William Wilberforce: August 24, 1759 - July 29, 1833

"When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon - men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who's achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more." - Lord Charles Fox in the movie Amazing Grace



Per Scriptum E. Wesley - Mackinac Center Intern

William Wilberforce was born on August 24, 1759 in Hull, England to parents he would only know for a short time. When Wilberforce was only nine years old, his father died, and his mother was unable to support him. She gave Wilberforce to the care of his relatives who regularly took him to an evangelical Anglican church. The sermons of his favorite guest-preacher, Rev. John Newton, cut deep into his heart. Wilberforce later wrote of Newton, "I revered him as a parent when I was a child." Newton himself had been the captain of a slave ship before his conversion to Christianity, and the relationship between Wilberforce and Newton would give Wilberforce the energy to accomplish his life's goal: the suppression of the slave trade.

Being surrounded by wealth as a young man, Wilberforce entered the St. John's College at Cambridge, where he met his life-long friend and future political associate William Pitt the Younger. However, Wilberforce's wealth and position became his excuse for an unproductive life. He did little else at college other than play cards and entertain friends. One friend noted that, "when he [Wilberforce] returned late in the evening to his rooms, he would summon me to join him…. He was so winning and amusing that I often sat up half the night with him, much to the detriment of my attendance at lectures the next day." Because of his relationship with Pitt, Wilberforce entered Parliament where he continued his prodigal living. At the age of 21, Wilberforce soaked himself in the high-class degradations of the time: heavy drinking and profuse gambling. Speaking of his early life in Parliament, Wilberforce later admitted, "The first years in Parliament I did nothing—nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object." He now considered his Methodist upbringing "uninformed" and "vulgar." The vulgarity of high society looked to Wilberforce as informative, intellectual, and more noble when compared with the clean and fresh simplicity of his former youth. Wilberforce had become proud and foolish in his status of power and ability.

Thankfully, these days of idleness didn't last long. Quite often, it is the pursuit of highest temporal pleasure that plunges humanity into the deepest despair. The quest to satisfy man's insatiable desire for purpose in scarce, earthly goods leads man into a state of empty-handedness. It was this emptiness that began nagging Wilberforce with every effort to abate it. He became a man of despair: "I am sure that no human creature could suffer more than I did for some months." Then while on a holiday to France, Wilberforce began reading a devotional book written by English clergyman Philip Doddridge. Soon after, he began reading the New Testament in the original Greek (I guess he did learn something at Cambridge after all). Wilberforce became convicted of his "deep guilt" and "black ingratitude," and felt "a sense of my great sinfulness in having so long neglected the unspeakable mercies of my God and Saviour." Believing that he was in need of someone else to bear his guilt for him, he began to rely on God's mercy through Christ's sacrifice. Here he found joy, assurance of pardon, and purpose.

Wilberforce soon retired from the five fashion clubs he had joined as well as his gambling. He began to be active for the first time in his life. About his calling, he wrote in his diary, "My walk is a public one. My business is in the world, and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the post which Providence seems to have assigned me." Accordingly, he launched several political and social societies, including the Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Association for the Better Observance of Sunday, the Society for Bettering the Cause of the Poor, the British and Foreign Bible Society, etc. However, it would be his quest to end slavery that became the most popular and successful endeavor of his life.

Slavery in 18th century England was not a pretty picture, and the economy was built on it. A publicist from the West Indies wrote, "the impossibility of doing without slaves in the West Indies will always prevent this traffic being dropped. The necessity, the absolute necessity, then, of carrying it on, must, since there is no other, be its excuse." When abolitionist Thomas Clarkson met Wilberforce, the cause of liberty called out all the more strongly. Wilberforce took on the task of being the political voice for the abolitionists. He introduced bill after bill with no effect (in 1791, 1792, 1793, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1804, and 1805). His 1793 bill, calling for gradual abolition, failed by eight votes, and his next bill stopping British slave ships from transporting slaves to foreign territories was blocked by two votes in a near-empty session. Opposition grew fiercer as even Admiral Nelson while aboard the H.M.S. Victory cursed Wilberforce's quest, and in the same breath promised to resist the "doctrines of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies." Lies about Wilberforce beating a black wife spread like wildfire. Wilberforce was also plagued with poor health, and was prescribed opium by his doctors who were ignorant of its ill effects. Soon addicted, Wilberforce was plunged into crippling depressions and terrifying hallucinations. The situation finally changed in 1807, when Wilberforce introduced a passing bill that stopped the trade of slaves throughout the empire. He then worked to ban slavery within the empire. Just before his death, Wilberforce was informed that the Emancipation Act (banning slavery entirely) was being passed. He died victorious on July 29, 1833.

Although Clarkson and others were just as instrumental in bringing about the downfall of slavery in Britain, William Wilberforce was the sole political voice for the cause. While Clarkson was galloping over the countryside and swaying public opinion, Wilberforce was pleading with members of Parliament who seemed to have no ears. There is no question who had the staler and more depressing job. Converting stubborn politicians who revel in their status of power is no easy task for anyone, but especially for someone who is suffering with poor health and unknown addiction. Clarkson saw progress all along as the public became more aware of the evils of slavery, but for Wilberforce, the opposition never ceased to grow until the major breakthrough in 1807. British politics were more complicated than getting people to stop using sugar made by slaves, and we have only Wilberforce to thank when it came to the political crunch. His unbending will was truly indefatigable.


Sources:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/global/printer.html?/ch/131christians/activists/wilberforce.html
http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Heritage/wilberforce.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilberforce_william.shtml
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