17 and 18 centuries, the slave trade was condemned by European thinkers such as Locke, Montesquieu and Voltaire, and religious groups such as Quakers and Evangelicals also criticized its barbaric nature of anti-religion.

/kloc-In the second half of the 8th century, under the influence of the North American War of Independence and the French Revolution, the voices against the slave trade and demanding the abolition of slavery merged into a magnificent abolition movement. Some people take part in this movement from a humanitarian point of view, but others also do so from an economic point of view. The latter thinks that frequent riots and the excessive death rate of plantation slaves have brought too many social and economic losses.

In Britain, due to the independence of British North American colonies and changes in domestic economy, such as the development of machinery manufacturing and the formation of a new industrial system, Britain felt that instead of exporting slaves from Africa, it would be better to turn Africa into a commodity market and a raw material supply place. In this way, Britain, which once played one of the most important roles in the slave trade, became the earliest and most active country to carry out the anti-slave trade movement. Famous figures who participated in this sport in Britain include G.V. Sharp, W. wilberforce, H. Clarkson, etc.

1807, Britain passed a bill prohibiting the sale of slaves in any way during the transportation in Africa or from Africa to any other place.

The United States promulgated in 1808, Sweden 18 13, Netherlands 18 14, France 18 18 and Brazil 1825. Portugal also promulgated some laws in 18 15 and Spain in 18 17 respectively, stipulating that slave ship can only sail in the sea area south of the equator.

In order to effectively stop the slave trade, Britain also sent a navy to patrol the sea and banned the slave trade. Since 1930s, Britain has signed agreements with France, Spain, Portugal and other major European slave countries, stipulating that ships suspected of carrying slaves can be intercepted and inspected to punish traders engaged in slave trade.

1862, the United States agreed to sign this agreement.

65438+In the 1980s, Cuba and Brazil, the countries with the largest number of slaves imported by the United States, also announced laws prohibiting the slave trade and liberating slaves.

At the 1885 Berlin conference (1884 ~ 1885) and the 1890 Brussels international conference, western countries adopted a general resolution against the slave trade, which gradually abolished the world slave trade that lasted for four centuries and caused incalculable losses to Africa.