The Christian church was the only social institution that was making a full fledged moral argument against the institution of slavery during the middle ages. But something happened to the church in England. There were 400 clergy in the 1600's who claimed allegiance to God before allegiance to King James - so he fired them all (Alistair McGrath, Christianity's Dangerous Idea). The king replaced these brave believers with boot lickers, and the next century saw a church retreating from courageous, Biblical faith.
In the late 1700's, the church generally was full of cultural platitudes rather than a challenge to culture (Eric Metaxas, Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery). There was a small, marginalized group of "methodists" or "evangelicals" who took the Bible seriously. The fight against slavery was born there. That group included William Wilberforce, who fought slavery as a member of English parliament all the rest of his life.
It's easy to see how the Bible inspired that fight. Jesus taught that caring for people's needs was just like doing it for Him (Matthew 25). He taught the Golden Rule, to treat others as you would have them treat you (Matthew 7:12).
But even before that - God created humanity in His image, the foundational principle for human rights.
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