Eventually, in 1807, Parliament passed an Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which abolished the trade by Britain in enslaved peoples between Africa, the West Indies and America.
However the frequent rebellions by enslaved Africans and evidence of the appalling conditions endured by them during and after transportation led to growing support for the demands to abolish the slave trade. The battle was long and hard-fought, with pro-slavery campaigners arguing that the slave trade was important for the British economy and claiming that enslaved Africans were happy and well-treated. The campaign in Britain to abolish slavery began in the 1760s, supported by both black and white abolitionists. Many other cities also grew rich on the profits of industries which depended on slave-produced materials such as cotton, sugar and tobacco. Ports such as Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow sent out many slaving ships each year, bringing great prosperity to their owners. Over the next 300 years more than 11 million enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic from Africa to America and the West Indies, and Britain led this trade from the mid-17th century onwards.
As European settlement grew, so did the demand for enslaved people.
As soon as Europeans began to settle in America, in the early 16th century, they imported enslaved Africans to work for them.
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