Breaking our own chains

As black workers in 2007, it's important to understand the history of slavery and how this informs and influences our present day struggles

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by the House of Commons in 1807 which made it unlawful for any British subject to capture and transport slaves. This change in the law resulted from campaigning outside and within the British Houses of Parliament and extended beyond Britain and Europe to the Americas, the Caribbean as well as in Africa and Asia.

There are two important historical lessons to be drawn about the slave trade. The first is that the abolitionist movement owed its beginning, its momentum, and its final ending to the activity of the slaves themselves. These men and women waged near constant rebellion (1760s), in the War of Independence (1776), and in the Haitian revolution against slavery (1791-1803), which meant that chattel slavery became unsustainable.

Slave drivers - the whip was frequently used

The second, was the alliance formed with other organised working people who opposed the slave trade in the 1790s, the United Irishmen and other organised labour groups who rose up in protest to signal the death knell of slavery.

The 'Transatlantic Slave Trade' describes the sale and exploitation of African slaves by Europeans, that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean during the period from the 15th century to the 19th century. Most slaves were transported from West and Central Africa, to the new world. It is estimated that 12 million Africans arrived in the new world, making it one of the largest forced migrations in human history. The transatlantic slave trade formed part of the notorious 'Triangular Trade' between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The profits from which, partly funded Britain's industrial revolution, which was to make Britain one of the richest countries in the world.

The Middle Passage refers to the sailing voyage of slave ships from Africa to the Americas. The passage could take anywhere from six weeks to three months, during which the African captives were considered as 'cargo' and inhumanely packed together, below the deck of a ship for the majority of the journey.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in Parliament on 25 March 1807. It prohibited the capture, transport, buying and selling of slaves within the British Empire from 1 May 1807. Although it did not end slavery, the act signalled the end of the slave trade in Britain and the colonies. There was a mass movement behind the act that brought together many different members of society from enslaved Africans to British abolitionists.

Breaking the chains

Breaking our own chains