Abolition of Slavery

Campaigner Thomas Clarkson came to Bristol in 1787 to gather evidence for the Committee for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. He spent weeks meeting and talking to as many people involved in the trade as he could. The information he supplied helped William Wilberforce and others to argue in Parliament for abolition. The campaign took 20 years to achieve the partial victory of abolition of the trade itself, and another 25 to abolish slavery on British plantations.