Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: How was a relatively small religious group like the Quakers, who lacked access to political office in England, able to exert such a disproportionate influence on the antislavery movement?
• 2.: What impact, if any, do you think Britain's abolition of slavery had on policies with regard to slavery in the United States?
• 3.: The act exempted territories in the possession of the British East India Company from its provisions. Read the entry titled Queen Victoria's Proclamation concerning India and explain why the company may have been exempted from the terms of the act.
• 4.: Why do you think Great Britain rather than some other nation became the world's leader in the process of abolishing slavery? Were there particular qualities in the makeup of British thought or British politics that enabled the antislavery movement to strike deep roots in that country?
• 5.: Drawing on the entry titled Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Address, compare the process of abolishing slavery in Britain's colonies with the process of abolishing the apartheid system of South Africa.