February 23, 1807

Slave Trade Act 1807

Commons approves the Slave Trade Abolition Bill’s decisive second reading

The division ran so late that the Commons adjourned at half past four in the morning. Sixteen MPs had voted against.

283 to 16

On 23 February 1807 the House of Commons resumed debate on taking the Slave Trade Abolition Bill into committee, with the government leader Lord Howick presenting the case for ending British participation in the trade.

After roughly ten hours, MPs divided 283 to 16 — a majority of 267.

William Wilberforce answered opponents near the end of the debate and received a standing ovation during the proceedings.

The vote was a stage, not the law

Immediately after the division the House resolved itself into committee pro forma and adjourned at 4:30 a.m.

That vote did not make the bill law. Remaining parliamentary stages followed, royal assent came on 25 March, and the Act took effect from 1 May 1807 with transitional provisions for voyages already underway.

Lord Grenville had introduced the government bill in the House of Lords on 2 January; it reached the Commons on 10 February.

What the Act reached, and what it left alone

The enacted law set a penalty of £100 for each enslaved person purchased, sold, bartered or transferred contrary to it.

It prohibited the British slave trade; it did not free anyone already enslaved in the British colonies, where slavery continued until the Slavery Abolition Act came into operation in 1834.

Wilberforce led the parliamentary campaign but did not found the 1787 abolition committee, which was started by twelve campaigners including Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson; Wilberforce formally joined it in 1791.

Sources

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