Timeline Friday 16 March 1792

Events on Friday 16 March 1792 1

• 1792 Denmark-Norway Bans the Atlantic Slave Trade First country to prohibit the trade by law On 16 March 1792 the Danish crown issued a decree ending its subjects' participation in the Atlantic slave trade, with the ban taking effect in 1803. Denmark-Norway became the first European state to prohibit the trade by law, though slavery itself continued in its colonies. The decree followed years of debate within the Danish government over the trade's morality and economics.