The Battle of Grand Gulf was fought on April 29, 1863, during th: Britain played a leading part in the Atlantic slave trade, mainly between 1662 and 1807 when British or British-colonial slave ships transported nearly 3.3 million slaves from Africa.[70] The slaves were taken to work on plantations, principally in the Caribbean but also North America.[71] Slavery coupled with the Caribbean sugar industry had a significant role in strengthening the British economy in the 18th century.[72] However, with pressure from the abolitionism movement, Parliament banned the trade in 1807, banned slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and Britain took a role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide through the blockade of Africa and pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties.[73]