Rescued slaves crowd the deck of the HMS Daphne, 1868

 

East African slaves were rescued aboard HMS Daphne, a British naval ship used to intercept the transport of enslaved people. Between 1 and 4 November 1868, they were freed from Arab slave traders.

HMS Daphne was sailing off the coast of Zanzibar to enforce a treaty with the Sultan of Zanzibar, which stated that he was to control slave traders.

Instead, he was making profits from it. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 abolished slavery in the British Empire, and the Royal Navy began an anti-slavery campaign a few years earlier, primarily targeting Portuguese and Spanish ships.

East African slaves were rescued aboard HMS Daphne, a British naval ship used to intercept the transport of enslaved people. Between 1 and 4 November 1868, they were freed from Arab slave traders.

HMS Daphne was sailing off the coast of Zanzibar to enforce a treaty with the Sultan of Zanzibar, which stated that he was to control slave traders.

Instead, he was making profits from it. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 abolished slavery in the British Empire, and the Royal Navy began an anti-slavery campaign a few years earlier, primarily targeting Portuguese and Spanish ships.

However, support for demands to abolish the slave trade increased due to frequent rebellions by enslaved Africans and evidence of the horrific conditions they endured during and after transportation.

Ultimately, in 1807, Parliament passed an Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which ended Britain's trade in enslaved people between Africa, the West Indies, and the Americas.

Pro-slavery campaigners had argued that by not trading with newly enslaved Africans, slave-owners would treat their existing slaves better.

However, it was clear that enslaved people were still treated harshly and many continued to protest and rebel against their slavery.

In 1833 Parliament passed a further Act to abolish slavery in the British West Indies, Canada and the Cape of Good Hope (Southern Africa), meaning it was now illegal to buy or own a person.

Between 1808 and 1869 the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron seized more than 1,600 slave ships and freed approximately 150,000 Africans, but despite this, it is estimated that more than 1 million people were enslaved in the 19th century. Made and transported.