Slavery Abolition Act 1833

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The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (c 3 & 4 Will. IV. 73) was a law by which the British Empire the bondage was abolished. This Act of Parliament (Act of Parliament) of the Parliament , extended the validity of the Slave Trade Act 1807 , which had banned the trade or possession of slaves in the territory of the British Empire, with the exception of "areas owned by the East India Company " (of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company): Ceylon ( Sri Lanka ) and Saint Helena . The law was repealed in 1998 as part of a broader rationalization of the English Statute Law ; however, later laws on the liberation of slaves remain in force.

background

In May 1772, a judgment by Lord Mansfield in the Somerset v Stewart trial (Somersett's Case) led to the emancipation of a slave in England and as a result a whole movement for the abolition of slavery (abolitionism) arose. The ruling established that slavery had no basis in law in England and therefore no authority could be consulted with regard to slaves who stepped on English or Scottish soil. In 1785 the English poet William Cowper wrote :

“We have no slaves at home - why abroad?
Slaves cannot breathe in England; when their lungs
receive our air, the moment they are free.
They touch our land and their fetters fall off.
It's noble and makes a nation proud.
And jealous of the blessing. Then spread it,
and let it circulate through every vein. "

By 1783, an anti-slavery movement to abolish the slave trade throughout the Empire had taken root in the British public. In 1793, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe signed the Act Against Slavery . This law, passed by the local Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada , was the first law to prohibit the slave trade in any part of the British Empire.

In 1807 Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807 , which banned the slave trade but not slavery itself. The abolitionist Henry Brougham realized that the trade would continue and when he was re-elected to parliament he successfully passed the Slave Trade Felony Act 1811 , which at least criminalized the slave trade in the Empire. The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron to stop the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. This suppressed the slave trade, but did not stop it completely. Between 1808 and 1860 the West Africa Squadron raised 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. Some of these were settled in Jamaica and the Bahamas . Britain also used its influence to impose treaties on other countries to abolish the slave trade. Among other things, the ships of the Royal Navy were allowed to arrest slave ships ( Blockade of Africa ).

In 1823 the Anti-Slavery Society was founded in London. Members included Joseph Sturge , Thomas Clarkson , William Wilberforce , Henry Brougham, Thomas Fowell Buxton , Elizabeth Heyrick , Mary Lloyd , Jane Smeal , Elizabeth Pease Nichol and Anne Knight . William Wilberforce had already written in his diary in 1787 that his great goal in life was the abolition of the slave trade.

Protector of Slaves Office (Trinidad) , Richard Bridgens, 1838.

During the Christmas holidays of 1831 a great slave revolt, known as the Baptist War , broke out in Jamaica . Originally the revolt was organized as a peaceful strike by the Baptist pastor Samuel Sharpe . However, the rebellion was put down by the Jamaican Plantocracy (plantation rule) militias and the British garrison ten days later in early 1832. Due to the loss of values ​​and life, the British Parliament had two inquiries carried out. The results of these investigations contributed to the formulation of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

Legislation

The law had its third reading in the House of Commons on July 26, 1833, three days before William Wilberforce's death. It was given to Royal Assent a month later, on August 28, and became effective the following year, August 1, 1834. In the implementation, only slaves under the age of six were immediately released in the colonies. Former slaves over the age of six were renamed "apprentices" and their servitude was lifted in two stages: the first "apprenticeships" ended on August 1, 1838, while the last apprenticeships should end on August 1, 1840 at the latest. The law explicitly took the "territories in the possession of the East India Company, or on the island of Ceylon, or on the island of Saint Helena" (the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company, or to the Island of Ceylon, or to the Island of Saint Helena). The exceptions were lifted in 1843.

Compensations for slave owners

The law also provided compensation for slave owners. The amount that could be spent on compensation claims was set at "the sum of twenty million pounds sterling ". Under the terms of the law, the British government raised £ 20 million to compensate the slave owners for their business losses. In 1833 this amount was equal to 40% of HM Treasury's annual income, or approximately 5% of the UK's gross domestic product. To raise this amount, the UK government had to borrow £ 15 million from Nathan Mayer Rothschild and his brother-in-law, Moses Montefiore (August 3, 1835) . This loan was paid off by 2015.

Half of the money went to slave owners in the Caribbean and Africa, while the other half was paid to owners who lived far from plantations in the UK. The names that appear on the compensation lists show how widespread slave ownership was among hundreds of British families.

Protests against the transitional arrangement (apprenticeships)

On August 1, 1834, an unarmed group of elderly people, addressed by the governor in front of the Government House in Port of Spain , Trinidad , began to chant about the new legislation: “Pas de six ans. Point de six ans. ”(Less than six years. Less than six years). They shouted over the governor's voice. Peaceful protests followed, which lasted until a resolution was passed through which the so-called apprenticeships were abolished and de facto freedom was achieved. Full emancipation for all was legally granted early on August 1, 1838.

Exceptions and Follow-up Efforts

Initially, the areas of the Honorable East India Company were expressly excluded from the law. Slavery was then repealed in these areas by the Indian Slavery Act of 1843 .

A successor organization to the Anti-Slavery Society was founded in London in 1839, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society , which set itself the goal of outlawing slavery worldwide. This society is the world's oldest international human rights organization and still exists under the name Anti-Slavery International .

International efforts were made legal through the Brussels Conference Act 1890 and the Slavery Agreement 1926.

But even after 1833 the secret slave trade continued in the British Empire; In 1854, for example, Nathaniel Isaacs , the owner of Matakong Island off the coast of Sierra Leone , was charged with slave trading by Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy , the governor of Sierra Leone. The files on the case were lost when the ship Forerunner sank off Madeira in October 1854. Because of the missing files, the English court refused to take the case forward.

In Australia, so-called blackbirding continued , as well as keeping native workers for “pay in trust” in some cases until the 1970s.

Modern slavery, both in the form of human trafficking and with people incarcerated for forced or compulsory labor, still exists today.

Repeal of the law

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was repealed in its entirety by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 . The repeal did not legalize slavery again as parts of the Slave Trade Act 1824 , Slave Trade Act 1843, and Slave Trade Act 1873 remain in effect. In addition, the Human Rights Act 1998 , which came into force as British Law Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights , bans slavery.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter P. Inks, John R. Michigan, R. Owen Williams (2007) Encyclopedia of antislavery and abolition : 643. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007; Alfred W. & Ruth G. Blumrosen: Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution. Sourcebooks 2005.
  2. ↑ (1827) 2 Hag Adm 94 .
  3. ↑ We have no slaves at home - Then why abroad?
    Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs
    Receive our air, that moment they are free.
    They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
    That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud.
    And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then,
    And let it circulate through every vein. Nick Rhodes: William Cowper: Selected Poems. Routledge, 2003: 84.
  4. ^ Chasing Freedom: The Royal Navy and the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade . history.ac.uk
  5. ↑ Toyin Falola, Amanda Warnock: Encyclopedia of the middle passage . Greenwood Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-313-33480-1 , pp. Xxi, xxxiii-xxxiv.
  6. ↑ The legal and diplomatic background to the seizure of foreign vessels by the Royal Navy pdavis.nl.
  7. ^ Slavery and abolition . Oxford University Press
  8. ^ William Wilberforce: A Man for All Seasons . CBN
  9. ^ Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ; Section XII August 28, 1833.
  10. ↑ a b Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ; Section LXIV August 28, 1833.
  11. ^ Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ; Section XXIV, August 28, 1833.
  12. ^ A b Sanchez Manning: Britain's colonial shame: Slave-owners given huge payouts after. In: The Independent , February 24, 2013.
  13. ↑ ukpublicrevenue.co.uk
  14. ^ UK public spending and GDP in 1833 . ukpublicspending.co.uk
  15. ↑ Kris Manjapra: When will Britain face up to its crimes against humanity? In: The Guardian March 29, 2018.
  16. ^ British Parliamentary Papers , session 1837-38 (215), vol. 48. The manuscript returns and indexes to the claims are held by The National Archives .
  17. ^ John Dryden: 1992 “Pas de Six Ans!” In: Anthony de Verteuil: Seven Slaves & Slavery: Trinidad 1777-1838. Port of Spain: 371-379.
  18. ↑ Anne-Marie Sharman (ed.): Anti-Slavery Reporter vol 13 no 8. London: Anti-Slavery International 1993: 35.
  19. ^ Anti-Slavery International UNESCO.
  20. ↑ Louis Herrman: Nathaniel Isaacs. In: Natalia, is. 4: 19-22, The Natal Society Foundation. Pietermaritzburg December 1974.
  21. ↑ Jens Korff: Stolen Wages. Creative spirits.
  22. ↑ modern slavery in UK traveler site. theguardian.com.
  23. ↑ Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 November 19, 1998.
  24. ↑ Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (repealed 11/19/1998) (c.73) June 19, 2009.
  25. ^ Slave Trade Act 1824. June 24, 1824.
  26. ^ Slave Trade Act 1843. August 24, 1843.
  27. ^ Slave Trade Act 1873. August 5, 1873.
  28. ^ Human Rights Act 1998. September 11, 1998.

literature

  • Seymour Drescher: Abolition: A History of Slavery and Antislavery (2009)
  • Peter Hinks, John McKivigan (ed.): Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition (2 vol. 2006)
  • Richard Huzzey: Freedom Burning: Anti-Slavery and Empire in Victorian Britain . (Cornell University Press, 2012) 303pp.
  • Jon-Michael Washington: Ending the Slave Trade and Slavery in the British Empire: An Explanatory Case Study Utilizing Qualitative Methodology and Stratification and Class Theories. (2012 NCUR) (2013). on-line

Web links