The abolition of slavery refers to the legal and social movement that led to the end of the institution of slavery. It involved various measures and laws aimed at freeing enslaved individuals and granting them their freedom.
Related terms
Emancipation Proclamation: This was an executive order issued by US President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War, declaring all slaves in Confederate states to be free.
Slave Trade Act 1807: A British law passed in 1807 that abolished the transatlantic slave trade, prohibiting British subjects from participating in it.
Act for the Abolition of Slavery: A French law enacted on April 27, 1848, which abolished slavery throughout all French territories.