Website of the UK government

Abolition of the Slave Trade Act

Although it would be another 30 years before slaves gained their final freedom - when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire - the Bicentenary in 2007 gives the opportunity to remember the millions who suffered; to pay tribute to the courage and moral conviction of all those – black and white – who campaigned for abolition; and to demand to know why today, in some parts of the world, forms of slavery still persist two centuries after the argument for abolition in this country was won.

There is a view strongly held by many people that the repercussions of the slave trade and slavery echo down the centuries. It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality and complex cultural legacies.

The Government regrets and strongly condemns the evils of the transatlantic slave trade. The 1807 Act marked an important point in this country’s development towards the nation it is today – a critical step into the modern world and into a new, and more just, moral universe. Its bicentenary offers a unique chance for the people of Britain to reflect on the wider story of translatlantic slavery and its abolition, and on the roles of ordinary people and politicians, alongside other Britons, Africans and West Indians, in helping to bring an end to slavery.

More useful links

Tony Blair's article for the New Nation newspaper about the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy.

• Tony Blair talks about the slave trade (opens new window)

Information about Parliament's role in the abolition of slavery on the UK Parliament's slavery abolition website.

• UK Parliament's slavery abolition website (opens new window)

Download, 'Reflecting on the past and looking to the future'. A pamphlet produced to commemorate the bicentenary of the aboltion of the slave trade in the British Empire.

• Download 'Reflecting on the past and looking to the future' (PDF, 231K)