Rich over at God and Science has a nice post entitled Does God Approve of Slavery According to the Bible? I have not delved into this topic much, but I do like this one bit:
In fact, the slavery described in the Old Testament was quite different from the kind of slavery we think of today – in which people are captured and sold as slaves. According to Old Testament law, anyone caught selling another person into slavery was to be executed:
"He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death." (Exodus 21:16)
And yet, Christians somehow found a way to justify slavery for hundreds of years using that very same Bible. How strange, how spooky, and how much more to the point. You can't claim the moral highground for Christianity when its practioners have so often abused what you're claiming are clear moral directions. The practice of the religion is what matters after all; in fact, you're a good example. The Christians that I personally know tend to argue that there is a Bible out there which focuses on love. You preach damn near hatred (love!) all the time. So what matters? What the book says or what Seeker says?
Seeker,
As we’ve discussed, it is fantastic that there were Christians who supported an end to slavery. It’s just that there were JUST as many, if not more, who saw a Bible that supported slavery. That’s the problem. As I’m arguing with Aaron over at his site, there have always been Christians who have seen the light (there are Christians who support gay marriage for example), but they tend to be in a very small minority.
OK
Mostly Christians led the battle because most members of Western society were Christians. Prohibition was also an extension of moral codification not directly found in the Bible but still based on religious arguments.