oh sure, lots of countries made it illegal within thier jurisdiction. england had made slavery illegal in england for hundreds of years. many of these jurisdictions also had other forms of slavery ... ie forced labour schemes, perpetual indebtedness, serfdom. what im talking about, is who was the first to not only make it illegal, in all its forms, inside thier country .... but also outside thier country. to just straight up start attacking anyone who participated in the slave trade, wherever they found them. and that was the english in 1845. in 1845, 36 royal navy ships were assigned to the "anti slavery squadron" ... and so it began, the outright destruction of the international slave trade. they hunted slave traders. lots of colonies had made it illegal within their boundaries, lots of countries, but the english made it illegal .... anywhere and everywhere.  the anti slavery movement had been growing for centuries, all over the world. but it was the english who said "fuck it, we aint putting up with that shit, wherever we see it". they were the first country to actively "seek and destroy" international slavery. and it was only the royal navy who took violent action to stop it. lots of people spoke about it, they talked and talked for centuries, they passed laws and blathered on about it. but it was the royal navy who went to ..... war! they were the first to kill people who were doing it. and those ship to ship battles were bloody affairs ... men with daggers clenched in their teeth, sabre and musket in hand, crossing gangplanks to board vessels under heavy fire, braving shrapnel and shot ... and fucking killing slave traders. every person alive today is the descendant of a a slave, and we all owe those brave sailors.
Canada