In 1806, when the second British occupation of the Cape occurred, the English humanitarianism movement which had been stirring the crusade against the slave trade for decades, achieved their greatest victory. 1806 coincided with the passing in the House of Commons of a Bill for the abolition of the slave trade. As a slave-owning colony, the Cape was soon to feel the impulse of the incipient human rights legislation.

Main picture: A certificate from the Slave Registry Office, 1827