History Main / SlaveLiberation

* In ''Anime/TheMysteriousCitiesOfGold'', Esteban and the others free the enslaved Indian villagers from the Order of the Hourglass.

** That said, early in the French colony's history, Black slavery really was more economic than racial. Black slaves regularly (which isn't to say frequently) won freedom by earning money and buying their freedom from their masters (much as in ancient Rome). These and other freedmen were given full economic rights once free, and frequently ended up buying plantations and slaves of their own. The children of these freedmen frequently married Whites, giving rise to a class of "free people of color" (''gens de couleur libres''), commonly called "Coloreds", who were frequently quite prosperous and promenent.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' book "The Mansion of the Gods" Asterix, Obelix, and Getafix provide the magic potion to the slaves building the titular mansion expecting they'll use their newfound SuperStrength to rise up... But [[DidntThinkThisThrough they didn't account for the utterly pragmatic way ancient Romans treated their slaves]] (to avoid rebellions they actually treated them as people, if with far less rights than even foreigners, and even ''paid them a small stipend'' so they'll be able to enjoy their own things and eventually buy their freedom, [[PragmaticVillain saving the masters from having to pay for their upkeep in their old age]]. [[SubvertedTrope Thus the slaves instead show their strength and demand a higher pay and freedom upon completing the Mansion and the Romans accept]], much to Asterix' chagrin when the slaves use their super strength to build the place that much faster.

* In ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Conan the Avenger]]'', Conan and his mercenary allies assault a slave-trading hub and release their prisoners in the process. It should be noted they didn't necessarily do it for noble intentions; in reality, they were looking for just one slave who can lead them to a treasure they are looking for. Attacking the hub was the only available option since they didn't have the necessary money to buy her off and even if they had, her owners would have been unwilling to sell her. SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome when this action drives [[EnemyMine the neighboring warring countries to join forces]] to pursue them because they disrupted their economy, showing that trying to pull a bold stunt like this will lead to a very powerful and angry army breathing down your neck.

* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' revolves around an escaped slave named Django, who was rescued by the bounty hunter Schultz after killing some slave traders because Django can identify several men he's trying to track down for a large bounty. After working together to collect on some of his former tormentors, Django and Schultz go off on a quest to free the former's wife Broomhilda from a distant plantation. At first they try to legally (but deceptively) buy her freedom, but after that plan gets scuttled to hell thanks to the machinations of Stephen, Candie's head house slave, Candie extorts a huge sum from them for her. They're willing to pay the price regardless, but Schultz' disgust with Candie gets the better of him as they are about to close the deal, with deadly consequences for many of the people involved. In the end, Django is left with no option but to save Broomhilda by force.
* The first we see of Conan as an adult in the reboot of ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian2011'' is him leading a raid to liberate a bunch of slaves from some pirates. The fact that a solid chunk of the slaves are [[FanserviceExtra topless, nubile women]] is, of course, just a happy coincidence.

* Daenerys Targaryen, PrincessInRags ''cum'' DragonRider, does this in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', mostly by overthrowing the three cities at the center of the slave trade. The unfortunate side effects are extensive. In Astapor, a tyrant known as Cleon takes over the city once she leaves, and [[FullCircleRevolution re-institutes slavery except with the "improvement" of the former masters being the new slaves]]. Yunkai agrees to free them, but the moment she leaves starts up the practice again and starts preparing for war against her. Some of the slaves, particularly those trained in skilled occupations, actually had a better quality of life before they were free, and she's disturbed to learn that people are trying to sell themselves back into slavery. Famine results because of the war to free them, and because some places refuse to trade with them. And, of course, since slavery is literally the foundation of the Essosian economy, she makes an enemy of ''every'' rich person in Essos.

** After getting separated from their unit and lost in an ancient jungle in book five, Bazil and Relkin stumble upon the primitive people of Ardu, who are constantly raided by slavers from Mirchaz. They liberate them from slave camps, then help them establish an organized tribe and even offer them combat training in order to give them a fighting chance against slavers in the future. Later, when [[spoiler:Relkin is abducted by slavers himself]], Bazil leads the Ardu to war against Mirchaz, scoring many victories and liberating even more slaves.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': As mentioned in the entry for its source material, ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Daenerys overthrows the slave cities of Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen. As mentioned in the entry for its source material, she finds that overthrowing a few cities is easier than overthrowing an entire social system. Since the show has a GeckoEnding, her ultimate answer was to pull a ScrewThisImOutOfHere -- the whole thing was essentially a SideQuest for her anyway -- and return to main plot, the titular game of thrones.

** Moses and God use extreme force to coerce the Pharaoh to release the Hebrew slaves, up to and including killing every firstborn of the oppressors in the country. Despite all this, the Pharaoh keeps stubbornly refusing to the point where God basically stops giving him second chances.

* This is basically what the documentary ''Film/TheDarkSideOfChocolate'' hopes to accomplish for the many child slaves used in the cocoa industry.

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward considers doing this with [[GeniusLoci Oreg]], who is [[PoweredByAForsakenChild irrevocably bound to castle Hurog]] [[AWizardDidIt by ancient magic]] and likewise bound to serve the castle's owner as slave. The problem is that magic was way more powerful back when [[Really700YearsOld Oreg]] was MadeASlave, and Ward doubts that even the royal court mages would be able to do something about the spell, as the man who did it was very powerful even among his own contemporaries. Ward treats Oreg more like an additional brother than like a slave, but magical slavery being what it is, the effect of this is limited, and, of course, Oreg will just be inherited by someone else when Ward dies. [[spoiler: In the end, [[TearJerker Ward does free Oreg]] - [[MercyKill by killing him]], on [[HeroicSacrifice Oreg's own request]].]]

** Joseph (the one with the "coat of many colors") was freed by Pharaoh once he interpreted his dreams correctly, and even made him basically chancellor of Egypt.

** Though it should be noted that freedmen did not have the same rights as actual citizens (although the children of freedmen were automatically granted full citizenship, and many of them would eventually go on to achieve great wealth and power).

** French Saint-Domingue was the most profitable colony in the Caribbean of any colonial power, supplying the vast majority of Europe's sugar and coffee during the 18th century. But it was a colony where the Black slaves overwhelmingly outnumbered the Whites--comprising about 90% of the population (and mostly born in Africa, not Haiti). By and large, Black slaves were treated as capital--French accountants basically treated slaves on the sugar plantations as ''farm equipment'' depreciating to 0% of purchase value within 5 years. That is, a Black slave unlucky enough to harvest sugar in Saint-Domingue was, statistically speaking, expected to be ''worked to death'' within 5 years.

** Note: For an engrossing and thorough English-language entry-level history of Haiti's unique revolution, see Season 4 of the ''Podcast/{{Revolutions}}'' podcast, which is one of the more-digestible histories of the period in English.

*** It should be noted that Brown's plan was poorly conceived, incredibly disastrous in execution, and was regarded that way by Frederick Douglass who noted that the plan was suicide, and by other black slaves who refused to join Brown's plan. In the course of the raid on Harper's Ferry, Brown and his contingent actually killed a freed black railroad worker. Most historians, such as James [=McPherson=], believe that it's likely that [[ThanatosGambit this plan was not intended to succeed and was mainly a suicide mission to galvanize public opinion]] and that Brown, either through political cunning or personal vanity (or both), sought martyrdom to give abolitionism a propaganda victory. If so, in that he succeeded.

* ''Fanfic/MeanwhileBackOnEarth'': It is the Clean Up Crew's and later C.L.D.R.N's job to try and save Earth-based Grimwalkers from a life of toil and servitude.

* ''LightNovel/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'': When Myuu is kidnapped by slavers, Hajime and company respond in ruthless and decisive fashion, not only destroying the slavers and freeing Myuu but liberating everyone else they'd taken.

* While little can be done in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' about slavery on a large scale, the Sith Warrior's class story permits them to release Vette from slavery to them, and later to buy her sister out of {{Sex Slave}}ry.

* Abraham Lincoln had constantly advocated federally compensated emancipation as a means to convince the states to abolish slavery during the years leading up to his election as President. Once in office, he made several attempts to convince the slave states still remaining in the Union to give up their slaves in exchange for federal funds. None of those states accepted his offer, but on April 16th, 1862, his administration passed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which abolished slavery in Washington DC by providing up to 300 dollars in federal compensation to slave owners for each slave that was freed. In the following months, federal commissioners processed more than 930 appliactions and granted freedom to all 2,989 of Washington DC's former slaves.

** The Bellflower Network is a secret society dedicated to liberating halfling slaves, currently concentrating their operations in Cheliax, where such slaves are both numerous and prized.

* ''Film/FutureWorld2018'': Ash and Lei get the woman Big Daddy Love Lord enslaved freed at the end, leaving him to a lethal beatdown at their hands.

** It was the most profitable colony in the Caribbean of any colonial power, and it was a colony where the black slaves overwhelmingly outnumbered the "big whites" (comprising about 90% of the population -- most of them were even born in Africa, not Haiti). The plantation owners used the "Black Codes" (issued by UsefulNotes/LouisXIV) to regulate and moderate the slave-owning class, such as providing rights and education to the mulattoes, and in turn keeping mulattoes from allying with the slaves. There were earlier attempts at slave rebellions, and a lot of assassination and killings, each of which was suppressed with brutal force (such as François Mackandal, who was famously burnt at the stake). Such violence was also visited on mulattoes such as Vincent Ogé, a free man of color who tried to advocate for liberal and moderate suffrage for mulattoes and other freedmen, and after a revolt he was caught and [[CruelAndUnusualDeath broken-on-the-wheel]] publicly.
** The refusal by the white class to support moderate reforms, and their attempts to stave off reforms in France during UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, led to the Haitian Revolution proper. The rebellious slaves fought the white plantation owners (who had allied with other European colonial powers once they realized no support was coming from France), until the French Revolutionaries in the Jacobin phase abolished slavery, in response to these events, in February 1794, and sent an army to aid Toussaint Louverture and others in Haiti, and to Guadaloupe and other French colonies in order to see that the decree was actually carried out.

** ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'': It's mentioned during a meeting of Black Sun's leaders that their profits from slave trading as planets influenced by the Rebels have passed local laws banning slavery and freeing slaves under their jurisdiction.

* ''Literature/TheSilerianTrilogy'': The rebels under Josarian free the slaves in Valdani brothels, not so much out of an anti-slavery sentiment as to hurt their morale (which it does, badly). Even so, the slaves are sent home. However, privately Elelar wonders if anything except disgrace and poverty wait for them there.

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': Han helps Bria and Mrrov escape from Ylesia along with Muuurgh. Later he also helps Chewie escape rather than be shot for resisting an overseer's cruelty. Bria and her unit Red Hand Squadron later run many missions against the Ylesian slavers to free the Pilgrims who have been unknowingly enslaved and are sent off-planet for sale. She eventually organizes a plan to end the entire thing with a massive attack.
* ''Literature/StarWarsTatooineGhost'':
** Han encounters a former weequay slave named Grunts who he won in a card game many years ago. Hans freed Grunts and offered him a job as a cargo hauler, but Chewbacca and Grunts didn't get along, so they went their separate ways.
** A video recording of Cliegg Lars freeing his future wife Shimi from slavery is shown.

* The House-elf subplot in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' is widely disliked for making a ''de facto'' pro-slavery argument, in painting antislavery Hermione Granger as a MightyWhitey trying to free slaves that don't actually want to be freed.

* ''Literature/SmallGods:'' After conquering Ephebe, the Omnian Exquisition frees the Ephebian slaves... who then promptly go berserk on the bastards who've taken away their jobs and livelihoods. And they win.