Abolition of slavery timeline

Abolition of slavery occurred as abolition in specific countries, abolition of the trade in slaves and abolition throughout empires. Each of these steps was usually the result of a separate law or action.

Early timeline

It should be noted that many of these changes were reversed in practice over the succeeding centuries.
*1102 Trade in slaves and serfdom ruled illegal in London: Council of Westminster
*1117 Slavery abolished in Iceland
*1215 Magna Carta recognizes the right to liberty in England
*1274 Landslova (Land's Law) in Norway mentions only former slaves, which indicates that slavery was abolished in Norway
*1335 Sweden and Finland make slavery illegal

Modern timeline

*1588 Lithuania and Japan abolish slavery
*1600 Last villein dies in England
*1723 Russia abolishes slavery [ [http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 Historical survey > Ways of ending slavery] ]
*1761 Portugal abolishes slaveryHobhouse, Henry. "Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind", 2005. Page 111.]
*1772 Slavery declared illegal in England, including overseas slaves living in England. Lord Chief Justice Mansfield rules that English law does not support slavery.Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman. "Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery", 1995. Pages 33-34.]
*1777 Slavery abolished in Madeira
*1777 Slavery abolished in Vermont, USA
*1778 Slavery illegal in Scotland [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/hist/abolition/?page=1770-1807|title=BBC Scotland Learning - Timeline 1770-1807 Knight vs Wedderburn (1778)] [cite web|url=http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/071022.asp|title=National Archives of Scotland Joseph Knight case]
*1783 Russia abolishes slavery in Crimean Khanate [ [http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 Historical survey > Slave societies] ]
*1783 Massachusetts rules slavery illegal based on 1780 constitution
*1783 Bukovina: Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor issued an order abolishing slavery on 19 June 1783 in Czernowitz. [Viorel Achim, The Roma in Romanian History, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2004. ISBN 9639241849, p.128]
*1787 Sierra Leone founded by British as state for emancipated slaves
*1787 Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade founded in Britain
*1788 Sir William Dolben's Act regulating the conditions on British slave ships enacted
*1791 Haiti gains independence and emancipation
*1792 Slave trading abolished in Denmark (though slavery continues to 1847).
*1793 Upper Canada, by Act Against Slavery
*1794 French First Republic abolishes slavery (re-established by Napoleon in 1802)
*1799 New York State introduces gradual emancipation
*1802 Denmark abolish slave trade in Danish colonies
*1802 Slavery re-introduced in France
*1803 Lower Canada abolishes slavery
*1804 Haiti abolishes slavery
*1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act: slave trading abolished in British Empire. Captains fined £100 per slave transported.
*1807 British begin patrols of African coast to arrest slaving vessels. West Africa Squadron (Royal Navy) established to suppress slave trading; by 1865, nearly 150,000 people freed by anti-slavery operations [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] BBC]
*1807 Abolition in Prussia, Germany The Stein-Hardenberg Reforms.
*1808 United States -- importation of slaves into the US prohibited after Jan. 1. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30foner.html Foner, Eric. "Forgotten step towards freedom,"] "New York Times." December 30, 2007.]
*1811 Slave trading made a felony in the British Empire punishable by transportation for British subjects and Foreigners.
*1811 Spain abolishes slavery at home and in all colonies except Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo
*1814 Dutch outlaw slave trade
*1815 British pay Portuguese £750,000 (several hundred million dollars in current values) to cease their trade"Blacks in Latin America," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.]
*1815 Congress of Vienna. 8 Victorious powers declared their opposition to slavery
*1817 Spain paid £400,000 by British to cease trade to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo
*1818 Treaty between Britain and Spain to abolish slave trade "Chronological Table of the Statutes" (1959 edition)]
*1818 Treaty between Britain and Portugal to abolish slave trade
*1818 France and Holland abolish slave trading
*1819 Treaty between Britain and Netherlands to abolish slave trade
*1821 Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela abolish slavery
*1821 Liberia founded by USA as state for emancipated slaves.
*1822 Greece abolishes slavery.
*1823 Chile abolishes slavery
*1827 Treaty between Britain and Sweden to abolish slave trade
*1829 Mexico abolishes slavery
*1831 Bolivia abolishes slavery
*1834 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire. The exceptions being territories controlled by the Honourable East India Company and the islands of Ceylon and St Helena. [cite web |url=http://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_07.htm |title=Slavery Abolition Act 1833|date=1833-08-28 |accessdate=2008-06-04]
*1834 Jamaica abolishes slavery
*1835 Treaty between Britain and France to abolish slave trade
*1835 Treaty between Britain and France and Denmark to abolish slave trade
*1836 Portugal abolishes transatlantic slave trade
*1839 British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society founded, now called Anti-Slavery International
*1839 Indian indenture system made illegal
*1840 Treaty between Britain and Venezuela to abolish slave trade
*1841 Quintuple Treaty is signed; England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria agree to suppress slave trade
*1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty between Britain and USA
*1842 Uruguay abolishes slavery
*1843 Honourable East India Company becomes increasingly controlled by Britain and abolishes slavery in India by the Indian Slavery Act V. of 1843.
*1843 Treaty between Britain and Uruguay to suppress slave trade
*1843 Treaty between Britain and Mexico to suppress slave trade
*1843 Treaty between Britain and Chile to suppress slave trade
*1843 Argentina abolishes slavery
*1843 Treaty between Britain and Bolivia to abolish slave trade
*1845 36 British Navy ships are assigned to the Anti-Slavery Squadron, making it one of the largest fleets in the world.
*1846 Tunisia abolishes slavery
*1847 Sweden abolishes slaveryCobb, Thomas Read Rootes. "An Inquiry Into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America: To which is Prefixed An Historical Sketch of Slavery", 1858. Page cxcii.]
*1848 Denmark abolishes slavery
*1848 Slavery abolished in all French and Danish colonies
*1848 France founds Gabon for settlement of emancipated slaves.
*1848 Treaty between Britain and Muscat to suppress slave trade
*1849 Treaty between Britain and Persian Gulf states to suppress slave trade
*1850 United States: Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
*1851 Brazil ends slave trade
*1854 Peru abolishes slavery
*1854 Venezuela abolishes slavery
*1855 Moldavia abolishes slavery.Mihail Kogălniceanu, [http://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/Dezrobirea_ţiganilor,_ştergerea_privilegiilor_boiereşti,_emanciparea_ţăranilor "Dezrobirea ţiganilor, ştergerea privilegiilor boiereşti, emanciparea ţăranilor"] , 1891]
*1856 Wallachia abolishes slavery.
*1860 Indenture system abolished in British occupied India.
*1861 Russia frees its serfs in the Emancipation reform of 1861. [ [http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24156 Historical survey > Slave-owning societies] ]
*1862 Treaty between United States and Britain for the suppression of the slave trade (African Slave Trade Treaty Act).
*1862 Cuba abolishes slave trade
*1863 Slavery abolished in Dutch colonies
*1863 United States: Emancipation Proclamation declares those slaves in Confederate-controlled areas to be freed. Does not include slaves in "border states" and Washington, D.C..
*1865 United States abolishes slavery with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
*1869 Portugal abolishes slavery in the African colonies
*1871 Brazil declares free the sons and daughters born to slave mothers after September 28, 1871.
*1873 Puerto Rico abolishes slavery
*1873 Treaty between Britain and Zanzibar and Madagascar to suppress slave trade
*1874 Britain abolishes slavery in Ghana (the Gold Coast) (after Third Anglo-Asante War and British annexation of the Gold Coast in 1874).
*1881 - 1899 - Mahdist War fought partly to suppress slavery in the Sudan.
*1886 Cuba abolishes slavery
*1888 Brazil abolishes slavery
*1890 Brussels Act - Treaty granting anti-slavery powers the right to stop and search ships for slaves
*1894 Korea abolishes slavery [ [http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History] ]
*1896 France abolishes slavery in Madagascar
*1897 Zanzibar abolishes slavery [ [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/10/01/html/ft_20011001.6.html Swahili Coast] ]
*1905 Siam (Thailand) abolishes slavery [ [http://www.thailandsworld.com/index.cfm?p=213 The Tai Kingdom of Ayutthaya] ]
*1910 China abolishes slavery [ [http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/class/cfe/ceth/abolition/history.htm Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery Project] ]
*1923 Afghanistan abolishes slavery [ [http://www.afghangovernment.com/Constitution1923.htm Afghan Constitution: 1923] ]
*1924 Iraq abolishes slavery
*1924 League of Nations Temporary Slavery Commission
*1926 Slavery Convention. Bound all signatories to end slavery Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery (September 25, 1926)
*1926 Nepal abolishes slavery [Whelpton, John. "A History of Nepal", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, p. 53.] [ [https://dart.columbia.edu/haimendorf/glossary.html Garti-Khamendeu ] ]
*1928 Iran abolishes slavery [ [http://www.africultures.com/anglais/Edito%20anglais/Edito6.htm The slave trade: myths [http://www.africultures.com/anglais/Edito%20anglais/Edito6.htm The slave trade: myths and preconceptions] ]
*1928 Domestic slavery practised by local African elites abolished in Sierra Leone [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmintdev/923/923m21.htm House of Commons - International Development - Memoranda] ] (paradoxically established as a place for freed slaves). A study found practices of domestic slavery still widespread in rural areas in the 1970s.
*1935 Italian General Emilio De Bono proclaims slavery to be abolished in the Ethiopian Empire [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 36]
*1936 Britain abolishes slavery in Northern Nigeria [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter8.shtml The End of Slavery ] ]
*1942 Ethiopian Empire abolishes slavery
*1948 UN Article 4 of the Declaration of Human Rights bans slavery globally [cite web |url=http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |date=10 December 1948 |accessdate=2007-12-13 |publisher=United Nations
quote=Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948 ... Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. ]
*1952 Qatar abolishes slavery
*1962 Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery
*1962 Yemen abolishes slavery
*1963 United Arab Emirates abolishes slavery
*1969 Peru abolishes the encomiendas regime through a land reform [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform#Latin_America] ending slavery in the country.
*1970 Oman abolishes slavery
*1981 Mauritania abolishes slavery [ [http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR380032002?open&of=ENG-MRT Slavery in Mauritania] ] (Mauritania has repeatedly abolished slavery. It is the last country to still have chattel slavery.) [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0520243846 Disposable People] ]
*Slavery continues today with illegal human trafficking [ [http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2005/issue3/0305p28.html Slavery in the Twenty-First Century] ]

ee also

*Abolitionism
*History of slavery
*Slavery
*Slavery at common law
*Slavery in modern Africa

Further reading

* [http://anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/index.htm Anti slavery society]
* [http://direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065902 Slavery and Abolition]

References