Abolition of slavery timeline

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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.

Main article: Abolitionism

Contents

Ancient times [edit]

  • 3rd century BC: Ashoka abolishes slave trade and encourages people to treat slaves well but does not abolish slavery itself in the Maurya Empire, covering the majority of India, which was under his rule.[1]
  • AD 9: In China, Emperor Wang Mang usurps the throne, abolishes slave trading (although not slavery), and institutes radical land reform[2]

Early timeline [edit]

Many of these changes were reversed in practice over the succeeding centuries.

  • 960: Doge of Venice Pietro IV Candiano reconvened the popular assembly and had it approve of a law prohibiting the slave trade
  • 1102: Trade in slaves and serfdom ruled illegal in London: Council of London (1102)
  • 1117: Slavery abolished in Iceland
  • 1200: Slavery virtually disappears in Japan; it was never widespread and mostly involved captives taken in civil wars.[3] During the Second world war, Japanese Army captured women to serve as Comfort women, number ranging from 20,000 to 410,000 depending on who you ask.
  • 1214: The Statute of the Town of Korčula (Croatia) abolishes slavery.[4]
  • 1215: Magna Carta signed. Clause 30, commonly known as Habeas Corpus, would form the basis of a law against slavery in English common law.
  • 1256: The Liber Paradisus is promulgated. The Comune di Bologna abolishes slavery and serfdom and releases all the serfs in its territories.
  • 1274: Landslova (Land's Law) in Norway mentions only former slaves, which indicates that slavery was abolished in Norway
  • 1315: Louis X, king of France, publishes a decree proclaiming that "France" signifies freedom and that any slave setting foot on the French ground should be freed[5]
  • 1335: Sweden (including Finland at the time) makes slavery illegal, though this is not enacted. A true abolition of slavery does not occur until 1813.[6]
  • 1416: Republic of Ragusa (modern day Dubrovnik, Croatia) abolished slavery and slave trading
  • 1435: Papal Encyclical – Sicut Dudum – of Pope Eugene IV banning enslavement on pain of excommunication.

Modern timeline [edit]

1500–1700 [edit]

1700–1800 [edit]

1800–1849 [edit]

  • 1802: The First Consul Napoleon re-introduces slavery on French colonies growing sugarcane.[15]
  • 1803: Denmark-Norway abolition of transatlantic slave trade takes effect 1 January 1803
  • 1804: New Jersey begins a gradual abolition of slavery, freeing future children of slaves.[22] Those born prior to the Act remain enslaved for life
  • 1804: Haiti declares independence and abolishes slavery[17]
  • 1805: Britain: bill for Abolition passed in Commons, rejected in the House of Lords.
  • 1807, 2 March: Thomas Jefferson signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves into law in the U.S. which took effect January 1, 1808.
  • 1807, 25 March: Abolition of the Slave Trade Act abolished slave trading in British Empire. Captains fined £120 per slave transported.
  • 1807: 22 July: The constitution of the Duchy of Warsaw abolishes serfdom
  • 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[28]
  • 1807: Abolition of serfdom in Prussia through the Stein-Hardenberg Reforms.
  • 1807: Territorial Justice Augustus Woodward Territory denies the return of 2 slaves owned by a man in Windsor, Upper Canada (present day Ontario). Woodward declares that any man “coming into this Territory is by law of the land a freeman.”[29]
  • 1808: In United States, Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect 1 Jan.[30]
  • 1810: In Mexico, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declares slavery abolished. In the following years, during the Mexican War of Independence, gradually comprehensive steps will end slavery in the new country.
  • 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,[15] Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo
  • 1811: The First National Congress of Chile approves a proposal drafted by Manuel de Salas that declares the Freedom of wombs, which sets free the sons of slaves born on Chilean territory, no matter the conditions of the parents; it prohibited the slave trade and recognized as freedmen those who, passing in transit through Chilean territory, stayed there for six months.
  • 1813: Mexico abolishes slavery in the documents Sentimientos de la Nación, by insurgent leader José María Morelos y Pavón
  • 1813: In Argentina, the Law of Wombs was passed on February 2, by the Assembly of Year XIII. The law stated that those born after January 31, 1813 would be granted freedom when contracting matrimony, or on their 16th birthday for women and 20th for men, and upon their manumission would be given land and tools to work it. In 1853, slavery was completely abolished.
  • 1814: Uruguay, before its independence, declares all those born of slaves in their territories are free from that day forward.
  • 1814: The Netherlands outlaws slave trade.
  • 1815: British pay Portugal £750,000 to cease their trade north of the Equator[31]
  • 1815: Congress of Vienna. Eight victorious powers declared their opposition to slavery
  • 1816: Serfdom abolished in Estonia.
  • 1817: Serfdom abolished in Courland.
  • 1817: Spain paid £400,000 by British to cease trade to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo[31]
  • 1817: New York State sets a date of July 4, 1827 to free all its slaves.[32]
  • 1818: Treaty between Britain and Spain to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1818: Treaty between Britain and Portugal to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1818: France abolishes slave trading
  • 1818: Treaty between Britain and the Netherlands taking additional measures to enforce the 1814 ban on slave trading[33]
  • 1819: Serfdom abolished in Livonia.
  • 1820: Mexico formally abolishes slavery with the Plan of Iguala, proposed by Agustín de Iturbide and ratified the following year by him and the Viceroy, Juan O'Donojú
  • 1820: Compromise of 1820 in U.S. prohibits slavery north of a line (36°30')
  • 1821: Gran Colombia (Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama) declares free the sons and daughters born to slave mothers, sets up program for compensated emancipation[34]
  • 1822: Liberia founded by American Colonization Society (USA) as a colony for emancipated slaves.
  • 1822: Greece abolishes slavery
  • 1823: Chile abolishes slavery[17]
  • 1824: Mexico's new Constitution (1824 Constitution of Mexico) effectively frees existing slaves.
  • 1824: The Federal Republic of Central America abolishes slavery.
  • 1825: Uruguay declares independence from Brazil and prohibits the traffic of slaves from foreign countries.
  • 1827: Treaty between Britain and Sweden to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1828: New York State abolishes slavery. Children born between 1799 and 1827 are indentured until age 25 (females) or age 28 (males).[35]
  • 1829: Last slaves are freed in Mexico.[17]
  • 1830: Mexican president Anastasio Bustamante orders the abolition of slavery to be implemented also in Mexican Texas. To circumvent the law, many Anglo colonists convert their slaves into "indentured servants for life", and later break away from Mexico – delaying the end of slavery in Texas until 1865.
  • 1830: The first Constitution of Uruguay declares the abolition of slavery.
  • 1831: Bolivia abolishes slavery[17]
  • 1834: The British Slavery Abolition Act comes into force, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire. Legally frees 700,000 in West Indies, 20,000 in Mauritius, 40,000 in South Africa. The exceptions, territories controlled by the Honourable East India Company and Ceylon, were liberated in 1843 when they became part of the British Empire.[36]
  • 1835: Treaty between Britain and France to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1835: Treaty between Britain and Denmark to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1836: Portugal abolishes transatlantic slave trade
  • 1836 (December) – Viscount Sa da Bandeira, prime minister, prohibits the import and export of slaves from the Portuguese colonies south of the Equator.
  • 1838, 1 August: Enslaved men, women and children in the British Empire finally became free after a period of forced apprenticeship following the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833
  • 1839: British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society founded, now called Anti-Slavery International
  • 1839: Indian indenture system made illegal (reversed in 1842)
  • 1840: Treaty between Britain and Venezuela to abolish slave trade;[33] the first World Anti-Slavery Convention meets in London.
  • 1841: Quintuple Treaty is signed; Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria agree to suppress slave trade[17]
  • 1842: Treaty between Britain and Portugal to extend the enforcement of the ban on slave trade to Portuguese ships sailing south of the Equator.
  • 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[33]
  • 1843: Treaty between Britain and Mexico to suppress slave trade[33]
  • 1843: Treaty between Britain and Chile to suppress slave trade[33]
  • 1843: Treaty between Britain and Bolivia to abolish slave trade[33]
  • 1845: 36 British Royal Navy ships are assigned to the Anti-Slavery Squadron, making it one of the largest fleets in the world.
  • 1846: Persuaded by Britain the Bey of Tunisia outlawed the slave trade on January 1846; the policy was reversed temporarily by his successor.[37] A second law with penal sanctions was published in the Tunisian Official Gazette in 28 May 1890.[38]
  • 1847: Under British pressure the Ottoman Empire abolishes slave trade from Africa.[39]
  • 1847: Sweden abolishes slavery[40]
  • 1847: Slavery ends in Pennsylvania. Those born before 1780 (fewer than 100 in 1840 Census) are freed.[41]
  • 1848: Slavery abolished in all French and Danish colonies[17][40]
  • 1848: France founds Gabon for settlement of emancipated slaves.
  • 1848: Treaty between Britain and Muscat to suppress slave trade[33]
  • 1849: Treaty between Britain and Persian Gulf states to suppress slave trade[33]

1850–1899 [edit]

1900–present [edit]

While now officially illegal in all nations, slavery or practices akin to it continue today in many countries throughout the world.

See also [edit]

Further reading [edit]

  • Campbell, Gwyn. The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean Africa and Asia (Frank Cass, 2004)
  • Drescher, Seymour. Abolition: A History of Slavery and Antislavery (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
  • Finkelman, Paul, and Joseph Miller, eds. Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery (2 vol 1998)
  • Gordon, M. Slavery in the Arab World (1989)
  • Hinks, Peter, and John McKivigan, eds. Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition (2 vol. 2007) 795pp; ISBN 978-0-313-33142-8
  • Lovejoy, Paul. Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (Cambridge UP, 1983)
  • Morgan, Kenneth. Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America (2008)
  • Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery (1997)
  • Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World (2007)

External links [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Religions and the abolition of slavery – a comparative approach by William G. Clarence-Smith
  2. ^ http://books.google.co.il/books?id=g_kuS42BxIYC&pg=PA420&lpg=PA420&dq=wang+mang+slavery&source=bl&ots=ZVLP0h32P9&sig=bf89w4fTVdCeQn5q4pdbgHdfKv8&hl=iw&ei=UjRSSpjOGYfgnAPapqymCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
  3. ^ Finkelman & Miller (1998) 2: 445–6
  4. ^ http://www.korculainfo.com/history/statute-korcula-town-1214.html
  5. ^ Christopher L. Miller, The French Atlantic triangle: literature and culture of the slave trade, p.20.
  6. ^ Police and public order in Europe. Taylor & Francis. 1985. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-7099-2242-1. 
  7. ^ Dembkowski, Harry E. (1982). The union of Lublin, Polish federalism in the golden age. East European Monographs, 1982. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-88033-009-1. 
  8. ^ Maria Suzette Fernandes Dias (2007). Legacies of slavery: comparative perspectives. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 71. ISBN 1-84718-111-2. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 
  9. ^ Lewis, James Bryant. (2003). Frontier Contact Between Choson Korea and Tokugawa Japan, p. 31-32.
  10. ^ Gary João de Pina-Cabral (2002). Between China and Europe: person, culture and emotion in Macao. Berg Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 0-8264-5749-5. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 
  11. ^ Gary João de Pina-Cabral (2002). Between China and Europe: person, culture and emotion in Macao. Berg Publishers. p. 115. ISBN 0-8264-5749-5. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 
  12. ^ La Frontera Araucana en el siglo XVIII (in Spanish)|accessdate=2012-05-21
  13. ^ V.C.D. Mtubani, African Slaves and English Law, PULA Botswana Journal of African Studies Vol 3 No 2 Nov 1983 retrieved 24th February 2011
  14. ^ a b Historical survey > Ways of ending slavery
  15. ^ a b c Hobhouse, Henry. Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind, 2005. Page 111.
  16. ^ Heward, Edmund (1979). Lord Mansfield: A Biography of William Murray 1st Earl of Mansfield 1705–1793 Lord Chief Justice for 32 years. p.141. Chichester: Barry Rose (publishers) Ltd. ISBN 0-85992-163-8
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman. Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, 1995. Pages 33–34.
  18. ^ A Leon Higginbotham, Jr., In the Matter of Color: Race & the American Legal Process, Oxford University Press, 1978. p.310.
  19. ^ Historical survey > Slave societies
  20. ^ A. Leon Higginbotham, In the matter of color: race and the American legal process (1980) p. 91
  21. ^ Viorel Achim, The Roma in Romanian History, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2004. ISBN 963-9241-84-9, p.128
  22. ^ a b Higginbotham, p.310.
  23. ^ A. B. C. Sibthorpe, The history of Sierra Leone (1970) p. 8
  24. ^ The Historical encyclopedia of world slavery, Volume 1 By Junius P. Rodriguez
  25. ^ David B. Gaspar, David P. Geggus, A Turbulent time: the French Revolution and the Greater Caribbean (1997) p. 60
  26. ^ Higginbotham, p.147.
  27. ^ May, Thomas Erskine (1895), "Last Relics of Slavery", The Constitutional History of England (1760–1860) II, New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, pp. 274–275 
  28. ^ Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore BBC
  29. ^ Woodward, Augustus. "Slavery in the Northwest Territory". Leelanau Communications, Inc. Retrieved 10 September 2012. 
  30. ^ Foner, Eric. "Forgotten step towards freedom," New York Times. 30 December 2007.
  31. ^ a b "Blacks in Latin America," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.
  32. ^ Higginbotham, pp.146–47.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Chronological Table of the Statutes" (1959 edition)
  34. ^ a b c Aguilera, Miguel (1965). La Legislacion y el derecho en Colombia. Historia extensa de Colombia 14. Bogota: Lemer. pp. 428–442. 
  35. ^ Higginbotham, p.146–47.
  36. ^ Finkelman and Miller, Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery 1:293
  37. ^ Junius P. Rodriguez (2011). Slavery in the Modern World: A History of Political, Social, and Economic Oppression. ABC-CLIO. p. 429. 
  38. ^ "Decree of 28 May 1890". Journal Officiel Tunisien (Tunisian Official Gazette) (in French): 1. May 1890. 
  39. ^ Ehûd R. Tôledānô (1998). Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East. U. of Washington Press. p. 11. 
  40. ^ a b Cobb, 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.
  41. ^ 1840 U.S. Census, Pennsylvania
  42. ^ Finkelman and Miller, Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery 1:377
  43. ^ a b Mihail Kogălniceanu, Dezrobirea ţiganilor, ştergerea privilegiilor boiereşti, emanciparea ţăranilor, 1891. (these dates) also decisive for privately owned gypsies, still remaining enslaved
  44. ^ Peter Kolchin, Unfree Labor (1987)
  45. ^ Finkelman and Miller, Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery 2:637
  46. ^ Michael Vorenberg, Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment (2004)
  47. ^ Hornsby, A Companion to African-American History, (2008) p.127
  48. ^ Robert E. Conrad, The destruction of Brazilian slavery, 1850–1888 (1972) p. 106
  49. ^ Suzanne Miers and Richard L. Roberts, The End of slavery in Africa (1988) p. 79
  50. ^ Y. Hakan Erdem, Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and Its Demise, 1800–1909 (1998).
  51. ^ Finkelman and Miller, Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery 1:124
  52. ^ Junius P. Rodriguez (1997). The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery. ABC-CLIO. p. xxiii. 
  53. ^ Swahili Coast
  54. ^ Baker, Chris and Pasuk Phongpaichit. A History of Thailand, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 61.
  55. ^ Whelpton, John. A History of Nepal, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005, p. 53.
  56. ^ Garti-Khamendeu
  57. ^ Cheikh A. Babou. The Journal of African History, 48: 490–491, Cambridge University Press 2007
  58. ^ Afghan Constitution: 1923
  59. ^ The slave trade: myths and preconceptions
  60. ^ House of Commons – International Development – Memoranda
  61. ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 36
  62. ^ The End of Slavery
  63. ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations. 10 December 1948. Retrieved 13 December 2007. "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." 
  64. ^ 'Niger Slavery: Background', The Guardian, 27 October 2008 retrieved 8 Jan. 2011
  65. ^ Slavery in Mauritania
  66. ^ Disposable People
  67. ^ "Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law". BBC News. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 8 January 2011. 
  68. ^ Slavery's last stronghold. CNN.com (16 March 2012). Retrieved 20 March 2012.
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