The main reason it took so long to abolish the slave trade was simply because the pro-slave trade lobby had too many important and powerful figures in the establishment. The plantation owners ...

Narrator: In the 18th century, the movement to end the slave trade emerged. In Britain a powerful abolition movement inspired by activists and politicians from around the world began to bring ...

In 1777, Vermont was the first U.S. territory to ban slavery, and the state of Pennsylvania followed suit in 1780. By 1804, Northern states had voted to abolish slavery within their borders.

An under-fire lecturer who was accused of besmirching a hero of the Industrial Revolution has mocked the idea that Britain abolished slavery. Dr Jenny Bulstrode of University College London (UCL ...