Did the British help to STOP evil Slavery?
Yes.
Not by themselves, and not everywhere—but Britain did play a major role in ending slavery in the British Empire and suppressing the transatlantic slave trade.
Britain ended (most of) its slave trade in 1807. Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act on 25 March 1807, making it illegal for British subjects/ships to trade enslaved people across the Atlantic. (parliament.uk)
Britain abolished slavery across most of its empire in 1833/34. The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 received Royal Assent on 28 August 1833 and took effect 1 August 1834, freeing 800,000+ enslaved people in many British colonies (with important exceptions and transitional “apprenticeship” arrangements that delayed full freedom in practice). (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Britain then enforced suppression at sea. The Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron (formed 1808) patrolled West Africa to intercept slave ships; estimates commonly cite roughly ~1,600 ships captured and ~150,000 people freed from ships.
But a couple of big caveats matter:
Britain had been a major slave-trading power before abolition. The 1807 law ended a trade Britain had helped build and profit from. (slaveryandremembrance.org)
Abolition came with compensation to slave owners, not to the enslaved. The British government set £20 million aside to compensate owners after abolition—one reason the legislation was politically achievable. (Bank of England)
Slavery didn’t end globally in 1834. Slavery continued (and in some places expanded) in other empires and regions long after Britain’s laws; Britain’s efforts were significant but not “the end of slavery.”
So the most accurate framing is: Britain helped stop its slave trade (1807), abolished slavery across much of its empire (1834), and became a leading force in suppressing the Atlantic slave trade—yet it did not single-handedly “stop slavery,” and its earlier role in slavery was enormous.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2026
