February 2007 saw the two hundredth anniversary of the passing of the bill that abolished slavery and the climax of a twenty year anti-slavery campaign by William Wilberforce. An amazing feat!

Slavery existed in early civilisations.....Egypt, Greece, Israel and Rome and had become an accepted part of life. William Wilberforce, however, did not feel it was acceptable at all!

Wilberforce was the son of a wealthy merchant born in Hull in 1759. Due to the death of his father when he was only nine years old he was brought up by his evangelical uncle and aunt near London, for a time. He returned home when his mother became concerned about the intensity of the doctrines he was learning.

At the age of seventeen Wilberforce was sent to St John’s College, Cambridge. Even on his first evening there, he was shocked of the licentious and drunken behaviour of many of his fellow students. However one of the friends he made there was William Pitt who became the Britain’s youngest ever Prime Minister. 

At the age of twenty Wilberforce decided to go into politics. He stood for and won the seat for Hull. It cost about £9,000 to achieve election. When he took his seat in the House he supported the Tory government.

In 1784, Wilberforce converted to evangelical Christianity. He lived in Clapham and joined a group organised by the local minister John Venn at the local church. This group, known as the Clapham set, was concerned with social reform. Eventually he was approached by Lady Middleton asking him to use his power as an MP to get slavery abolished.

Lady Middleton belonged to a group that supported the Society of Friends that had campaigned for many years for the abolition of slavery. Nine of the twelve members of the committee formed were friends of Lady Middleton but Wilberforce felt “the great importance of the subject and [I] think [myself] unequal to the task allotted to me.”  Despite these doubts he agreed to help Lady Middleton but unfortunately he became very ill before he could do anything.

Because of his illness his first speech in support of the abolition of the slave trade was not made until 1789. Wilberforce’s view was popular with few people. The slave trade was a lucrative business and few people, involved in the business, felt they could afford not for it to be banned. One angry sea captain attacked Wilberforce in the street and Admiral Lord Nelson spoke vehemently against the abolition, saying he would resist the “damnable doctrines of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies.” Rumours were spread! Wilberforce was said to be married to a black woman whom he beat. His friends were accused of being French spies. Threats were made on his life.

In spite of this, in 1793 Wilberforce put forward a bill to the House of Commons pushing for the gradual abolition of the slave trade. The Bill failed by only eight votes. Many MPs failed to attend Parliament for the Bill’s reading for fear of reprisals. His next Bill called for prohibiting of the carrying of slaves by British ships. It failed by two votes. After this Wilberforce introduced a Bill for the abolition of slavery each year for the next six years, even though each time he was defeated.

He kept the cause alive, although for few years he felt that his role of father came before his role as a politician.

In 1805 the House of Commons passed a bill making it illegal for any British subject to transport slaves. It was blocked by the House of Lords.

In February 1806 Lord William Grenville and Charles Fox, both supporters of Wilberforce’s campaign took prominent positions in the new Whig administration, becoming First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Lords, and Secretary of State for Foreign affairs and Leader of the House of Commons, respectively. Led by Wilberforce and Fox in the Commons and Grenville in the Lords a strong campaign started.

Grenville’s powerful speech in the Lords argued that the trade was “contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy”

The Abolition of the Slave Trade bill was passed in the House of Lords by 41 votes to 20 and The House of Commons 114 to 15 and became law on the 25 March 1807.

However changing the law by statute does not always work. The world was a much bigger place in the 18th century than it appears now and, therefore more difficult to police. In many ports the trade continued.

The supporters of the abolition of slavery were divided. Some, including Wilberforce, felt that giving the slaves their immediate and complete freedom was doomed to failure. They believed that education and preparation for emancipation would be invaluable to the slaves.

 

Others thought immediate freedom was necessary. Wilberforce retired from Parliament in 1825 and played very little part in Sir Thomas Buxton’s campaign to make slavery illegal. Buxton was a social reformer supporting prison reform and the abolition of capital punishment as well as the abolition of slavery.

This was only achieved on 29 August 1833, one month after the death of Wilberforce.

So why is Wilberforce a great leader? He had values in which he believed strongly and nothing would sway him the path he had chosen. However he was prepared to listen to other people’s views and react. This is shown by his response to Lady Middleton and Thomas Buxton, at the beginning and end of his political career.

His aims were altruistic. The abolition of the slave trade showed his feelings for people. Many people at that time saw slaves as animals, a commodity which cost very little and sold for a huge profit and cost very little to maintain. Few people were actually involved in the procurement of the African natives. The employment of a relatively few cruel persons to buy the slaves for a few small trinkets and minimum costs for transportation of the meanest kind. The sale of human beings brought in large profits which were spent on luxury goods. These goods were then shipped to England to be sold making fortunes for some.

Wilberforce fought for what he believed was right for over forty years. His persistence to help his fellow men was admirable. His caring showed in his desire to educate and preparation for freedom would make lives easier for the emancipated slaves. Freedom without education could leave slaves in a worse position than when they were slaves.

And he campaigned valiantly until the day he died to better the lot of slaves.

 

 

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