Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90

The Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90 was held between 18 November 1889 - 2 July 1890 in Brussels.[1]

See also: Belgian Anti-Slavery Society

The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society submitted a report to this conference.

The Brussels Conference led to the negotiation of the first general treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade, the General Act for the Repression of the African Slave Trade of 1890 (also known as the Brussels Act), which came into force in 1892 although, according to Suzanne Miers: "It contained no mechanism for enforcement, and it did not cover the various devices, including forced and contract labor, by which the European powers exploited Africans. However, it was in the interests of the colonial rulers to suppress slave raiding, large-scale slave trading, and the export of slaves, and these ended as their administrations were established. Slavery itself, not covered by the act, was tolerated for many years, and petty slave dealing, together with a small export traffic, continued in some areas until the end of colonial rule.

The Brussels conference brought the evils of the slave trade forcefully to public attention, and the act, while serving the interests of the colonial powers, bound them to suppress it. Humanitarians regarded it as a triumph, an important step in the doctrine of trusteeship. The principles embodied in it were passed on to the League of Nations and ultimately to the United Nations."[2]

References
  1. Le Ghait, Alfred (1892). "The Anti Slavery Conference". The North American Review. 154 (424): 287–296. JSTOR . 25102339 .
  2. Miers, Suzanne. "Brussels Conference and Act, 1890". www.worldhistory.biz.
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