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Mar 5, 1562
The slave trade unofficially begins
Trade and naval commander Captain John Hawkins was on his way to West Africa. He captured quite a few people and sold them in the Caribbean as slaves. -
Slave trade officially begins.
A Dutch slave trader arrives in Jamestown, Virginia, exchanging the cargo of African slaves for food. The Africans become indentured servants, a legal status similar to poor Englishmen who trade years of labor for passage to America. The racial-based slave system does not develop in the American English colonies until the 1680s. -
1672 Britain leads the way.
Britain becomes one of the leading slave trade nations.The King of England charters the Royal African Company to bring the shiploads of slaves into trading centers like Jamestown, Hampton, and Yorktown in Virginia. -
The form of "Triangle Trade"
The opening of the British slave shipping creates what becomes known as the "Triangle Trade." Merchant vessels care New England rum to African slavers, then African slaves on "the middle passage" to the West Indies, and finally, West Indian sugar and molasses to New England for the rum distilleries. -
Britain is the biggest slave trading country
From 1690 to 1807, 2.8 million slaves were moved. -
Bristol is the biggest slave port in England
There are 37 journeys made every year. -
Slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce is born in Hull.
William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was an English politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to eradicate the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he became an Evangelical Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. -
First and biggest protest against the slave trade.
A slave called Tacky led a protest against the treatment of slaves on sugar plantations. Hundreds of slaves attacked the plantations setting crops and sugar alight. In the end Tacky was captured and beheaded. -
Slave case goes to court.
Slave James Somerset escaped from his owner in London. He was caught, but with the help of campaigner Granville Sharp the case went to court and he was freed. Many people thought this meant slavery was outlawed in Britain. Of course, they were mistaken. -
Group called Abolition of the Slave trade formed
This group did all it could to try and put an end to the slave trade. Two key members were Granville Sharp and John Clarkson. British abolitionists cleric Thomas Clarkson joins the famous English potter, Josiah Wedgwood and others to form the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. -
A law comes into place restricting the number of slaves on a ship.
The Slave Abolition Society also organises the first petition campaign and there's the first investigation into the slave trade. British Prime Minister William Pitt agrees to establish a select committee of the Privy Council to investigate the slave trade. -
The British Government agrees in principle that slave trade should end.
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The end of the slave trade.
The British Parliament passes an act prohibiting British subjects from engaging in the slave trade after March 1, 1808. Anyone found transporting slaves was fined £100 - a lot of money at the time - for every slave.
