One of history's greatest evils is the slave trade. Who can we thank for that?
Some self-righteous people who blame the Jews for practically everything, conveniently overlook this reality.
Which people or what country took the leadership to start to abolish the slave trade?
- Britain took the leading role in the sustained international campaign to suppress the transatlantic slave trade, while Denmark–Norway enacted an earlier ban. Christian abolitionists and Black campaigners were central to the movement.
- Denmark–Norway: Passed a ban in 1792, effective in 1803—the first European slave-trading nation to enact a prohibition on its transatlantic trade. This did not free people already enslaved in its colonies.
- Britain: Abolished its slave trade in 1807, following decades of campaigning. William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian, led the parliamentary effort; Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, and Quakers helped organize the movement. Black abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano supplied testimony and mobilized public opinion.
- British enforcement: Britain then used naval patrols and diplomatic pressure to suppress the trade internationally. Between 1808 and 1869, the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron seized more than 1,600 slave ships and freed approximately 150,000 Africans.
- United States: Congress prohibited overseas slave importation in 1807, effective January 1, 1808, although domestic slave trading and slavery continued.
Christian conviction was a major driving force in British abolitionism. Britain’s leadership in suppression also followed its earlier role as one of the largest slave-trading powers. Abolishing the trade and abolishing slavery itself were separate struggles.
DOES THE SLAVE TRADE EXIST TODAY?
Yes! People are still bought, sold, trafficked, and forced into labor or sexual servitude today. It occurs worldwide, although its forms and concentration vary.
The latest global estimate I found concerns 2021, not a count taken today: approximately 50 million people in “modern slavery”—28 million in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriage. That broader category includes people who were never literally bought or sold.
Where is it most concentrated?
- Largest total numbers: Walk Free’s 2023 estimates place India first, followed by China, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. Population size partly explains these rankings.
- Highest proportion of the population affected: North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey lead the same index. These estimates include forced labor and forced marriage, rather than counting slave markets or trafficking transactions alone.
- Forced labor by region: Asia and the Pacific have the largest number of victims; the Arab States have the highest rate relative to population.
- Hereditary slavery and actual buying and selling: These practices remain documented in parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. In some communities, children inherit enslaved status; girls may be sold into domestic and sexual servitude.
Slavery persists globally, with the largest numbers in Asia, especially high rates in several authoritarian states and Arab countries, and continuing hereditary slavery in parts of Africa.
