When reading through The Interesting Narrative, I stopped at a section at the tail-end of Chapter 4. In the scene, Equiano is pleading not to be sold to another master, giving a slew of reasons as to why he deserves freedom. It is a harrowing display of desparation, but one of the reasons he gives is that he had been baptized, and, according to a laywer that can vouch for him, a baptized individual cannot be a slave.
This intrigued me, as I had never heard of such a counterargument, and so this research aims to illuminate the greater ties between religion and the legality of slavery in Britain. In doing so, there will be a quick overview of the beginning and end of slavery in Britain, as well as a foray into British court rulings, and the involvement of a few religious groups in abolition.