Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on August 28, 1833, and came into effect on August 1, 1834. The act made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal in most of the British Empire. It was the culmination of decades of campaigning by abolitionists including William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and formerly enslaved people like Olaudah Equiano. Approximately 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and other British territories were freed.