The men were sentenced to death by burning,[citation needed] and Stephens' revulsion at both the trial and the verdict led him to vow never to keep slaves himself, and to ally himself with the abolitionist movement.

Stephen opposed the opening up of Trinidad through the use of slave labour when the island was ceded to the British in 1797, recommending instead that Crown land should only be granted for estates that supported the immigration of free Africans.

He considered that, besides the evangelical arguments in support of freedom from slavery, internal security, particularly from potential French interests, could be obtained in the British West Indian islands by improving the conditions of slaves.

Other connections were formed also in the village of Stoke Newington a few miles north of London, where Stephen's father leased a family home from 1774 onwards called Summerhouse.

Close by were the residences of three prominent Quaker abolitionists: William Allen (1770–1843), Joseph Woods the elder, and Samuel Hoare Jr (1751–1825).

Inevitably, Wilberforce also became a frequent visitor to Stoke Newington, combining meetings with William Allen and his Quaker circle with visits to his sister Sarah and brother-in-law James.

Stephen came to be regarded as the chief architect of the Slave Trade Act 1807, providing Wilberforce with the legal mastermind he needed for its drafting.

[1] In 1826 he issued An Address to the People and Electors of England, in which, echoing his speeches, he had some success in urging the election of members of parliament who would not be "tools of the West India interest", paving the way for the second Abolition Bill which succeeded in 1833.