1833 Slavery is abolished in the British Empire

The use of slave labour on cotton and sugar plantations became very unpopular. This medal was made by Wedgewood to support the Anti-Slavery movement. The slave is kneeling beneath the inscription 'am I not a man and a brother?'

After many years of protest against the slave trade the British parliament passed a law in 1807 which forbade British vessels from trading in African slaves. It was not until 1833, however, that slavery itself was made illegal in the British Empire. All slaves on British territory were given their freedom. Slavery did continue elsewhere in the world. The cotton plantations of the southern United States, which supplied raw cotton to Preston and Lancashire mills, still used slave labour.