Reddit History removed this post so I thought I'd move it here. If anyone has any knowledge of writings on this topic elsewhere please let me know...

if the American Revolution had failed and life in the colonies somehow returned to an amicable colonial state in regards to relations with Britain (with or without parliamentary representation) how difficult would it have then become for Britain to carry out the eventual abolition of slavery throughout the Empire in 1833?

I'm not necessarily concerned with any non-slavery repercussions of an American defeat... I understand that history would have been drastically different without American independence (Louisiana Purchase, etc)... I'm only interested in the actual feasibility of abolition (financially and politically) considering the growing dependency on slavery during the 19th century and the economic and social effort required of Britain to peacefully compensate slave-owners...

I think we would've won our independence before 1833 via treaty or another revolutionary war. I'd picture the Brits being even more harsh towards the colonies thus pissing off the people even more.

we probably rebel WITH Canada around the 1830s

(03-02-2017 12:08 AM)john01992 Wrote:  we probably rebel WITH Canada around the 1830s

I'm sort of remembering that Canada didn't get its own Constitution until the 1970s.

If Britain had tried to end slavery in the early 19th Century they would have alienated their strongest support base in the Colonies.

(03-02-2017 11:32 AM)LeFlâneur Wrote:  

(03-02-2017 12:08 AM)john01992 Wrote:  we probably rebel WITH Canada around the 1830s

I'm sort of remembering that Canada didn't get its own Constitution until the 1970s.

one of the most overlooked aspects of North American history is the canadian rebellions of the 1830s. This significantly changed British attitudes on trans atlantic trade and territorial claims.

Britain officially abolished slavery in 1833. However, countries like India were kept in virtual slavery for more than 100 years after that decree. If Britain had won the Revolutionary War. I believe they would have treated the US the same way. Would they have allowed the US to enslave people from another country? Again, using India as an example, the answer would seem to be yes.

Britain also somewhat supported the south during the civil war. So the 1833 decree was mostly in name only.

Sort of like the Emancipation Proclamation