A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade

The pamphlet was written by William Wilberforce, the British politician who led the parliamentary campaign against the transatlantic slave trade. Published in 1807, it coincided with the passage of the Slave Trade Act that made the slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire.

Wilberforce laid out moral and religious arguments against the slave trade, appealing to Christian conscience and humanitarian principles. He also addressed and attempted to refute the economic and political counterarguments used by proponents of the trade.

Yes, the pamphlet was published in 1807, the same year Parliament passed the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Wilberforce's writing served as a public justification for the legislative campaign he had championed in Parliament for two decades.

Wilberforce continued campaigning for the complete abolition of slavery itself, not just the trade, which was achieved with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. He died shortly before that legislation passed, capping a life dedicated to the anti-slavery cause.