Chronology of abolitions

1688, PENNSYLVANIA
The Quaker community protested against buying and keeping slaves.

18th century

1777-1784, UNITED STATES
Abolition of slavery in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire; the progressive abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

1783, GREAT BRITAIN
Creation of the Society for the Abolition of Slave Trading.

1788, FEBRUARY 9th, FRANCE
First meeting of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks.

1789, AUGUST 26th, FRANCE
Vote on the Declaration of Human Rights.

1789, AUGUST 31st, MARTINIQUE
First slave uprising during the French Revolution.

1790, OCTOBER 12th, FRANCE
Decree of the National Constituent Assembly, dissolving the colonial assembly of Saint-Domingue and reaffirming the legitimacy of slavery.

1791, MAY 15th, FRANCE
Decree on the rights of Freedmen of colour born of free parents.

1791, AUGUST 22nd, SAINT-DOMINGUE
A slave uprising began in the northern part of the island.

1791, SEPTEMBER 24th, FRANCE
The National Constituent Assembly reconsidered the rights granted to men of colour in the colonies and entrusts local authorities with the task of legislating on the status of non-free people.

1791, SEPTEMBER 28th, FRANCE
Decree of the National Constituent Assembly, declaring that every man is free across Mainland France and that, whatever his colour, will benefit from all citizens’ rights according to the constitution.

1792, MARCH 16th, DENMARK
Prohibition of slave trading on Danish vessels; the country gave itself a transitional period of ten years to finally stop all trafficking.

1792, MARCH 28th, FRANCE
Decree of the Legislative Assembly, approved by the King on April 4th, granting equal political rights to men of colour and Free Blacks in the West Indies.

1792, AUGUST 11th, FRANCE
Decree of the National Legislative Assembly, which abolished the slave bounties which had been in place to encourage trafficking since 1784. This decision was ratified in 1793 by the Convention.

1793, August 29th, SEPTEMBER 21st and 27th, SAINT-DOMINGUE
Abolition of slavery by civil commissioners Sonthonax and Polverel.

1794, FEBRUARY 4th (16 PLUVIÔSE YEAR II), FRANCE
Decree abolishing slavery in the French colonies. Measures to apply this decree were decided by the committees of Public Safety and the Colonies. This decree became unofficially recognised in the Mascarene Islands on September 6th 1794 and officially validated the following year. However, it remained unenforced for some time, for it was only the trading of slaves that was banned by the Colonial Assembly of Reunion Island on August 8th, 1794.

1794, MARCH, MARTINIQUE
Occupied by the British; the abolition decree was not applied.

1794, APRIL, GUADELOUPE
Occupied by the British, Guadeloupe was liberated after several months of fighting, and the abolition decree was duly applied there.

1794, SEPTEMBER 6th, REUNION ISLAND
the Colonial Assembly refused to apply the decree to abolish slavery.

1795, AUGUST 22nd (5 FRUCTIDOR YEAR III), FRANCE
Article 15 of the preliminary declaration of the constitution declared that no man can be for sale or sold because his person is not alienable property.

1796, FEBRUARY 7th, REUNION ISLAND
The Colonial Assembly declared that the decree of abolition was untenable in the colony.

1796, JUNE, ISLE DE FRANCE (Mauritius)
Commissioners in charge of enforcing the abolition decree were expelled.

1799, DECEMBER 13th (22 FRIMAIRE YEAR VIII), FRANCE
The new constitution did not further any provisions governing slavery listed in the previous constitution.

19th century

1802, MAY 20th (30 FLORÉAL YEAR X), FRANCE
Decree confirming the continuation of slavery according to the laws prior to 1789 in all French colonies where it had not been abolished, leaving it to local authorities to re-establish slavery in the French colonies where it had been abolished, thus re-establishing the slave trade across all French colonies. The decree arrived in Reunion Island on November 6th, 1802 (15 BRUMAIRE YEAR XI).

1802, JULY 2nd (13 MESSIDOR YEAR X), FRANCE
Decree forbidding all Blacks, mulattos or other people of colour from entering Mainland France, under penalty of deportation (unless in the service of a master), and forbidding any foreigners from bringing any Blacks, mulattos or people of colour into Mainland France. This ban was lifted on August 5th, 1818.

1802, JULY AND NOVEMBER, GUADELOUPE AND GUYANA
Re-establishment of slavery.

1802, SEPTEMBER 28th (6 SEPTEMBER YEAR XI), REUNION ISLAND
Re-establishment of the slave trade as before 1789.

1803, CANADA
Slave trading was abolished.

1803, FEBRUARY-MARCH, REUNION ISLAND
Decree of the Colonial Assembly, declaring that it would never accept the 1794 Decree of Abolition.

1804, JANUARY, SAINT-DOMINGUE
Proclamation of the independence of Saint-Domingue, which became Haiti.

1805, OCTOBER 23rd (BRUMAIRE YEAR XIV), ISLE DE FRANCE AND REUNION ISLAND
An additional decree to the French Civil Code, adapting Napoleonic legislation to the existence of slavery and the presence of Freedmen of colour.

1806
The British took definitive possession of the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope.

1806, JUNE 10th, GREAT BRITAIN
The House of Commons decreed the principle of abolishing the slave trade.

1807, SWEDEN
Prohibition of the slave trade on its vessels.

1807, MARCH 2nd, UNITED STATES
Act to abolish the slave trade from January 1st, 1808.

1807, MARCH 25th, GREAT BRITAIN
A Parliamentary resolution on the abolition of slave trading for all its colonies; this resolution became law from January 1st, 1808. Slaves freed from illegal slave traders were required to serve a three-year apprenticeship.

1810
The British took over Reunion Island and Isle de France (Mauritius).

1811, SEPTEMBER, MARTINIQUE
Slave uprising.

1811, NOVEMBER, BOURBON
The slave revolt in Saint-Leu.

1812, January 1st, MAURITIUS
Prohibition of slave trading in Mauritius, under the Act of May 14th, 1811, extending British legislation to Mauritius – this was never published nor registered on Bourbon Island.

1814, MAY 30th – JUNE 8th, FRANCE
Treaty of Paris. In an additional clause, France undertook to work alongside Great Britain in ensuring that the slave trade be officially abolished by all Christian countries, promising to apply this across all its territories within five years.

1815, FEBRUARY 8th, VIENNA
The treaty of Vienna saw a joint declaration to ban the slave trade, signed by the participating powers: Great Britain, France, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Prussia and Russia. However, each country nevertheless reserved the right to choose the most favourable moment to apply this prohibition.

1815, MARCH 29th, FRANCE
Napoleon issued a decree abolishing the trade and prohibiting the sale of slaves, whether French or foreign, across all French colonies, under penalty of confiscation of the ship and its cargo.

1815, APRIL 6th, BOURBON ISLAND
A decision came from the island’s new French authorities to provisionally maintain all laws and regulations governing the island, except laws governing the slave trade, which were all immediately overturned.

1815, NOVEMBER 20th, FRANCE
In an additional clause to the peace treaty, contracting parties (including France) undertook to put an end to the slave trade as quickly as possible. However, in 1822, France refused to sign a convention equating the slave trade with piracy.

1817, JANUARY 8th, FRANCE
A royal ordinance prohibited the slave trade. Enacted on Bourbon Island on July 26th, 1817, it was finally ratified by the law of April 15th, 1818.

1818
The Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch all condemned the slave trade, agreeing with Great Britain to outlaw it from May 30th, 1820.

1820
US Congress equated the slave trade with piracy, applying the death penalty to all those found guilty.

1821, PERU
A law was introduced to prohibit the slave trade and to progressively abolish slavery.

1821, FRANCE
Foundation of the Society of Christian Morality which called for a definitive prohibition of the slave trade.

1822
Great Britain signed an agreement with the Iman of Muscat to fight the slave trade; this agreement was renewed in 1839 and 1845.

1822, MARTINIQUE
Slave uprising.

1823, CHILE
Abolition of slavery.

1823, GREAT BRITAIN
Creation of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery.

1823, MAY, GREAT BRITAIN
Parliament voted a resolution condemning slavery.

1824, MAURITIUS
Strengthening of legislation against illegal slave trading.

1824, MARCH 30th 1824, BOURBON
A new ordinance governing prisons and the imprisonment of slaves.

1825, MEXICO
Abolition of slavery; this became definitive in 1829.

1825, AUGUST 3rd, FRANCE
A royal decree granted a bounty of one hundred francs for every slave following the capture of slave ships.

1825, SEPTEMBER 27th, BOURBON
A new ordinance stated that no master may inflict no greater punishment on their slaves than thirty lashes of the whip.

1826-1828, MAURITIUS
Parliamentary Inquiry into the slave trade by Cole-Brooke and Blair (report of March 12th, 1828).

1827, APRIL 25th, FRANCE
Law reinforcing legislation against slave trading: all shareholders and accomplices in slave trading were liable to banishment; the fine was equivalent to the value of the ship; crew members would incur from three months to five years in prison – enacted in Bourbon on December 24th, 1827.

1829, MARCH 29th, MAURITIUS
a slave protector was officially appointed.

1830, URUGUAY
abolition of slavery.

1830, SEPTEMBER 7th, FRANCE
A royal ordinance on the civil status of coloured freemen – enacted in Bourbon on March 26th, 1831.

1831, BOLIVIA
abolition of slavery.

1831, GREAT BRITAIN
emancipation of all slaves belonging to the Crown.

1831, FEBRUARY 24th, FRANCE
A royal ordinance abolished all provisions restricting the civil rights of Freedmen people of colour – enacted in Bourbon on August 4th, 1831.

1831, MARCH 1st, FRANCE
law abolishing taxes paid to the Treasury for the emancipation of a slave – enacted in Bourbon on August 3rd, 1831.

1831, MARCH 4th, FRANCE
A law was enforced that defined slave trading as a crime, applying greater penalties for those convicted of trafficking (forced labour for ship owners and captains, seizure and sale of the ship and its cargo, six months to five years’ imprisonment for buyers) and a commitment from the government to emancipate all black slaves within seven years – enacted in Bourbon on July 26th, 1831.

1831, MAY 15th, BOURBON
Foundation of the Association of French Creoles, who advocated the independence of Bourbon Island in the event of the abolition of slavery.

1831, NOVEMBER 30th, FRANCE
Agreement signed between France and Great Britain, seeking to stamp out the trafficking of black slaves; both countries granted reciprocal rights to visit each other’s ships.

1831, DECEMBER 25th, ENGLISH COLONY OF JAMAICA
beginning of the slave uprising.

1832, BOURBON
Last conviction for slave trafficking.

1832, JULY 12th, FRANCE
A law granted freedom to slaves whose masters had not paid the tax or obtained authorisation for emancipation from the authorities – enacted in Bourbon on January 18th, 1833.

1832-1835, BOURBON
The illegal trade persisted, and around 4,500 further slaves were brought onto the island.

1833, MARCH 22nd, FRANCE
An agreement was signed between France and Great Britain on the suppression of slave trafficking, including an annex listing instructions to be given to ships; this agreement and that of November 30th, 1831 were published in France by decree on August 30th 1833, and enacted in Bourbon on February 11th, 1834.

1833, APRIL 24th, FRANCE
Law granting all Freedmen the enjoyment of political rights – enacted in Bourbon on 24th August, 1833.

1833, APRIL 30th, FRANCE
Royal ordinance concerning abolition in the French colonies, specifically for penalties related to branding and mutilation – enacted in Bourbon on 13th October, 1833.

1833, AUGUST 4th, FRANCE
Ordinance prescribing annual censuses of slaves, with the obligation to declare births, marriages and deaths – enacted in Bourbon on 21st December, 1833.

1833, AUGUST 28th, GREAT BRITAIN
The Abolition Act was enacted across the nineteen British colonies of the New World (British West Indies, British Guyana, British Honduras, Mauritius), including approximately 800,000 slaves (compared to 250,000 for the French colonies); abolition took immediate effect on August 1st 1834 (but former slaves had to remain with their masters for a further seven years of unpaid apprenticeship, except for those under six and over sixty years of age). A compensation of five hundred million francs was paid to former owners. The areas concerned around the Indian Ocean were Mauritius and the Cape of Good Hope. The law was ratified by the King of England on 28th August, 1833.

1834, FRANCE
Foundation of the French Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

1835, MAURITIUS
Proclamation in Mauritius of the Slave Emancipation Bill.

1835, JUNE 28th, SPAIN
Convention with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave trade.

1836, APRIL 29th, FRANCE
Royal decree on the automatic emancipation of slaves brought from the colonies to France – enacted in Bourbon on 6th September, 1836.

1836, DECEMBER, PORTUGAL
The slave trade was prohibited in Portuguese colonies and vessels flying the Portuguese flag; the decree was not published in Mozambique.

1838, FEBRUARY 10th, FRANCE
Hippolyte Passy’s project on the progressive emancipation of slaves was submitted.

1838, AUGUST 1st, GREAT BRITAIN
Act abolishing the compulsory apprenticeship for former slaves in British colonies.

1839, MARCH 11th, MAURITIUS
The definitive abolition of slavery (abolition of the apprenticeship system).

1839, JUNE 7th, FRANCE
Mr de Tracy’s project on the progressive emancipation of slaves was submitted.

1839, JUNE 11th, FRANCE
Ordinance on the emancipation of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on 6th November, 1839.

1839, JUNE 11th, FRANCE
Ordinance on the census of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on 9th December, 1839.

1839, JULY 23rd, FRANCE
Submission of the report of the committee of the Chamber of Deputies responsible for dealing with the question of abolition; Charles Alexis de Tocqueville was the rapporteur.

1839, DECEMBER 3rd
Papal bull of Pope Gregory XVI condemning slavery.

1840, JANUARY 5th, FRANCE
Royal decree providing for weekly religious instruction for child slaves, for the clergy to visit their parish houses once a month and for the prosecutors to visit the houses – enacted in Bourbon on June 9th, 1840.

1840, MAY 26th, FRANCE
By royal decision, a new commission was created, chaired by the Duke de Broglie, dealing with the abolition of slavery. It delivered its report in March 1843.

1841, SEPTEMBER 16th, FRANCE
Royal ordinance on the imprisonment of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on March 24th, 1842.

1842, PARAGUAY
Law for the progressive abolition of slavery.

1843, INDIA
Abolition of slavery for future coming generations, but slaves were not freed.

1845, SPAIN
Law for the abolition and repression of the slave trade.

1845, MAY 29th, FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN
Agreement signed between the two countries, providing for twenty-six French ships and as many British ships to monitor the western coasts of Africa; it was deemed necessary for British ships to monitor the eastern coast of Africa. This agreement was published in France by the ordinance of 28th January 1846 (enacted in Bourbon on 27th March 1846) and followed by a joint declaration by France and Great Britain published on 27th March, 1847.

1845, JULY 18th, FRANCE
Law and ordinances passed by which the king modified many aspects of the daily life of slaves: instruction, punishment, food and maintenance, housing, clothing, care for the sick. The legal capital and the forced repurchase were enacted in Bourbon on 30th December 1845.

1845, JULY 19th, FRANCE
Law on the introduction of European farmers into the colonies.

1846, SWEDEN
Progressive repurchase by the government of slaves from the colony of Saint-Barthélemy.

1846, TUNISIA
Abolition of slavery.

1846-1848, DENMARK
Abolition of slavery in the Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas).

1846, MAY 18th, FRANCE
Ordinance on the moral and religious state of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on 7th October, 1846.

1846, JUNE 4th, FRANCE
Ordinance on the disciplinary regime of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on 7th October, 1846.

1846, JUNE 5th, FRANCE
Ordinance on the food and maintenance of slaves – enacted in Bourbon on 7th October 1846.

1846, JULY 21st, FRANCE
Ordinance, supplemented by that of 12th October 1847, which freed slaves belonging to the royal domain – enacted in Bourbon on 28th November 1846 and 15th April, 1848.

1847
The Ottoman Empire prohibited the trade in the Persian Gulf and closed the public slave markets in Constantinople.

1847, DENMARK
Abolition of slavery across all Danish colonies (with effect from the age of twelve).

1848, FEBRUARY 24th, FRANCE
Abdication of Louis-Philippe; creation of a provisional government.

1848, FEBRUARY 25th, FRANCE
Proclamation of the right to work.

1848, FEBRUARY 26th, FRANCE
Abolition of the death penalty in political matters.

1848, MARCH 2nd, FRANCE
Universal suffrage for men aged twenty-one and over.

1848, MARCH 2nd, FRANCE
Decree setting the maximum daily working time at ten hours in Paris and eleven hours in the provinces.

1848, MARCH 4th, FRANCE
Creation of a commission to prepare for abolition.

1848, MARCH 4th, FRANCE
Decree guaranteeing freedom of the press and freedom of assembly – extended to the colonies by the decree of 2nd May, 1848.

1848, MARCH 7th, FRANCE
Order of the provisional government, which renamed Bourbon Island ‘Reunion Island’.

1848, MARCH 19th, FRANCE
Abolition of retaining any individual due to debts.

1848, APRIL 12th, FRANCE
Abolition of the penalty of public exhibition.

1848, APRIL 27th, FRANCE
Decree abolishing slavery, published on 2nd May, 1848.

1848, MAY 4th, FRANCE
Official proclamation of the republic.

1848, MAY 23rd, MARTINIQUE
Proclamation by the governor of the abolition of slavery, before the official arrival of the decree of abolition.

1848, MAY 26th, REUNION ISLAND
Announcement of the revolution of February 1848, known since 24th May.

1848, MAY 27th, GUADELOUPE
Proclamation by the governor of the abolition of slavery, before the official arrival of the abolition decree.

1848, JUNE 9th, REUNION ISLAND
Proclamation of the republic.

1848, JUNE, ANTILLES
Slaves were freed in the Dutch colonies (Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba); abolition was proclaimed by the governor on July 3rd, 1848.

1848, JULY 16th, REUINON ISLAND
The news finally arrived about abolition in the West Indies.

1848, AUGUST 10th, GUYANA
Abolition of slavery, in application of the decree published on 10th June, 1848.

1848, SEPTEMBER 9th, FRANCE
Decree extending the maximum daily working time to twelve hours.

1848, OCTOBER 13th, REUNION ISLAND
The Arrival of Commissioner General Joseph Sarda-Garriga.

1848, OCTOBER 18th, REUNION ISLAND
Decree enacted announcing abolition by 20th December.

1848, OCTOBER 24th, REUNION ISLAND
Publication of the decree describing compulsory labour for all future Freedmen.

1848, NOVEMBER 4th, FRANCE
The Constitution enshrined the principle of the abolition of slavery across all French territory; Article 6 stipulated that slavery may not exist on any French territory; enacted in Reunion Island on 23rd March, 1849.

1848, MID-NOVEMBER-7th DECEMBER, REUNION ISLAND
Sarda-Garriga’s explanatory tour of the island.

1848, DECEMBER 20th, REUNION ISLAND
The abolition of slavery

1849, FEBRUARY, REUNION ISLAND
The publication of two local decrees punishing breaches of workshop discipline and fictive employment.

1849, APRIL 30th, FRANCE
Law passed on the compensation of owners – notified in Reunion Island on 21st July 1849 and enacted on 24th October, 1849.

1849, JUNE 11th, REUNION ISLAND
Local decree regulating immigration, mainly of Indian workers.

1849, OCTOBER, REUNION ISLAND
Election by universal suffrage of two representatives of the island to the National Assembly.

1849, DECEMBER 6th, REUNION ISLAND
A decree instituting the compulsory renewal of indentured contracts and ensuring that all Freedmen had workers’ papers.

1850, VENEZUELA
Abolition of slavery.

1850, MAY 4th, REUNION ISLAND
First Labour Day.

1850, MAY 12th, REUNION ISLAND
Sarda-Garriga leaves the island. His replacement, Governor Doret, was officially appointed on 15th April 1850.

1850, JULY 17th, BRAZIL
Prohibition of the slave trade.

1851, COLOMBIA AND ECUADOR
Abolition of slavery.

1852, FEBRUARY 13th, FRANCE
Decree on the repression of vagrancy and indentured labour.

1852, MARCH 27th, FRANCE
Decree on immigration to the colonies.

1852, APRIL, REUNION ISLAND
Local decree abolishing exemptions from indentured labour, except for Freedmen who had become landowners.

1852, DECEMBER, REUNION ISLAND
Decree subjecting the movements of Freedmen to written authorisation.

1853, ARGENTINA
Abolition of slavery.

1854, PERU AND VENEZUELA
Abolition of slavery.

1854, MAY 3rd, FRANCE
Sénatus-consulte that governed the constitutions of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Reunion Island; according to article 1, slavery could never be re-established in the French colonies.

1856, JULY 5th, PORTUGUESE COLONY OF ANGOLA
Abolition of slavery in one region of the colony.

1856, AUGUST 25th, PORTUGUESE COLONIES OF INDIA
Abolition of slavery.

1859, MARCH 15th, REUNION ISLAND
Prohibition of African immigration.

1860, JANUARY 1st, DUTCH COLONY OF MALAYSIA
Abolition of slavery.

1860, JULY 25th
Signing of the Franco-British agreement authorising Indian workers to come to Reunion.

1861, MARCH 19th, RUSSIA
Abolition of servitude; twenty million people were concerned.

1861, JULY 1st
Renewal of the Franco-British convention on immigration; it was applied to all French colonies.

1863-1865, UNITED STATES
Abolition of slavery; this was the 13th amendment to the US constitution.

1863, DUTCH COLONIES
Abolition of slavery in Guyana and the Dutch Antilles (Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saba, Sint Eustatius and the Dutch part of Sint Maarten).

1869, PORTUGAL
Abolition of slavery in its colonies.

1873, SPANISH COLONY OF PORTO-RICO
Abolition of slavery.

1873
Great Britain signed an agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar to end the slave trade.

1873-1874, MOZAMBIQUE
The last known case of slave trafficking to Reunion on board the Étienne and Laurence.

1878, MOZAMBIQUE
Abolition of slavery.

1885, FEBRUARY 26th, BERLIN
Conference bringing together Great Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the United States in order to further ways to bring an end to slavery.

1886, CUBA
Abolition of slavery.

1888, BRAZIL
Abolition of slavery.

1890, JULY 2nd
Brussels colonial conference; condemnation of slavery.

1896, SIERRA LEONE AND MADAGASCAR
Abolition of slavery.

1897, ZANZIBAR
Abolition of slavery.

20th century

1900, NIGERIA
Abolition of slavery in the British-run regions.

1926
Forty-four nations ratified the League of Nations Pact on the Suppression of the Slave Trade and the Abolition of Bonded Labour (Articles 22 and 23).

1928, IRAN
Abolition of slavery.

1930
Forced and Compulsory Labour Convention organised by the International Labour Organisation.

1942, ETHIOPIA
Abolition of slavery.

1948, DECEMBER 10th
Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the UN; Article 4 confirms the abolition of slavery.

1952, QATAR
Abolition of slavery.

1956
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations.

1962, SAUDI ARABIA
Abolition of slavery and the slave trade.

1974
Creation at the UN of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery within the framework of the Commission on Human Rights.

1981, MAURITANIA
Abolition of slavery.

1989, NOVEMBER
The United Nations adopted the Convention on Children’s Rights.

1992
Abolition of slavery in Pakistan.

1994
Launch of the UNESCO programme ‘The Slave Route’.

21th century

2000, DECEMBER
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits slavery, forced labour and trafficking of human beings.

2001, MAY 10th
French law ‘recognising the slave trade and slavery (from the 15th – 19th centuries) as a crime against humanity’ is passed, enacted on 21st May. September: the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Durban, South Africa) recognises ‘slavery and the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity’.

2002, JANUARY
Adoption by the French National Assembly of a law to ‘combat trafficking of human beings’. September: entry into force of ILO Convention 182 on the ‘prohibition of the worst forms of child labour’.

2004
International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition, declared by the UN.