Slave Trade Act facts for kids
The Slave Trade Act is a name given to important laws in the United Kingdom and the United States. These laws were created to control or stop the terrible practice of the slave trade. The slave trade involved buying, selling, and transporting people as if they were property.
These acts were part of a bigger effort to end slavery, known as abolitionism. Over time, many countries passed laws to stop the slave trade and eventually abolish slavery completely. You can see when different nations ended slavery on an abolition timeline.
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Laws About the Slave Trade
Governments in both the United Kingdom and the United States passed several laws specifically called "Slave Trade Acts." These laws aimed to limit or ban the buying and selling of enslaved people.
Laws in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom passed a series of laws to address the slave trade. The most famous one, the Slave Trade Act of 1807, made it illegal for British ships to carry enslaved people.
- Slave Trade Act 1788 (also known as Dolben's Act)
- Slave Trade Act 1807
- Slave Trade Felony Act 1811
- Slave Trade Act 1824
- Slave Trade Act 1843
- Aberdeen Act (1845)
- Slave Trade Act 1873
- Modern Slavery Act 2015
Laws in the United States
The United States also passed laws to stop the international slave trade, though slavery continued within the country for many more years. The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves in 1807 made it illegal to bring new enslaved people into the U.S. from other countries.
- Slave Trade Act of 1794
- Slave Trade Act of 1800
- Act to prevent the importation of certain persons [slaves] into certain states . . ., 1803
- Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, 1807
- Slave Trade Act of 1818
- 1819 U.S. law, amended in 1820, which impacted the slave trade
- Act in Relation to Service
- Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners
Related Efforts to End Slavery
In Spanish: Slave Trade Act para niños Many other laws, treaties, and movements worked towards ending slavery and protecting human rights around the world.
- Abolition of slavery timeline
- Abolitionism in the United Kingdom
- Abolitionism in the United States
- Slavery in international law
- Slavery in the British Isles
- Slavery in the United States
- Slavery in the colonial history of the United States
- Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (United Kingdom)
- Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (United States)
- 1948 Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations)
- 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations)
