The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833 with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. However, it is important to note that the Act made exceptions, as it only emancipated slaves in areas of the British Empire other than those administered by the East India Company. In the United States, slavery was abolished by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation 30 years later, in 1863, during the Civil War and was gradually enforced as Union armies moved south.