Wilberforce was
born into a wealthy and influential family in Hull, in the East Riding of
Yorkshire, England. Following his
father’s untimely death in 1768, his mother sent her nine-year old son to his
affluent uncle and aunt who had residences at St. James’ Place, London and
Wimbledon. He eventually became very
attached to his “new” family. His
mother, however, was a member of England’s traditional Anglican Church and was
concerned about her son’s exposure to Evangelical Christianity and had him
return to her at the age of 12. It was
his Aunt Hannah who was especially influential in this regard.
At eighteen years
of age (1777), Wilberforce attended St. John’s College in Cambridge
University. He was not an exceptional
student; he already had an inheritance and was not particularly motivated. However, there be became close friends with
William Pitt who would later become Prime Minister (1783-1801 and
1804-1806). Nearing the end of his stay
at Cambridge, Wilberforce decided to run for Parliament and won a seat at the
age of 21 as an independent.
While he was in
Parliament, he distinguished himself as an eloquent speaker. There, he met James Ramsay in 1783 and for
the first time the subject of slavery was discussed. The Reverend James Ramsay (1733 – 1789) was a
ship's surgeon, Anglican priest, and was a leader in the abolitionist
movement. This relationship signaled a
change in Wilberforce’s perception.
Between 1784 and 1786, Wilberforce seemed to have experienced an intense
religious conversion. As a result, he
was tempted to abandon his political ambitions; however, his good friend and
mentor John Newton encouraged him to use his political position to push for
social reform. John Newton was an
Anglican clergyman and former slave ship master who eventually spoke out
against the slave trade. In 1789, Wilberforce
witnessed his country’s loss of the American Colonies after its defeat in the
American Revolutionary War. This may
have impressed upon him the reality of a shrinking British Empire as further
encouragement for the need for major reform.
Using his new-found
religious conviction, Wilberforce began to lead, guided by conscience. The slave trade and the abhorrent character
of slavery, inspired him to become a forceful advocate for the abolition of
slavery and the slave trade. He was
encouraged by Sir Charles Middleton to represent the cause in Parliament. Charles Middleton was a British Royal Naval
officer who, in his later years, played a critical role in the abolition of the
slave trade in the British Empire. He was also influenced by the writings of
Rev. James Ramsay (as mentioned earlier).
Furthermore, in 1787, Wilberforce was introduced to Thomas Clarkson who
gave him a copy of his treatise on slavery entitled, “Essay on Slavery.” They
joined together in a collaborative effort to abolish the slave trade that
lasted nearly a half of a century.
The following is
Wilberforce’s impassioned speech in support of the abolition of slavery to the
Parliament in 1789 in its entirety –
“When
I consider the magnitude of the subject which I am to bring before the House—a
subject, in which the interests, not of this country, nor of Europe alone, but
of the whole world, and of posterity, are involved: and when I think, at the
same time, on the weakness of the advocate who has undertaken this great
cause—when these reflections press upon my mind, it is impossible for me not to
feel both terrified and concerned at my own inadequacy to such a task. But when
I reflect, however, on the encouragement which I have had, through the whole
course of a long and laborious examination of this question, and how much candor
I have experienced, and how conviction has increased within my own mind, in
proportion as I have advanced in my labours;—when I reflect, especially, that
however averse any gentleman may now be, yet we shall all be of one opinion in
the end;—when I turn myself to these thoughts, I take courage—I determine to
forget all my other fears, and I march forward with a firmer step in the full
assurance that my cause will bear me out, and that I shall be able to justify
upon the clearest principles, every resolution in my hand, the avowed end of
which is, the total abolition of the slave trade. I wish exceedingly, in the
outset, to guard both myself and the House from entering into the subject with
any sort of passion. It is not their passions I shall appeal to—I ask only for
their cool and impartial reason; and I wish not to take them by surprise, but
to deliberate, point by point, upon every part of this question. I mean not to
accuse any one, but to take the shame upon myself, in common, indeed, with the
whole parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be
carried on under their authority. We are all guilty - we ought all to plead
guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame on others; and I
therefore deprecate every kind of reflection against the various descriptions
of people who are more immediately involved in this wretched business. Having
now disposed of the first part of this subject, I must speak of the transit of
the slaves in the West Indies. This I confess, in my own opinion, is the most
wretched part of the whole subject. So much misery condensed in so little room,
is more than the human imagination had ever before conceived. I will not accuse
the Liverpool merchants: I will allow them, nay, I will believe them to be men
of humanity; and I will therefore believe, if it were not for the enormous
magnitude and extent of the evil which distracts their attention from
individual cases, and makes them think generally, and therefore less feelingly
on the subject, they would never have persisted in the trade. I verily believe
therefore, if the William Wilberforce’s 1789 Abolition Speech National History
Day 2007 61 wretchedness of any one of the many hundred Negroes stowed in each
ship could be brought before their view, and remain within the sight of the
African Merchant, that there is no one among them whose heart would bear it.
Let anyone imagine to himself 6 or 700 of these wretches chained two and two,
surrounded with every object that is nauseous and disgusting, diseased, and
struggling under every kind of wretchedness! How can we bear to think of such a
scene as this? One would think it had been determined to heap upon them all the
varieties of bodily pain, for the purpose of blunting the feelings of the mind;
and yet, in this very point (to show the power of human prejudice) the
situation of the slaves has been described by Mr. Norris, one of the Liverpool
delegates, in a manner which, I am sure will convince the House how interest
can draw a film across the eyes, so thick, that total blindness could do no
more; and how it is our duty therefore to trust not to the reasonings of
interested men, or to their way of colouring a transaction... As soon as ever I
had arrived thus far in my investigation of the slave trade, I confess to you
sir, so enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my
own mind was completely made up for the abolition. A trade founded in iniquity,
and carried on as this was, must be abolished, let the policy be what it might
- let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I
would never rest till I had effected its abolition.”
After years of
concerted effort during which time public sentiment in favor of abolition grew,
Wilberforce put forth a bill called the Slave Trade Act that made it illegal
for slave owners to participate in the trading of slaves with the French
colonies. Although this bill fell short
of an entire ban on the slave trade, it reduced the slave trade by 75% - it was
a masterful piece of legislation. It
became law in 1807.
However, the
battle was not yet won. Finally, in
1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed.
This act made slavery illegal in most parts of the Empire. Just three days after this monumental reform
in British law and custom, Wilberforce died on July 29, 1833.
Without
Wilberforce’s persistent and undaunted efforts to end the support of slavery In
the British Empire, it probably would not have happened in a timely
fashion. It would take some thirty years
before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (January
1, 1863} that ended slavery in the United States in the midst of the disastrous
American Civil War.
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