After many years of discussion and social pressure on 1833, during the rule of Henry IV, the Slavery Abolition Act was introduced and assented by the king. After it came into force a year later, slavery were abolished in Great Britain, and most of the British empire.

This event is part of the Romanticism period and represents and important break point, because until then slaves (which were mostly from African ascendence), were considered by the government as little more than an livestock, making them to be valued by being a mean of production or a status' symbol, rather than as human individuals. After this, they could be valued as humans, and while there was some resilience and many people still considered the former slaves as less valuable than the white British people, the abolition of slavery was an important antecedent for future break points on how the former enslaved population and their descendants were valued by the British people.

Sources:

Henry, N. (2025). Slavery Abolition Act. Britannica, website: Slavery Abolition Act | History & Impact | Britannica

Image used for educational purposes, recovered from Encyclopaedia Britannica.