This talk will look at Hull’s contribution to the campaigns against slavery and the slave trade (1787-1833), focussing on both individual and collective efforts to bring slavery to an end. A key figure here was William Wilberforce, who as MP for Hull and later Yorkshire was the chief parliamentary spokesman for ‘abolition’. Wilberforce was a truly global figure, and a key part of this talk will discuss his reception overseas, particularly in the United States, where he was highly regarded by both black and white abolitionists. Wilberforce also played a part in the creation of Sierra Leone, which was intended to provide an alternative to the slave trade in the shape of legitimate commerce with Africa. Wilberforce was a towering figure but this talk will also pay attention to those local individuals and societies that lent him and the national anti-slavery movement such vital support..