (1833) - Reino Unido.
summaryLong: Abolición de la esclavitud en el Imperio británico (1833) - Reino Unido.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T01:59:23.902Z"
fr:
lede: Le 28 août 1833, le Parlement britannique a adopté la Slavery Abolition Act, mettant fin à l'esclavage dans tout l'Empire britannique et affectant environ 800 000 personnes réduites en esclavage dans les colonies, de la Jamaïque à l'Inde. La loi est entrée en vigueur le 1er août 1834, ce qui a fait de la Grande-Bretagne la première grande puissance européenne à abolir l'esclavage à l'échelle nationale, bien qu'elle ait indemnisé les propriétaires d'esclaves à hauteur de 20 millions de livres sterling tandis que les personnes libérées n'ont reçu rien.
summaryShort: L'esclavage aboli dans l'Empire britannique (1833) - Royaume-Uni.
summaryLong: L'esclavage aboli dans l'Empire britannique (1833) - Royaume-Uni.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T01:59:25.710Z"
de:
lede: Am 28. August 1833 verabschiedete das britische Parlament den Slavery Abolition Act und beendete die Sklaverei im gesamten Britischen Imperium – davon waren etwa 800.000 versklavte Menschen in Kolonien von Jamaika bis Indien betroffen. Das Gesetz trat am 1. August 1834 in Kraft und machte Großbritannien zur ersten großen europäischen Macht, die die Sklaverei landesweit abschaffte, obwohl es Sklavenhalter mit £20 Millionen entschädigte, während befreite Menschen nichts erhielten.
summaryShort: Sklaverei im Britischen Imperium abgeschafft (1833) – Vereinigtes Königreich.
summaryLong: Sklaverei im Britischen Imperium abgeschafft (1833) – Vereinigtes Königreich.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T01:59:27.861Z"
