William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce | |
---|---|
Karl Anton Hickel, c. 1794 | |
Member of Parliament | |
In office 31 October 1780 – February 1825 | |
Preceded by | David Hartley |
Succeeded by | Arthur Gough-Calthorpe |
Constituency |
|
Personal details | |
Born | Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England | 24 August 1759
Died | 29 July 1833 Belgravia, London, England | (aged 73)
Resting place | Westminster Abbey |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | |
Children | 6, including Robert, Samuel and Henry |
Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
Signature | |
Venerated in | Anglicanism |
Feast | 30 July |
William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, a
In 1787, Wilberforce came into contact with
Wilberforce was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education. He championed causes and campaigns such as the
In later years, Wilberforce supported the campaign for the complete abolition of slavery and continued his involvement after 1826, when he resigned from Parliament because of his failing health. That campaign led to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire. Wilberforce died just three days after hearing that the passage of the Act through Parliament was assured. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to his friend William Pitt the Younger.
Early life and education
Wilberforce was born in Hull, in Yorkshire, England, on 24 August 1759.[1] He was the only son of Robert Wilberforce (1728–1768), a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Elizabeth Bird (1730–1798). His grandfather, William (1690–1774),[2][3] had made the family fortune in the maritime trade with Baltic countries.[a][4] He was twice elected mayor of Hull.[5]
Wilberforce was a small, sickly and delicate child with poor eyesight.
Wilberforce's staunchly Church of England mother and grandfather, alarmed at these nonconformist influences and at his leanings towards evangelicalism, brought the 12-year-old boy back to Hull in 1771. Wilberforce was heartbroken at being separated from his aunt and uncle.[10] His family opposed a return to Hull Grammar School because the headmaster had become a Methodist, and Wilberforce therefore continued his education at nearby Pocklington School from 1771 to 1776.[11][12] Influenced by Methodist scruples, he initially resisted Hull's lively social life, but, as his religious fervour diminished, he embraced theatre-going, attended balls, and played cards.[13]
In October 1776, at the age of seventeen, Wilberforce went up to St John's College, Cambridge.[14] The deaths of his grandfather and uncle, in 1774 and 1777 respectively, had left him independently wealthy[15] and as a result he had little inclination or need to apply himself to serious study. Instead he immersed himself in the social round of student life[15][14] and pursued a hedonistic lifestyle, enjoying cards, gambling and late-night drinking sessions – although he found the excesses of some of his fellow students distasteful.[16][17] Witty, generous and an excellent conversationalist, Wilberforce was a popular figure. He made many friends, including the more studious future Prime Minister William Pitt.[17][18] Despite his lifestyle and lack of interest in studying, he managed to pass his examinations[19] and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1781 and a Master of Arts degree in 1788.[1]
Early parliamentary career
Wilberforce began to consider a political career while still at university and during the winter of 1779–1780, he and Pitt frequently watched House of Commons debates from the gallery. Pitt, already set on a political career, encouraged Wilberforce to join him in obtaining a parliamentary seat.[19][20] In September 1780, at the age of 21 and while still a student, Wilberforce was elected Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull,[1] spending over £8,000, as was the custom of the time, to ensure he received the necessary votes.[21][22] Free from financial pressures, Wilberforce sat as an independent, resolving to be "no party man."[1][23] Criticised at times for inconsistency, he supported both Tory and Whig governments according to his conscience, working closely with the party in power, and voting on specific measures according to their merits.[24][25]
Wilberforce attended Parliament regularly, but he also maintained a lively social life, becoming an habitué of
During the frequent government changes of 1781–1784, Wilberforce supported his friend Pitt in parliamentary debates.
Pitt became Prime Minister in December 1783, with Wilberforce a key supporter of his
Conversion
In October 1784, Wilberforce embarked upon a tour of Europe which would ultimately change his life and determine his future career. He travelled with his mother and sister in the company of Isaac Milner, the brilliant younger brother of his former headmaster, who had been Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, in the year when Wilberforce first went up. They visited the French Riviera and enjoyed the usual pastimes of dinners, cards, and gambling.[35] In February 1785, Wilberforce returned to London temporarily, to support Pitt's proposals for parliamentary reforms. He rejoined the party in Genoa, Italy, from where they continued their tour to Switzerland. Milner accompanied Wilberforce to England, and on the journey they read "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul" by Philip Doddridge, a leading early 18th-century English nonconformist.[36]
Wilberforce's spiritual journey is thought to have changed course at this time. He started to rise early to read the Bible and pray and kept a private journal.[37] He underwent an evangelical conversion, regretting his past life and resolving to commit his future life and work to the service of God.[1] His conversion changed some of his habits, but not his nature: he remained outwardly cheerful, interested and respectful, tactfully urging others towards his new faith.[38] Inwardly, he underwent an agonising struggle and became relentlessly self-critical, harshly judging his spirituality, use of time, vanity, self-control and relationships with others.[39]
At the time, religious
In 1786, Wilberforce leased a house in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, in order to be near Parliament. He began using his parliamentary position to advocate reform by introducing a Registration Bill, proposing limited changes to parliamentary election procedures.[1][46] In response to the need for bodies for dissection by surgeons, he brought forward a bill to extend the measure permitting the dissection after execution of criminals such as rapists, arsonists, burglars and violent robbers. The bill also advocated the reduction of sentences for women convicted of treason, a crime that at the time included a husband's murder. The House of Commons passed both bills, but they were defeated in the House of Lords.[47][48][49]
Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade
Initial decision
The British initially became involved in the slave trade during the 16th century. By 1783, the
The British campaign to abolish the slave trade is generally considered to have begun in the 1780s with the establishment of the
Wilberforce apparently did not follow up on his meeting with Ramsay.[56] However, three years later, and inspired by his new faith, Wilberforce was growing interested in humanitarian reform. In November 1786, he received a letter from Sir Charles Middleton that re-opened his interest in the slave trade.[60][61] At the urging of Lady Middleton, Sir Charles suggested that Wilberforce bring forward the abolition of the slave trade in Parliament. Wilberforce responded that he "felt the great importance of the subject, and thought himself unequal to the task allotted to him, but yet would not positively decline it".[62] He began to read widely on the subject, and met with the Testonites at Middleton's home at Barham Court in Teston in the early winter of 1786–1787.[63]
In early 1787, Thomas Clarkson, a fellow graduate of St John's, Cambridge, who had become convinced of the need to end the slave trade after writing a prize-winning essay on the subject while at Cambridge,[64] called upon Wilberforce at Old Palace Yard with a published copy of the work.[65] This was the first time the two men had met; their collaboration would last nearly fifty years.[66][67] Clarkson began to visit Wilberforce on a weekly basis, bringing first-hand evidence he had obtained about the slave trade.[66][68] The Quakers, already working for abolition, also recognised the need for influence within Parliament, and urged Clarkson to secure a commitment from Wilberforce to bring forward the case for abolition in the House of Commons.[69][70]
It was arranged that Bennet Langton, a
The same spring, on 12 May 1787, the still hesitant Wilberforce held a conversation with William Pitt and the future Prime Minister
Wilberforce's involvement in the abolition movement was motivated by a desire to put his Christian principles into action and to serve God in public life.[75][76] He and other evangelicals were horrified by what they perceived was a depraved and un-Christian trade, and the greed and avarice of the owners and traders.[76][54] Wilberforce sensed a call from God, writing in a journal entry in 1787 that "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners".[77][78] The conspicuous involvement of evangelicals in the highly popular anti-slavery movement served to improve the status of a group otherwise associated with the less popular campaigns against vice and immorality.[79]
Early parliamentary action
On 22 May 1787, the first meeting of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade took place, bringing like-minded British Quakers and Anglicans together in the same organisation for the first time.[80] The committee chose to campaign against the slave trade rather than slavery itself, with many members believing that slavery would eventually disappear as a natural consequence of the abolition of the trade.[81] Wilberforce, though involved informally, did not join the committee officially until 1791.[82][83]
The society was highly successful in raising public awareness and support, and local chapters sprang up throughout Great Britain.[54][84] Clarkson travelled the country researching and collecting first-hand testimony and statistics, while the committee promoted the campaign, pioneering techniques such as lobbying, writing pamphlets, holding public meetings, gaining press attention, organising boycotts and even using a campaign logo: an image of a kneeling slave above the motto "Am I not a Man and a Brother?", designed by the renowned pottery-maker Josiah Wedgwood.[54][85][86] The committee also sought to influence slave-trading nations such as France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Holland and the United States, corresponding with anti-slavery activists in other countries and organising the translation of English-language books and pamphlets.[87] These included books by former enslaved men, Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano, who had published influential works on slavery and the slave trade in 1787 and 1789 respectively. They and other free blacks, collectively known as "Sons of Africa", spoke at debating societies and wrote spirited letters to newspapers, periodicals and prominent figures, as well as public letters of support to campaign allies.[88][89][90] Hundreds of parliamentary petitions opposing the slave trade were received in 1788 and following years, with hundreds of thousands of signatories in total.[54][86] The campaign proved to be the world's first grassroots human rights campaign, in which men and women volunteers from different social classes and backgrounds worked to end the injustices suffered by others.[91]
Wilberforce had planned to introduce a motion giving notice that he would bring forward a bill for the
In Wilberforce's absence, Pitt, who had long been supportive of abolition, introduced the preparatory motion himself, and ordered a
With the publication of the Privy Council report in April 1789 and following months of planning, Wilberforce commenced his parliamentary campaign.
Let us not despair; it is a blessed cause, and success, ere long, will crown our exertions. Already we have gained one victory; we have obtained, for these poor creatures, the recognition of their human nature, which, for a while was most shamefully denied. This is the first fruits of our efforts; let us persevere and our triumph will be complete. Never, never will we desist till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name, released ourselves from the load of guilt, under which we at present labour, and extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic, of which our posterity, looking back to the history of these enlightened times, will scarce believe that it has been suffered to exist so long a disgrace and dishonour to this country.
William Wilberforce — speech before the House of Commons, 18 April 1791[109]
Interrupted by a general election in June 1790, the committee finally finished hearing witnesses, and in April 1791 with a closely reasoned four-hour speech, Wilberforce introduced the first
This was the beginning of a protracted parliamentary campaign, during which Wilberforce's commitment never wavered, despite frustration and hostility. He was supported in his work by fellow members of the so-called
Pro-slavery advocates claimed that enslaved Africans were lesser human beings who benefited from their bondage.
On 2 April 1792, Wilberforce again brought a bill calling for abolition of the slave trade. The memorable debate that followed drew contributions from the greatest orators in the house, William Pitt and Charles James Fox, as well as from Wilberforce himself.[124] Henry Dundas, as Home Secretary, proposed a compromise solution of gradual abolition of the trade over a number of years. This was passed by 230 to 85 votes, but Wilberforce believed that it was little more than a clever ploy with the intention of ensuring that total abolition would be delayed indefinitely.[125][126]
War with France
On 26 February 1793, another vote to abolish the slave trade was narrowly defeated by eight votes. The outbreak of
Abolition continued to be associated in the public consciousness with the French Revolution and with British radical groups, resulting in a decline in public support.[131] In 1795, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade ceased to meet, and Clarkson retired in ill-health to the Lake District.[132][133] However, despite the decreased interest in abolition, Wilberforce continued to introduce abolition bills throughout the 1790s.[134][135]
The early years of the 19th century once again saw an increased public interest in abolition. In 1804, Clarkson resumed his work and the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade began meeting again, strengthened with prominent new members such as Zachary Macaulay, Henry Brougham and James Stephen.[132][136] In June 1804, Wilberforce's bill to abolish the slave trade successfully passed all its stages through the House of Commons. However, it was too late in the parliamentary session for it to complete its passage through the House of Lords. On its reintroduction during the 1805 session, it was defeated, with even the usually sympathetic Pitt failing to support it.[137] On this occasion and throughout the campaign, abolition was held back by Wilberforce's trusting, even credulous nature, and his deferential attitude towards those in power. He found it difficult to believe that men of rank would not do what he perceived to be the right thing, and was reluctant to confront them when they did not.[135]
Final phase of the campaign
Following Pitt's death in January 1806, Wilberforce began to collaborate more with the Whigs, especially the abolitionists. He gave general support to the
A bill was introduced and approved by the cabinet, and Wilberforce and other abolitionists maintained a self-imposed silence, so as not to draw any attention to the effect of the bill.[141][142] The approach proved successful, and the new Foreign Slave Trade Bill was quickly passed, and received royal assent on 23 May 1806.[143] Wilberforce and Clarkson had collected a large volume of evidence against the slave trade over the previous two decades, and Wilberforce spent the latter part of 1806 writing A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which was a comprehensive restatement of the abolitionists' case. The death of Fox in September 1806 was a blow, but was followed quickly by a general election in the autumn of 1806.[144] Slavery became an election issue, bringing more abolitionist MPs into the House of Commons, including former military men who had personally experienced the horrors of slavery and slave revolts.[145]
Wilberforce was re-elected as an MP for Yorkshire,[146] after which he returned to finishing and publishing his Letter, in reality a 400-page book which formed the basis for the final phase of the campaign.[147] Lord Grenville, the Prime Minister, was determined to introduce an Abolition Bill in the House of Lords, rather than in the House of Commons, taking it through its greatest challenge first.[146] When a final vote was taken, the bill was passed in the House of Lords by a large margin.[148] Sensing a breakthrough that had been long anticipated, Charles Grey moved for a second reading in the Commons on 23 February 1807. As tributes were made to Wilberforce, whose face streamed with tears, the bill was carried by 283 votes to 16.[143][149] Excited supporters suggested taking advantage of the large majority to seek the abolition of slavery itself, but Wilberforce made it clear that total emancipation was not the immediate goal: "They had for the present no object immediately before them, but that of putting stop directly to the carrying of men in British ships to be sold as slaves."[150] The Slave Trade Act received royal assent on 25 March 1807.[151]
Personal life
In his youth, William Wilberforce showed little interest in women, but when he was in his late thirties his friend
Other concerns
Political and social reform
Wilberforce was highly conservative on many political and social issues. He advocated change in society through Christianity and improvement in morals, education and religion, fearing and opposing radical causes and revolution.
Wilberforce's views of women and religion were also conservative. He disapproved of women anti-slavery activists such as Elizabeth Heyrick, who organised women's abolitionist groups in the 1820s, protesting: "[F]or ladies to meet, to publish, to go from house to house stirring up petitions—these appear to me proceedings unsuited to the female character as delineated in Scripture."[165][166] Wilberforce initially strongly opposed bills for Catholic emancipation, which would have allowed Catholics to become MPs, hold public office and serve in the army,[167] although by 1813, he had changed his views and spoke in favour of a similar bill.[168]
Wilberforce advocated legislation to improve the working conditions for chimney-sweeps and textile workers, engaged in
Wilberforce was generous with his time and money, believing that those with wealth had a duty to give a significant portion of their income to the needy. Yearly, he gave away thousands of pounds, much of it to clergymen to distribute in their parishes. He paid off the debts of others, supported education and
Evangelical Christianity
A supporter of the evangelical wing of the Church of England, Wilberforce believed that the revitalisation of the church and individual Christian observance would lead to a harmonious, moral society.[158] He sought to elevate the status of religion in public and private life, making piety fashionable in both the upper- and middle-classes of society.[178] To this end, in April 1797, Wilberforce published A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes of This Country Contrasted With Real Christianity, on which he had been working since 1793. This was an exposition of New Testament doctrine and teachings and a call for a revival of Christianity, as a response to the moral decline of the nation, illustrating his own personal testimony and the views which inspired him. The book proved to be influential and a best-seller by the standards of the day; 7,500 copies were sold within six months, and it was translated into several languages.[179][180]
Wilberforce fostered and supported missionary activity in Britain and abroad, and was involved with other members of the Clapham Sect in various evangelical and charitable organisations. He was a founding member of the
Moral reform
Greatly concerned by what he perceived to be the degeneracy of British society, Wilberforce was also active in matters of moral reform, lobbying against "the torrent of profaneness that every day makes more rapid advances", and considered this issue and the abolition of the slave trade as equally important goals.
The writer and clergyman Sydney Smith criticised Wilberforce for being more interested in the sins of the poor than those of the rich, and suggested that a better name would be the "Society for suppressing the vices of persons whose income does not exceed £500 per annum".[61][196] The societies were not highly successful in terms of membership and support, although their activities did lead to the imprisonment of Thomas Williams, the London printer of Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason.[79][134] Wilberforce's attempts to legislate against adultery and Sunday newspapers were also in vain; his involvement and leadership in other, less punitive, approaches were more successful in the long-term, however. By the end of his life, British morals, manners, and sense of social responsibility had increased, paving the way for future changes in societal conventions and attitudes during the Victorian era.[1][158][197]
Emancipation of enslaved Africans
The hopes of the abolitionists notwithstanding, slavery did not wither with the end of the slave trade in the British Empire, nor did the living conditions of the enslaved improve. The trade continued, with few countries following suit by abolishing the trade, and with some British ships disregarding the legislation. The Royal Navy patrolled the Atlantic intercepting slave ships from other countries. Wilberforce worked with the members of the African Institution to ensure the enforcement of abolition and to promote abolitionist negotiations with other countries.[158][198][199] In particular, the United States had abolished the slave trade after 1808 and Wilberforce lobbied the American government to enforce its own mandated prohibition more strongly.[200]
The same year, Wilberforce moved his family from Clapham to a sizeable mansion with a large garden in
In 1820, after a period of poor health, and with his eyesight failing, Wilberforce took the decision to further limit his public activities,
The year 1823 saw the founding of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later known as the Anti-Slavery Society),[208] and the publication of Wilberforce's 56-page "Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in Behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies".[209] In his treatise, Wilberforce urged that total emancipation was morally and ethically required, and that slavery was a national crime that must be ended by parliamentary legislation to gradually abolish slavery.[210] Members of Parliament did not quickly agree, and government opposition in March 1823 stymied Wilberforce's call for abolition.[211] On 15 May 1823, Buxton moved another resolution in Parliament for gradual emancipation.[212] Subsequent debates followed on 16 March and 11 June 1824 in which Wilberforce made his last speeches in the House of Commons, and which again saw the emancipationists outmanoeuvred by the government.[213][214]
Last years
Wilberforce's health was continuing to fail, and he suffered further illnesses in 1824 and 1825. With his family concerned that his life was endangered, he declined a peerage[b] and resigned his seat in Parliament, leaving the campaign in the hands of others.[173][216] Thomas Clarkson continued to travel, visiting anti-slavery groups throughout Britain, motivating activists and acting as an ambassador for the anti-slavery cause to other countries,[65] while Buxton pursued the cause of reform in Parliament.[217] Public meetings and petitions demanding emancipation continued, with an increasing number supporting immediate abolition rather than the gradual approach favoured by Wilberforce, Clarkson and their colleagues.[218][219]
In 1826, Wilberforce moved from his large house in Kensington Gore to Hendon Park, a more modest property in the countryside of Mill Hill, north of London,[220][173] where he was soon joined by his son William and family. William had attempted a series of educational and career paths, and a venture into farming in 1830 led to huge losses, which his father repaid in full, despite offers from others to assist. This left Wilberforce with little income, and he was obliged to let his home and spend the rest of his life visiting family members and friends.[221] He continued his support for the anti-slavery cause, including attending and chairing meetings of the Anti-Slavery Society.[222]
Wilberforce approved of the 1830 election victory of the more progressive Whigs, though he was concerned about the implications of their Reform Bill which proposed the redistribution of parliamentary seats towards newer towns and cities and an extension of the franchise. In the event, the Reform Act 1832 was to bring more abolitionist MPs into Parliament as a result of intense and increasing public agitation against slavery. In addition, the 1832 slave revolt in Jamaica convinced government ministers that abolition was essential to avoid further rebellion.[223] In 1833, Wilberforce's health declined further and he suffered a severe attack of influenza from which he never fully recovered.[1] He made a final anti-slavery speech in April 1833 at a public meeting in Maidstone, Kent.[224] The following month, the Whig government introduced the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery, formally saluting Wilberforce in the process.[225] On 26 July 1833, Wilberforce heard of government concessions that guaranteed the passing of the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery.[226] The following day he grew much weaker, and he died early on the morning of 29 July at his cousin's house in Cadogan Place, London.[227][228]
One month later, the House of Lords passed the Slavery Abolition Act, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire from August 1834. They voted plantation owners £20 million in compensation, giving full emancipation to children younger than six, and instituting a system of
Funeral
Wilberforce had left instructions that he be buried with his sister and daughter at St Mary's Church, Stoke Newington, just north of London. However, the leading members of both Houses of Parliament urged that he be honoured with a burial in Westminster Abbey. The family agreed and, on 3 August 1833, Wilberforce was buried in the north transept, close to his friend William Pitt.[231][232] The funeral was attended by many Members of Parliament, as well as by members of the public. The pallbearers included the Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Chancellor Henry Brougham, and the Speaker of the House of Commons Charles Manners-Sutton.[233][234][235]
While tributes were paid and Wilberforce was laid to rest, both Houses of Parliament suspended their business as a mark of respect.[236]
Legacy
Five years after his death, sons Robert and Samuel Wilberforce published a five-volume biography about their father, and subsequently a collection of his letters in 1840. The biography was controversial in that the authors emphasised Wilberforce's role in the abolition movement and played down the important work of Thomas Clarkson. Incensed, Clarkson came out of retirement to write a book refuting their version of events, and the sons eventually made a half-hearted private apology to him and removed the offending passages in a revision of their biography.[237][238][239] However, for more than a century, Wilberforce's role in the campaign dominated the history books. Later historians have noted the warm and highly productive relationship between Clarkson and Wilberforce, and have termed it one of history's great partnerships: without both the parliamentary leadership supplied by Wilberforce and the research and public mobilisation organised by Clarkson, abolition could not have been achieved.[65][240][241]
As his sons had desired and planned, Wilberforce has long been viewed as a Christian hero, a statesman-saint held up as a role model for putting his faith into action.[1][242][243] Contemporary evangelical and conservative movements in North America appropriate his name and example in their activism.[244][245][246] In particular, the strategies of Wilberforce and other abolitionists are invoked by anti-abortion activists, who controversially equate the abolition of slavery with ending abortion.[247][248][249][246]
More broadly, Wilberforce has also been described as a humanitarian reformer who contributed significantly to reshaping the political and social attitudes of the time by promoting concepts of social responsibility and action.[158] In the 1940s, the role of Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect in abolition was downplayed by historian Eric Williams, who argued that abolition was motivated not by humanitarianism but by economics, as the West Indian sugar industry was in decline.[54][250] Williams' approach strongly influenced historians for much of the latter part of the 20th century. However, more recent historians have noted that the sugar industry was still making large profits at the time of the abolition of the slave trade, and this has led to a renewed interest in Wilberforce and the evangelicals, as well as a recognition of the anti-slavery movement as a prototype for subsequent humanitarian campaigns.[54][251]
Memorials
Wilberforce's life and work have been widely commemorated in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In Westminster Abbey, a seated statue of Wilberforce by Samuel Joseph was erected in 1840, bearing an epitaph praising his Christian character and his long labour to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself.[252]
In Wilberforce's home town of Hull, a public subscription in 1834 funded the
Various churches within the
Amazing Grace, a film about Wilberforce and the struggle against the slave trade, directed by Michael Apted and starring Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce was released in 2007 to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Parliament's anti-slave trade legislation.[262][263]
Works
- Wilberforce, William (1797). A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. London: T. Caddell.
- Wilberforce, William (1807). A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Addressed to the Freeholders of Yorkshire. London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, J. Hatchard.
- Wilberforce, William (1823). An Appeal to the Religion, Justice, and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in behalf of the Negro slaves in the West Indies. London: J. Hatchard and Son.
See also
Notes
- ^ Lead, cotton, tools and cutlery were among the more frequent exports from Hull to the Baltic countries, with timber, iron ore, yarns, hemp, wine and manufactured goods being imported to Britain on the return journey.(Hague 2007, p. 3)
- ^ According to George W. E. Russell, on the grounds that it would exclude his sons from intimacy with private gentlemen, clergymen and mercantile families.[215]
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29386 (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 6
- ^ "William Wilberforce". Leeds Intelligencer. 29 November 1774.
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 3
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 3
- ^ Tomkins 2007, p. 9
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 4
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 5
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 6–8
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 14–15
- ^ Pollock 1977, pp. 5–6
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 15
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 18–19
- ^ a b Pollock 1977, p. 7
- ^ a b Hague 2007, p. 20
- ^ Pollock 1977, pp. 8–9
- ^ a b Hague 2007, p. 23
- ISBN 978-0-00-714720-5.
- ^ a b Pollock 1977, p. 9
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 24–25
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 11
- ^ Hochschild 2005, p. 125
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 36
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 359
- ^ a b Oldfield 2007, p. 44
- ^ Hochschild 2005, pp. 125–26
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 15
- ^ Wilberforce & Wilberforce 1838, p. 23
- ^ "Sickly shrimp of a man who sank the slave ships". The Sunday Times. London: The Times. 25 March 2005. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 44–52
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 23
- ^ Pollock 1977, pp. 23–24
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 52–53, 59
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 31
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 70–72
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 72–74
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 37
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 99–102
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 207–10
- ^ Brown 2006, pp. 380–82
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 38
- ^ Brown 2006, p. 383
- ^ Brown 2006, p. 386
- ISBN 978-0-7146-3260-5
- ^ a b Hague 2007, p. 446
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 97
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 97–99
- ^ Pollock 1977, pp. 40–42
- ^ S2CID 151411243. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2023.)
{{cite journal}}
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- ^ D'Anjou 1996, p. 97
- ^ Hochschild 2005, pp. 14–15
- ^ Hochschild 2005, p. 32
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85124-316-7.
- ^ Ackerson 2005, p. 9
- ^ a b Pollock 1977, p. 17
- ^ Hague 2007, pp. 138–39
- ^ Brown 2006, pp. 351–52, 362–63
- ^ Brown 2006, pp. 364–66
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 48
- ^ a b Tomkins 2007, p. 55
- ^ Hague 2007, p. 140
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 53
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- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5545 (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b Pollock 1977, p. 55
- ^ Hochschild 2005, pp. 123–24
- ^ Clarkson, Thomas (1839). The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade. London: John w. Parker. p. 157.
- ^ Hochschild 2005, p. 122
- ^ D'Anjou 1996, pp. 157–158
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 56
- ^ Hochschild 2005, pp. 122–124
- ^ Tomkins 2007, p. 57
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 58
- ^ Brown 2006, pp. 26, 341, 458–459
- ^ a b Hague 2007, pp. 143, 119
- ^ Pollock 1977, p. 69
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Works cited
- Ackerson, Wayne (2005). The African Institution (1807–1827) and the Antislavery Movement in Great Britain. OCLC 58546501.
- Brown, Christopher Leslie (2006). Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 62290468.
- D'Anjou, Leo (1996). Social Movements and Cultural Change: The First Abolition Campaign Revisited. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. OCLC 34151187.
- OCLC 80331607.
- OCLC 60458010.
- Oldfield, John (2007). Chords of Freedom: Commemoration, Ritual and British Transatlantic Slavery. Manchester: Manchester University Press. OCLC 132318401.
- OCLC 3738175.
- Tomkins, Stephen (2007). William Wilberforce – A Biography. Oxford: Lion. OCLC 72149062.
External links
- Works by William Wilberforce at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about William Wilberforce at Internet Archive
- Works by William Wilberforce at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Wilberforce, BBC Radio 4 In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg (22 February 2007)
- The Wilberforce Diaries Project