In This Month: March

Abolition of the Slave Trade
In 1807 on March 2nd, United States President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill abolishing the slave trade. The bill, which took effect on January 1st 1808, banned the US and Britain from trading human cargo. Although it was hard to enforce, the bill marked a major milestone in the fight against slavery.

This image shows two adverts published in a colonial newspaper in around 1784 – one advertising a cargo of 'very fine stout' slaves just imported from Africa and another offering 'thirty seasoned negroes' including a carpenter and a cook and his wife, an 'honest' washer-woman.