In 1807, the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed that prohibited the slave trade in the British Empire. The Act created fines for ship captains who continued with the trade. These fines could be up to £100 per enslaved person found on a ship. Captains would sometimes dump captives overboard when they saw Navy ships coming in order to avoid these fines.[1] The first case brought under the act was that of Samuel Samo, who was tried by Chief Justice Robert Thorpe at the Vice-Admiralty Court…
The Royal Navy enforced the 1807 Slave Trade Act
