Editing British Empire (section)

=== Abolition of slavery ===
{{Main|Abolitionism in the United Kingdom}}

With the advent of the [[Industrial Revolution]], goods produced by slavery became less important to the [[British economy]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why was Slavery finally abolished in the British Empire? |url=http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_111.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126120021/http://abolition.e2bn.org/slavery_111.html |archive-date=26 November 2016 |access-date=31 December 2016 |publisher=The Abolition Project}}</ref> Added to this was the cost of suppressing regular [[slave rebellion]]s. With support from the British [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolitionist]] movement, [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] enacted the [[Slave Trade Act 1807|Slave Trade Act]] in 1807, which abolished the [[History of slavery|slave trade]] in the empire. In 1808, [[Sierra Leone Colony]] was designated an official British colony for freed slaves.{{Sfn|Porter|1998|p=14}} Parliamentary reform in 1832 saw the influence of the [[West India Committee]] decline. The [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|Slavery Abolition Act]], passed the following year, abolished slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834, finally bringing the empire into line with the law in the UK (with the exception of the territories administered by the East India Company and Ceylon, where slavery was ended in 1844). Under the Act, slaves were granted full emancipation after a period of four to six years of "apprenticeship".{{Sfn|Hinks|2007|p=129}} Facing further opposition from abolitionists, the apprenticeship system was abolished in 1838.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Slavery After 1807 |url=http://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/the-slave-trade-and-abolition/sites-of-memory/ending-slavery/slavery-after-1807 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815132941/https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/the-slave-trade-and-abolition/sites-of-memory/ending-slavery/slavery-after-1807 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |access-date=24 November 2019 |publisher=Historic England |language=en |quote=As a result of public pressure apprenticeships were abolished early, in 1838.}}</ref> The British government compensated slave-owners.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 August 1833 |title=Slavery Abolition Act 1833; Section XXIV |url=http://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_07.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524010152/http://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_07.htm |archive-date=24 May 2008 |access-date=3 June 2008 |publisher=pdavis}}</ref><ref name="Manning">{{Cite news |last=Sanchez Manning |date=24 February 2013 |title=Britain's colonial shame: Slave-owners given huge payouts after |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-colonial-shame-slave-owners-given-huge-payouts-after-abolition-8508358.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212052103/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-colonial-shame-slave-owners-given-huge-payouts-after-abolition-8508358.html |archive-date=12 December 2019 |access-date=11 February 2018 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>