Additionally, abolition was seen as a threat to national sovereignty it was argued that, rather than for humanitarian motives, Great Britain wanted to reduce Brazilian influence in Africa in order to extend its own empire. Secondly, it would put the politically influential, elite slave traders out of business. Firstly, it threatened to destroy the agricultural economy of Brazil, which heavily relied on the slave workforce.
There was strong resistance to the proposed plan for a number of reasons. Fearing the (supposed) future restrictions, traders increased their business, expanding from around 25,000 sold in 1825 to 44,250 in 1829. During this period, the number of Africans entering Brazil grew rapidly. In 1827 a treaty was ratified promising that the import of slaves to Brazil would end within three years. In return for international recognition of its independence, Great Britain demanded that Brazil sign an agreement similar to that which had been signed with Portugal. With the independence of Brazil in 1822, Great Britain hoped for increased cooperation from the young country, particularly considering Brazil was receiving more enslaved Africans than any other country at that time. However, as the slave trade remained one of the most important aspects of Portugal’s colonial economy, little was done to put the agreements into action. The agreement included plans for the gradual abolition of the slave trade and was followed by a treaty in 1815 that better defined the path to abolition. In 1810 Great Britain signed an agreement of alliance with Portugal, which had started taking Africans as slaves to Brazil as early as 1533.
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However, there were a variety of factors which led Britain to eradicate a system that had brought it considerable profits (it is estimated that Britons transported 3 million Africans between 17), one of which being that slavery no longer made economic sense, as the Industrial Revolution was flourishing with free trade and labour.įollowing abolition in Great Britain, British abolitionists began targeting other nations.
Much of the pressure to pass the act had come from religious groups led by the Quakers, who had in 1787 begun a humanitarian crusade against slavery, based in liberal values of freedom and the idea that all men are born equal. In 1807, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed an act abolishing the international traffic of enslaved people within the British Empire.
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