British Abolition Act 1833: Britain Ends Slavery Across Its Empire

Britain's Slavery Abolition Act received Royal Assent on August 28, 1833, abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire, freeing approximately 800,000 enslaved people primarily in the Caribbean. Slaveholders received 20 million pounds in compensation; no compensation was paid to the enslaved. The British precedent made American slavery increasingly anomalous among Western nations. American slaveholders responded by intensifying proslavery ideology claiming slavery was a positive good rather than a necessary evil.