1 août 1838 - Slavery Abolished in the British Empire

Description:

In 1834, slaves in the British empire started a period of 'apprenticeship', during which they were obliged to work without pay for their former owners. Abolitionists campaigned against the system and in the Caribbean there were widespread protests. When the apprenticeship period ended in 1838, over 700,000 slaves were freed in the British Caribbean. Plantation owners received about £20 million in government compensation for the loss of their slaves. The former slaves received nothing.