When was slavery abolished?

When was slavery abolished?

Slavery was a dreadful system where one human being actually owned another. A slave had no rights, and was considered to the property of his or her master.

Though slavery was abolished in England in 1772, the slave trade continued for many years more. About 20,000 Africans were sent to America every year. They traveled under the cruelest conditions on ships that set sail from Liverpool, Bristol and London. The opponents of this trade were called the Abolitionists, and they finally got Parliament to declare it illegal, in 1833.

In America, slaves were also brought in directly from Africa from about the 1640s until 1865. In the North, slaves were mainly house servants, while in the South slaves worked on the farms and plantations. By 1840, the issue of slavery had divided the nation into two. The North wanted to abolish slavery throughout the nation, while the South stoutly opposed any move by the North to dictate what the Southern states should do. This led to a long and bloody civil war, which ended in 1865. The North won the war, and slavery was abolished throughout America too. The man behind this historical victory was President Abraham Lincoln.