This Declaration explains the rise of the anti-slavery movement in the context of philanthropic societies, religious missions, and reform organisations of the time, as well as a growing awareness of human rights and "sympathy and commiseration for the injured" (4). The founding of the Liverpool Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery in 1823 is proclaimed as a testimony to the "great change which has taken place in the moral views and feelings of the community" (6) since the abolition of the slave trade. The Society aims to use Liverpool's position as a major port to gather information about slavery in the Americas, and to co-operate with anti-slavery societies in London, Paris and the US to promote abolition.

Signed by William Roscoe, President, and Isaac Hodgson, Secretary. Printed in Liverpool by James Smith, and sold by Liverpool booksellers W. Grapel and G. & J. Robinson.