1807 Slave Trade Act

The Slave Trade Act 1807 or the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 25 March 1807, with the title of "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade". The act abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, and also encouraged British action to press other European nations to abolish their slaves trades; but it did not abolish slavery itself, not until 26 years later. Slavery on English soil was unsupported in English law and that position was confirmed in Somersett's Case in 1772, but it remained legal in most of the British Empire until the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The original act is in the Parliamentary Archives.