# what did anti-slavers do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848 "2018-12-29T01:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/1 "2018-12-29T01:03:47Z")
The other day I heard mention of a “Victorian anti-slaver” ship. I’ve never heard of these ships before, and google is of no help. What did they look like? How did they fight slavery? I can’t even imagine what such a ship would be like, except, maybe a glorified privateer. If anybody could point me to some good articles on the subject, I’d be grateful. I tried searching the web, but get nothing but essays about slavery or stuff related to Star Wars (the movie franchise). ---
**Author:** ![scoots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@scoots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scoots)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/2 "2018-12-29T01:23:32Z")
After the abolition of slavery the British government set up an anti-slavery squadron of ships which patrolled the west coast of Africa intercepting slaving ships and returning the captives to Africa. I think a lot of them were released in Freetown, Sierra Leone since it wasn’t known where exactly they had originally come from. Once the decision to abolish slavery was made and the law passed, it was enforced with some zeal. > **[West Africa Squadron](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa_Squadron)** > > The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act 1807 and based out of Portsmouth, England, it remained an independent command until 1856 and then again from 1866 to 1867. > The impact of the Squadron has been debated, with some commentators describing it as having a significa... ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/3 "2018-12-29T01:53:09Z")
One minor correction: The Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron was established after the [abolition of the slave _trade_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807) (the transport of people from Africa across the ocean into slavery, with often [extraordinarily brutal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slaveshipposter_(cropped).jpg) and [even murderous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong_massacre) conditions on board the slave ships); the process of freeing those already held in slavery in various parts of the British Empire did not begin until [1833](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_Abolition_Act_1833). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/4 "2018-12-29T05:14:53Z")
> [@scoots](#): > > After the abolition of slavery the British government set up an anti-slavery squadron of ships which patrolled the west coast of Africa intercepting slaving ships and returning the captives to Africa. > > I think a lot of them were released in Freetown, Sierra Leone since it wasn’t known where exactly they had originally come from. > > Once the decision to abolish slavery was made and the law passed, it was enforced with some zeal. > > [West Africa Squadron - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa_Squadron) In some cases the enforcement efforts unfortunately and unintentionally led to enslaved victims’ being murdered wholesale instead. From your link: > [@](#): > > Occasionally, slavers being pursued would throw their captives overboard in an attempt to avoid prosecution. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/5 "2018-12-29T06:21:52Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > One minor correction: The Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron was established after the [abolition of the slave _trade_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1807) (the transport of people from Africa across the ocean into slavery, with often [extraordinarily brutal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slaveshipposter_(cropped).jpg) and [even murderous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zong_massacre) conditions on board the slave ships); the process of freeing those already held in slavery in various parts of the British Empire did not begin until [1833](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_Abolition_Act_1833). I also like to additionally note, the Slavery Abolition Act didn’t de facto actually free all slaves in British territory, which is how you get weird things where certain British colonies officially banned slavery in the 1960’s despite the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 being in effect. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-anti-slavers-do/826848/6 "2018-12-30T03:58:04Z")
> [@scoots](#): > > After the abolition of slavery the British government set up an anti-slavery squadron of ships which patrolled the west coast of Africa intercepting slaving ships and returning the captives to Africa. > > I think a lot of them were released in Freetown, Sierra Leone since it wasn’t known where exactly they had originally come from. > > Once the decision to abolish slavery was made and the law passed, it was enforced with some zeal. > > [West Africa Squadron - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa_Squadron) Thank you. That’s exactly what I was looking for. Looks like they were closer to customs clippers than privateers.