Emancipation and Proclamtion

In the early 1770's movement towards emancipation started.Due to the distance and difficulty of traveling between Nassau and the Turks and Caicos Islands it is likely that it would have been more difficult for the Assembly in Nassau to guarantee that the Laws were being upheld.

The 1796 consolidated Slave Act made it law for slave owners to provide suitable clothing and provisions for the slave communities as well as limiting the degree of punishments that could be inflicted on the slaves.

In March 1807 the British Government outlawed the slave trade and abolished slavery in the United Kingdom. In the overseas territories slavery was still legal but there should have been no purchasing of slaves directly from Africa. Any captured slaves became the property of the government and were placed in the hands of the chief customs officer, and could be bound in apprenticeships for up to 14 years.

This movement put pressure on the governments of colonial areas, much to the disgust of these Assemblies who disliked interference in their affairs. However, in the end they had to succumb to the political will from Westminster.


This restricted the punishment of the slaves, and even though the initial attempt was the removal of flogging as a punishment for female slaves this was changed to female slaves being flogged in private only, and now flogging could not consist of more than 39 lashes at any one time. Any owner who mistreated a slave could also now be imprisoned.