The Slave Trade and Abolition
Research into the impact of the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition.
Legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
When the trading of enslaved Africans was abolished in 1833 the British government paid £20 million to enslavers as compensation for the loss of their "property". In today's terms that figure equates to around £16.5 billion. The enslaved received nothing.
Legacies of British slave ownership
Legacies of British Slave-Ownership is the umbrella for 2 projects based at University College London (UCL):
- The Legacies of British Slave-Ownership
- The Structure and Significance of British Caribbean Slave-Ownership 1763 to 1833.
UCL has produced a searchable and freely accessible database of all enslavers in the British Caribbean at the time the transatlantic slave trade ended. The starting point for this work was the records of the Slave Compensation Commission, which distributed the compensation to enslavers of African people.
The UCL database concerns enslavers. Registers of the enslaved are held by the National Archives. Further information is also available from The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Voyages.
Ending slavery
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The Road to Abolition
Learn about the formation of the Committee for Effecting the Abolition of the African Slave Trade.
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Notable Legal Cases
Read about some of the notable legal cases concerning slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
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Slavery After 1807
Find out what happened following the Abolition Act in 1807.
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Women Against Slavery
Find out about women abolitionists and listen to our podcasts about women's involvement in the anti-slavery campaign.
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1834: The End of the Transatlantic Slave Trade?
Slavery continued in some territories run by the East India Company as not all parts of the British Empire came under the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.
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Legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
When the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, slave owners were compensated, the enslaved received nothing.
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Legacies of Slavery and Abolition in Listed Places
The National Heritage List for England includes research into places connected to the transatlantic slave trade and the campaign for its abolition.
