Slavery Abolition Act (1833)
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, before it was repealed in 1997 in pursuit of a rationalization of English statute law, provided for the abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire, save for areas administered by the East India Company (Slavery Abolition Act, Section LXIV). The act sought to safely remove of the wide-spread slavery in the tropical regions of the British Empire, and it did little to solve the problem of slavery in North America; however, Canada was made a free territory for African American slaves, which resulted in thousands of slaves finding freedom in Canada in the following decades (Henry). Only slaves under the age of six years of age were immediately freed. Other slaves were freed under a system of apprenticeship, which slowed the process of immediate abolition by several years. The last apprenticeships ended in 1840.
The Slavery Abolition Act failed as it did not provide for the slaves it freed whatsoever, while tending wholly to the needs of the slave owner; moreover, it hardly immediately freed any slaves at all in North America, focusing on parts of the British Empire where plantation slavery ran extremely rampantly. The decision to free slaves through apprenticeships slowed the process of freeing the slaves considerably. Also, the exception clause, preventing the abolition of slaves in areas administered by the East India Company, slowed the process of total abolition as well. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 did not live up to the expectations of William Wilberforce, who, after a process of evangelical conversion, believed wholly in the abolition of slavery until his death, which was coincidentally one week after the passing of the act in the House of Commons.
The act indubitably led to the pursuit of abolition in other western nations. It set a legal and social precedent that other western nations were almost forced to follow. Moreover, the act inadvertently freed slaves in North America by making Canada a free territory for slaves, which freed thousands of slaves as a result. Some view that slavery could not have immediately ended without calamitous consequences (Jayasree). Others think that the Slavery Abolition Act was not fast enough. In any case, the act led to the further abolition of slavery all throughout the British Empire and the United Kingdom, which set a social precedent that led to the further abolition of slavery all throughout the world. It was a good step in the right direction.
The act provided for the direct payment to slave-owners for the freedom of their slaves (Slavery Abolition Act). The act took the concerns of the slave-owners before those who were directly affected by the act. The slaves should have been paid for the enmities committed upon them. This set a dangerous legal precedent until the act was repealed in 1997. It could have been much better executed, but the act led to more beneficial legislation that treated the freed slaves much, much better, and in much more areas, as well.
The Slavery Abolition Act is important in considering the Great Resignation because it exactly applies to the reasons marginalized peoples are leaving the workforce in mass exodus. Just as slaves were "freed" without having been compensated for their time in slavery, African Americans, women, and other minority groups often go through similar inequalities when applying/working in jobs. It serves as the perfect paradigm to the enmitites that have been committed upon minorities for centuries thus far.
Related Links
Works Cited
3° & 4° Gulielmi IV, cap. LXXIII, Slavery Abolition Act 1833. https://www.pdavis.nl/Legis_07.htm. Accessed 30 April 2022.
Henry, Natasha L.. "Slavery Abolition Act". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Jul. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Slavery-Abolition-Act. Accessed 30 April 2022.
Jayasree C.H. “SLAVERY ABOLITION ACT (1843): AMBIVALENCES AND IMPLICATIONS (WITH REFERENCE TO MALABAR).” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 62, 2001, pp. 709–18, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44155818. Accessed 1 May 2022.