The End of Slavery in Africa

Europeans economic interested shifted slowly from agriculture to industry, a movement to abolish the slave trade and the practice of slavery came into being. In the year 1807 the slave trade was outlawed in Britain and the United States. Britain outlawed the practice of slavery in all British territory. France did the same in its colonies in 1848. Following the American civil war, the United States government adopted the 13th amendment, this amendment ended slavery in the United States. The trans Atlantic slave trade continued until 1888 when Brazil abolished slavery.

While the trans Atlantic slave trade was dying down, the other slave traders were at their peaks. The Ottoman Empire nominally outlawed slavery in much of the Islamic world, but this had only a minor effect on the slave trade. The main justifications European gave for colonizing nearly the entire African continent during the 18th and 19th century was the desire to end slave trading and slavery in Africa. In the beginning of the 20th century, European had defeated most African slave trading states and the other slave trade came to an end.

The complete legal abolition of slavery in Africa did not take place until the first quarter of the 20th century. By that time, however, slavery was deeply ingrained in most African societies and the practices continued illegally. Slaves who became free often did so by escaping and going to areas in which they could live peacefully. In some places, enslaved persons held that status throughout their lives despite the legal prohibition. It was not until the 1930 that slavery was totally abolished.

The ending of the slave trade and slavery in Africa had wide ranging effects on Africa. Many societies that for centuries had participated in an economy based on slave labour and the trading of slaves had difficultly finding new ways to organize labour and gain wealth however the Africans who disapproved of slavery still needed people to work on...