The Abolition of Slavery

Britain played a leading role in the transatlantic slave trade for two centuries. Resistance grew in the late eighteenth century, led by Quakers, evangelical Christians, freed slaves such as Olaudah Equiano, and a parliamentary campaign led for twenty years by William Wilberforce, MP for Hull. The Slave Trade Act of 1807 made it illegal to trade in slaves throughout the British Empire.

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Slavery itself was abolished in most of the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which freed around 800,000 enslaved people in the Caribbean, South Africa and parts of Canada. Compensation was paid by the government — controversially, to slave owners rather than to the people who had been enslaved.

You may be asked which year the slave trade was abolished (1807), which year slavery itself was abolished (1833), or who led the parliamentary abolition campaign (William Wilberforce).

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These questions from the official-format question bank cover the same material. Tap any question to see the correct answer and a short explanation.

1. Which TWO points about slavery are correct?
2. After the abolition of slavery (1833), 2 million migrants came from ______ to replace the freed slaves
3. When did the Emancipation Act abolish slavery throughout the British Empire?
4. When was the Emancipation Act signed? It abolished slavery throughout the British Empire
5. In 1833 a law abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
6. When was the Emancipation Act signed?

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