Parliament is hosting an exhibition with an accompanying programme of events and publications to mark one of the most transformative pieces of legislation it has ever passed - the 1807 Act to Abolish the British Slave Trade.

The bicentenary of the British parliamentary abolition of the slave trade will be marked with an exhibition, The British Slave Trade: Abolition, Parliament and People in Westminster Hall from 23 May to 23 September 2007. It will be open to the public, free of charge.

The exhibition will tell the story of the pressures and influences both at home and abroad which influenced Parliament and led to the passing of the Act to abolish Britain's slave trade on 25 March 1807. This was one of the first and most successful public campaigns in history, with mass rallies, consumer boycotts of "slave grown sugar", campaign badges and merchandise on sale, establishing campaigning as we know it now. 

Some exhibits such as the original 1807 Act itself and a seven metre long petition from the people of Manchester lobbying Parliament to abolish the slave trade will be on display from Parliament's own collections.  Others are on loan from national and regional museums, including the famous wooden chest and contents used by Thomas Clarkson in his nationwide campaign for abolition, lent by the Wisbech and Fenland Museum.  A first edition of Olaudah Equiano's  biography, addressed to the House of Lords and House of Commons, will be displayed.  Equiano, a man enslaved in childhood who traded and saved to buy his own freedom, made a country-wide tour to sell this book and promote abolition and human rights for black people.

There will also be a narrated walk, designed by historian S I Martin, - "On the Road to Abolition" - of places related to the campaign in Westminster, such as the site of Ignatius Sancho's grocer's shop opened in 1773 - a man born on a slave ship who became a renowned letter writer and the first known black voter. The trail exposes some of the "hidden" history of London where about 20,000 black people lived by the end of the 1700s.

In addition to the exhibition there will be a special issue of the journal Parliamentary History which will include a collection of specially written essays by a selection of specialists and the catalogue of the exhibition. The Parliamentary Education Unit will be preparing special teaching materials and events to accompany the exhibition both for schools and general visitors.

The exhibition will be designed by Metaphor and graphic designers, Public Works Office, with an audio installation by radio-dramatist Jerome Vincent.  The design will include a mini-parliament area where visitors will be able to hear extracts of parliamentary debates both for and against the trade