The
Slave Trade Act 1807 or the
Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807, was an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 25 March 1807, with the title of "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade". The original act is in the
Parliamentary Archives. The act abolished the
slave trade in the
British Empire, in particular the
Atlantic slave trade, and also encouraged British action to press other European states to abolish their slave trades, but it did not abolish
slavery itself. Many of the Bill's supporters thought the Act would lead to the death of slavery, but it was not until 26 years later that slavery itself was actually abolished. Slavery on English soil was unsupported in English law and that position was confirmed in
Somersett's Case in 1772, but it remained legal in most of the British Empire until the
Slavery Abolition Act 1833.