What's covered
Key facts
Abolition and empire
The British Empire reached its largest extent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The transatlantic slave trade
British ships transported roughly 3 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.
Abolition and empire
By 1900, around a quarter of the world's land area was part of the British Empire.
The transatlantic slave trade
Enslaved Africans worked mainly on plantations growing sugar, tobacco and cotton.
Abolition and empire
Olaudah Equiano, a formerly enslaved African, wrote a famous 1789 autobiography that helped the abolition cause.
The transatlantic slave trade
Enslaved Africans resisted in many ways: slowing work, sabotaging tools, and outright rebellion.
Abolition and empire
The late-19th-century race for European powers to claim African territory was known as the Scramble for Africa.
The transatlantic slave trade
Liverpool and Bristol were two English ports that grew wealthy from the slave trade.
Abolition and empire
The 1807 Slave Trade Act abolished the trafficking of enslaved people in the British Empire, but not slavery itself.
The transatlantic slave trade
Liverpool grew rich on the slave trade during the 1700s, becoming the dominant European slaving port by the late 18th century.
Sample questions
A taste of the 23 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What did the 1807 Slave Trade Act abolish in the British Empire?
- •Slavery in Britain itself but not in the colonies
- •Slavery in the Caribbean but not in West Africa
- •Slavery throughout the British Empire entirely
- ✓The trafficking of enslaved people, not slavery itself
What were the three legs of the 'triangular trade'?
- •Africa → Britain → Africa (only two legs)
- •Africa → Britain → Spain → Africa
- ✓Britain → Africa → Americas → Britain
- •Britain → India → Caribbean → Britain
Which 1833 act finally abolished slavery itself across the British Empire?
- •Colonial Freedom Act
- •Emancipation of Slaves Act
- •Slave Trade Act
- ✓Slavery Abolition Act
Which crop drove the demand for enslaved labour in the Caribbean plantations?
- •Rubber trees
- ✓Sugar cane
- •Tea leaves
- •Wheat grain
What name was given to the late 19th-century race for European powers to claim Africa?
- •the African Enlightenment
- •the Congress of Africa
- ✓the Scramble for Africa
- •the Wind of Change
Which two English ports grew wealthy from the slave trade?
- ✓Liverpool and Bristol
- •Newcastle and Hull
- •Norwich and Cambridge
- •Plymouth and Portsmouth
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