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Enslaved Episode 6: Abolition

What finally put an end to the Transatlantic slave trade? Samuel L. Jackson and a team of journalists find out in the finale of Enslaved.

What finally put an end to the Transatlantic slave trade?

CBC ·

Enslaved: How Did the Transatlantic Slave Trade End?

4 years ago
Duration 2:00
Slavery was an integral part of the economies of the U.S., the major European powers and their colonies. So how did regular people, including enslaved and formerly enslaved Africans , manage to bring it down?

In this episode, Samuel L. Jackson, Afua Hirsch and Simcha Jacobovici look at the politics and circumstances that brought to an end the enslavement of Africans in the West.

Shot on location in the United Kingdom, the United States and Grenada, this episode intercuts the politics of abolition in Britain and the American Civil War with the search for the London, a ship that re-enslaved freed Africans from St. Lucia and illegally trafficked them to England. 

Samuel L. Jackson looks over an unrolled document on a scroll. Behind him is a wide, full bookshelf.
Samuel L. Jackson looking over the "Abolition of the Slave Trade" Act from 1807 in the Parliamentary archives, House of Parliament, London, England. (Gareth Gatrell/Associated Producers/Cornelia Street)

The slaver sank under mysterious circumstances near Cornwall, drowning the dozens of Africans on board. The divers are determined to find the ship and solve the centuries-old case. The episode also features interviews with veteran Congressmen John Lewis and Jim Clyburn. 

By the end, the Diving with a Purpose divers commission a sculpture to be lowered into the waters off the coast of Grenada. In a moving ceremony attended by leading figures in the arts, academia and politics, the sculpture is lowered into the Caribbean. This is the first memorial dedicated to the millions of Africans who died at sea.

Three scuba divers getting suited up into their gear in an inflatable boat.
The dive team boarding a zodiac boat to go the London wreckage spot, Ilfracombe, U.K. (Felix Golubev/Associated Producers/Cornelia Street)

Enslaved contains disturbing depictions of the inhumanity faced by enslaved people from African countries during the Transatlantic slave trade, which may be traumatizing to some viewers. If you need support, there are resources available across the country, you can find links to a number of these resources in this post, curated by the Unison Benevolent Fund: https://www.unisonfund.ca/blog/post/mental-health-resources-black-canadians

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