The 25th March 2007 marked 200 years to the day that a Parliamentary Bill was passed to abolish the slave trade in the British colonies. Although slavery was finally abolished in the Americas in 1888, it is estimated that there are tens of millions of people still in forms of servitude today.

Slavery has been practised by most societies throughout history. The word ‘slave’ comes from the word ‘slav’; Eastern Europeans who were enslaved in the Middle Ages. However, the Transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in world history and formed part of the notorious ‘triangular trade’ between Europe, Africa and the Americas and was indeed a crime against humanity.

Between 1450 and 1850, at least 9 - 12 million Africans were shipped from Africa across the Atlantic to colonies in North America, South America, and the West Indies. Of these Africans 80% (at least 7 million) were exported during C18th, with a mortality rate of 10 - 20% on board ship. This was the notorious Middle Passage.

Ships working the Triangular Trade started and finished in European ports. They carried copper, muskets, manufactured goods, glassware and cloth. They traded them for captives who were loaded into extremely cramped ships and given only minimal amounts of food and water.

Why Britain turned its back on over three centuries of lucrative slave trading has been a matter of great debate for decades. Traditionally, many put this down to the efforts of the abolitionists such as Wilberforce and Clarkson who convinced the great British public and Parliament that the transatlantic slave trade was immoral, cruel and unjustified.

Over half a century ago, historians such Eric Williams suggested that economic reasons rather than humanitarian sentiment were at the root of the cessation of abolition. Williams argued that changes in British economy stemming in regards to the industrial revolution, free trade policies and free labour, and the uncompetitive nature of Caribbean sugar made slave-produced sugar outmoded and abolition acceptable to business folk and politicians alike.

However, many have questioned Williams' theory and suggested that slave produced sugar was still profitable and the slave trade still advantageous for merchants. It can be argued that a number of socio-political and economic factors including the influence of Christianity enabled the abolitionist committee to accomplish its work of ending the slave trade within 30 years.