A WEAPON FOR ABOLITION

Stephen Taylor recounts the story of HMS Black Joke and the West Africa Squadron’s fight to stop slavery

Jonathan Gordon

In 1807, after many years of campaigning by an ever-growing abolitionist movement, the British Parliament passed the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. While this did not free people who were already enslaved, it was the beginning of a process that would bring to an end Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. British enslavers didn’t necessarily end their involvement immediately, however, so the Royal Navy was drafted in to hunt down ships still being used to transport this grim human cargo. Released from their commitments in the Napoleonic Wars, these navy ships gradually began to intercept vessels of all nations who were kidnapping men and women from West Africa and shipping them under horrific conditions to the Americas. These Royal Navy vessels became known as the West Africa…

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All About History (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 151

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