Difference between revisions of "William Wilberforce" - New World Encyclopedia
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'''William Wilberforce''' (August 1759 - July 1833) was born in the great northern seaport of Hull and served in the [[England|English]] Parliament from 1780 to 1825. Living for something much greater than himself, Wilberforce fought for the sake of human dignity and effected the lives of millions across the globe. Although he was involved with programs for education, overseas missions, parliamentary reform, and religious liberty, he is honored most for his untiring commitment to the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. When Wilberforce's opponents criticized his faith and attacked his reforms, instead of condemning them, he won them over by integrity, honesty, and sensitivity using his incredible gifts of oration and persuasion. Wilberforce's unrelenting forty-year crusade against slavery required supreme perseverance and patience to overcome the many setbacks and defeats. In 1807, Parliament finally passed his bill of abolition. His triumph brought him incredible prestige and freed him to pursue other plans for improving the quality and morality of life in Great Britain. His efforts made the foundations for the great moral revival of the Victorian period. | '''William Wilberforce''' (August 1759 - July 1833) was born in the great northern seaport of Hull and served in the [[England|English]] Parliament from 1780 to 1825. Living for something much greater than himself, Wilberforce fought for the sake of human dignity and effected the lives of millions across the globe. Although he was involved with programs for education, overseas missions, parliamentary reform, and religious liberty, he is honored most for his untiring commitment to the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. When Wilberforce's opponents criticized his faith and attacked his reforms, instead of condemning them, he won them over by integrity, honesty, and sensitivity using his incredible gifts of oration and persuasion. Wilberforce's unrelenting forty-year crusade against slavery required supreme perseverance and patience to overcome the many setbacks and defeats. In 1807, Parliament finally passed his bill of abolition. His triumph brought him incredible prestige and freed him to pursue other plans for improving the quality and morality of life in Great Britain. His efforts made the foundations for the great moral revival of the Victorian period. | ||
| − | == Early life == | + | == Early life, Conversion, and Marriage == |
Wilberforce was the son of a wealthy merchant who died when William was still a child. Placed under the guardianship of his uncle and aunt (a strong supporter of [[John Wesley]]), William developed an early interest in [[Methodism]]. His mother, however, was disturbed by this development and the young Wilberforce was returned to her care. | Wilberforce was the son of a wealthy merchant who died when William was still a child. Placed under the guardianship of his uncle and aunt (a strong supporter of [[John Wesley]]), William developed an early interest in [[Methodism]]. His mother, however, was disturbed by this development and the young Wilberforce was returned to her care. | ||
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After attending Pocklington School in 1776, William Wilberforce was sent to St John's College, Cambridge. He was shocked by the behavior of most of his fellow students and later wrote: "I was introduced on the very first night of my arrival to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They drank hard, and their conversation was even worse than their lives." Wilberforce spent most of his time with the social elite eventually losing his interest in Biblical religion. He was able to live off his parents' wealth doing as little work as possible. | After attending Pocklington School in 1776, William Wilberforce was sent to St John's College, Cambridge. He was shocked by the behavior of most of his fellow students and later wrote: "I was introduced on the very first night of my arrival to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They drank hard, and their conversation was even worse than their lives." Wilberforce spent most of his time with the social elite eventually losing his interest in Biblical religion. He was able to live off his parents' wealth doing as little work as possible. | ||
| − | Among these surroundings, he befriended [[William Pitt the Younger]] who would later become the Prime Minister. At the young age of twenty-one, Wilberforce ran for the seat in the House of Commons of Hull in 1780. The £8,000 he spent and his incredible gift for speaking brought about his triumph over both his opponents. (Wilberforce never lost an election till he died just before his 74th birthday.) In 1784, he was elected for the seat of the much larger and more influential Yorkshire. | + | Among these surroundings, he befriended [[William Pitt the Younger]] who would later become the Prime Minister of England. At the young age of twenty-one, Wilberforce ran for the seat in the House of Commons of Hull in 1780. The £8,000 he spent and his incredible gift for speaking brought about his triumph over both his opponents. (Wilberforce never lost an election till he died just before his 74th birthday.) In 1784, he was elected for the seat of the much larger and more influential Yorkshire. |
| + | |||
| + | On the long holidays between Parliament sessions, Wilberforce would sometimes travel with friends or family. One time, he invited Isaac Milner, a friend since grammar school. Milner turned out to be a strong Christian without the stereotypes that Wilberforce had felt about Evangelicals. The following summer, Wilberforce traveled again with Milner and discussed the Bible for hours and hours. Wilberforce said his “intellectual assent became profound conviction.” (Pollock, ''Wilberforce,'' p. 5.) | ||
| + | |||
| + | This conversion to Christianity and the subsequent change in his life were manifested when he wrote that riches were, "considering them as in themselves, acceptable, but, from the infirmity of [our] nature, as highly dangerous possessions; and [we are to value] them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or splendor, but as affording the means of honoring his heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind." (Wilberforce, ''Real Christianity,'' p. 113) By the same token, he believed everything in politics was for the purpose of alleviating misery and spreading happiness for all. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Wilberforce struggled about how to practice his beliefs in his public life. William Pitt tried to talk him out of becoming an Evangelical saying that this change would "render your talents useless both to yourself and mankind." (Pollock, ''Wilberforce,'' p. 38) On December 7, 1789, Wilberforce risked seeing the unpopular Evangelical parliament member, John Newton. He had so many doubts about going to see Newton, he walked twice around the block before he could get up the courage to knock on his door. Newton encouraged him not to cut himself off from public life and wrote him two years later: "It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation." (Pollock, ''Wilberforce,'' p.38) No one could have imaginged at that time what Wilberforce would accomplish. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The battle of uncertainties lasted for a few months until a more peaceful serenity came over him on Easter Day, 1786. Wilberforce went into the fields to pray when, as he said in a letter to his sister Sally, "amidst the general chorus with which all nature seems on such a morning to be swelling the song of praise and thanksgiving." (Pollock, ''Wilberforce'', p. 39) | ||
| + | |||
| + | Wilberforce was so ashamed of the "shapeless idleness" of his prior life that he wrote, "I was filled with sorrow. I am sure that no human creature could suffer more than I did for some months." (Pollock, ''Wilberforce'', p. 37) Beginning soon after his conversion until he was married 11 years later, Wilberforce spent his days studying "about nine or ten hours a day," typically "breakfasting alone, taking walks alone, dining with the host family and other guests but not joining them in the evening until he 'came down about three-quarters of an hour before bedtime for what supper I wanted.'" (Pollock, ''Wilberforce,'' p. 43) "The Bible became his best-loved book and he learned stretches by heart." (Pollock, ''Wilberforce,'' p. 44) It seems as though Wilberforce wanted to make up the time he wasted due to his laziness in college. | ||
| + | |||
At 37 years old, Wilberforce met Barbara and married her and on May 30, 1797, about two weeks after they met. In the first eight years of their marriage they had four sons and two daughters. They were still married when Wilberforce died thirty-six years later. | At 37 years old, Wilberforce met Barbara and married her and on May 30, 1797, about two weeks after they met. In the first eight years of their marriage they had four sons and two daughters. They were still married when Wilberforce died thirty-six years later. | ||
Revision as of 22:39, 1 September 2006
William Wilberforce (August 1759 - July 1833) was born in the great northern seaport of Hull and served in the English Parliament from 1780 to 1825. Living for something much greater than himself, Wilberforce fought for the sake of human dignity and effected the lives of millions across the globe. Although he was involved with programs for education, overseas missions, parliamentary reform, and religious liberty, he is honored most for his untiring commitment to the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. When Wilberforce's opponents criticized his faith and attacked his reforms, instead of condemning them, he won them over by integrity, honesty, and sensitivity using his incredible gifts of oration and persuasion. Wilberforce's unrelenting forty-year crusade against slavery required supreme perseverance and patience to overcome the many setbacks and defeats. In 1807, Parliament finally passed his bill of abolition. His triumph brought him incredible prestige and freed him to pursue other plans for improving the quality and morality of life in Great Britain. His efforts made the foundations for the great moral revival of the Victorian period.
Early life, Conversion, and Marriage
Wilberforce was the son of a wealthy merchant who died when William was still a child. Placed under the guardianship of his uncle and aunt (a strong supporter of John Wesley), William developed an early interest in Methodism. His mother, however, was disturbed by this development and the young Wilberforce was returned to her care.
After attending Pocklington School in 1776, William Wilberforce was sent to St John's College, Cambridge. He was shocked by the behavior of most of his fellow students and later wrote: "I was introduced on the very first night of my arrival to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They drank hard, and their conversation was even worse than their lives." Wilberforce spent most of his time with the social elite eventually losing his interest in Biblical religion. He was able to live off his parents' wealth doing as little work as possible.
Among these surroundings, he befriended William Pitt the Younger who would later become the Prime Minister of England. At the young age of twenty-one, Wilberforce ran for the seat in the House of Commons of Hull in 1780. The £8,000 he spent and his incredible gift for speaking brought about his triumph over both his opponents. (Wilberforce never lost an election till he died just before his 74th birthday.) In 1784, he was elected for the seat of the much larger and more influential Yorkshire.
On the long holidays between Parliament sessions, Wilberforce would sometimes travel with friends or family. One time, he invited Isaac Milner, a friend since grammar school. Milner turned out to be a strong Christian without the stereotypes that Wilberforce had felt about Evangelicals. The following summer, Wilberforce traveled again with Milner and discussed the Bible for hours and hours. Wilberforce said his “intellectual assent became profound conviction.” (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 5.)
This conversion to Christianity and the subsequent change in his life were manifested when he wrote that riches were, "considering them as in themselves, acceptable, but, from the infirmity of [our] nature, as highly dangerous possessions; and [we are to value] them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or splendor, but as affording the means of honoring his heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind." (Wilberforce, Real Christianity, p. 113) By the same token, he believed everything in politics was for the purpose of alleviating misery and spreading happiness for all.
Wilberforce struggled about how to practice his beliefs in his public life. William Pitt tried to talk him out of becoming an Evangelical saying that this change would "render your talents useless both to yourself and mankind." (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 38) On December 7, 1789, Wilberforce risked seeing the unpopular Evangelical parliament member, John Newton. He had so many doubts about going to see Newton, he walked twice around the block before he could get up the courage to knock on his door. Newton encouraged him not to cut himself off from public life and wrote him two years later: "It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation." (Pollock, Wilberforce, p.38) No one could have imaginged at that time what Wilberforce would accomplish.
The battle of uncertainties lasted for a few months until a more peaceful serenity came over him on Easter Day, 1786. Wilberforce went into the fields to pray when, as he said in a letter to his sister Sally, "amidst the general chorus with which all nature seems on such a morning to be swelling the song of praise and thanksgiving." (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 39)
Wilberforce was so ashamed of the "shapeless idleness" of his prior life that he wrote, "I was filled with sorrow. I am sure that no human creature could suffer more than I did for some months." (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 37) Beginning soon after his conversion until he was married 11 years later, Wilberforce spent his days studying "about nine or ten hours a day," typically "breakfasting alone, taking walks alone, dining with the host family and other guests but not joining them in the evening until he 'came down about three-quarters of an hour before bedtime for what supper I wanted.'" (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 43) "The Bible became his best-loved book and he learned stretches by heart." (Pollock, Wilberforce, p. 44) It seems as though Wilberforce wanted to make up the time he wasted due to his laziness in college.
At 37 years old, Wilberforce met Barbara and married her and on May 30, 1797, about two weeks after they met. In the first eight years of their marriage they had four sons and two daughters. They were still married when Wilberforce died thirty-six years later.
Suppression of the Slave Trade
Wilberforce decided to pursue the career of politics so he spent about nine thousand pounds to get elected as a member of parliament for Hull. In 1784, William was converted to Evangelical Christianity. Wilberforce now became interested in social reform, in particular improving working conditions in factories. Millions of men, women and children had no choice but to work sixteen hours, six days a week in grim factories. People had come to the cities to find work but had been exploited and crowded together in filthy apartments. Here, they could easily catch cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis.
Eventually, Lady Middleton (Albinia Townshend, elder sister of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney) approached Wilberforce and asked him to use his power as an MP to stop the slave trade. Wilberforce wrote "I feel the great importance of the subject and I think myself unequal to the task allotted to me," but he agreed to do his best. On 12 May 1789, Wilberforce made his first speech against the slave trade. He was now seen as one of the leaders of the anti-slave trade movement.
Most of William's fellow Tories were against any limits to the slave market but Wilberforce persisted. Even when his first bill, in 1791, was defeated by a landslide of 163 votes to 88, Wilberforce did not give up. In 1805 the House of Commons finally passed a law that made it illegal for any British subject to transport slaves but the House of Lords blocked it. In 1807, William Grenville made a speech saying that the slave trade was "contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy". This time, when the vote was taken, a huge majority in the House of Commons and the House of Lords backed the proposal. It became law on 25 March 1807. After 1807, with the support of friends such as Beilby Porteus, the Bishop of London, he continued to fight for the complete emancipation of slaves in the British Empire.
Although British captains were fined £100 for every slave that was found aboard their ship, this did not stop the trade. If a slave-ship was in danger of being captured by the Navy, the captain would order the slaves to be thrown overboard in order to reduce the fine. Some of the campaigners realised that the only way to stop slavery completely was to make it illegal. Wilberforce disagreed with this because he thought that both the slaves and their owners would suffer as a result. "It would be wrong to emancipate (the slaves). To grant freedom to them immediately would be to insure not only their masters' ruin, but their own. They must (first) be trained and educated for freedom."
Eventually, William was persuaded to join the campaign but he did not have much effect. Having retired in 1825, he did not play an important role. His fellow MP, Thomas Fowell Buxton continued to lead the abolition movement in Parliament. William Wilberforce died on 29 July 1833, a month before the Slavery Abolition Act was passed (an act which gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom).
Reformation of Manners
A Man of Perseverence
Other projects
Although William Wilberforce is most famous for his work towards the abolition of slavery, Wilberforce was also concerned with other matters.
The British East India Company was set up to give the English a share in the East Indian spice trade (before the Spanish Armada, Portugal and Spain had monopolised the market). In 1793, the East India Company had to renew its charter and William Wilberforce suggested adding clauses to enable the company to employ religious teachers with the aim of 'introducing Christian light into India.' He had also tried to set up a mission in India. This plan was unsuccessful but Wilberforce tried again in 1813 when the charter had to be renewed again. Wilberforce, using many petitions and various statistics, managed to persuade the House of Commons to include the clauses. In part of his efforts, his work enabled missionary work to become a part of the conditions of the British East India Company's 1813 renewed charter. (Although concerned with the country deeply, Wilberforce himself had never been to India. [1].) Eventually, this resulted in the foundation of the Bishopric of Calcutta.
Wilberforce wrote, "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners." It was at his suggestion, together with Bishop Porteus, that the Archbishop of Canterbury requested King George III to issue his 'Proclamation for the Discouragement of Vice' in 1787.
Wilberforce was also a founding member of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as well as the Church Missionary Society (since renamed Church Mission Society).
The 17th-century house in which he was born is today Wilberforce House museum in Kingston upon Hull.
His children included Robert Isaac Wilberforce, Samuel Wilberforce and Henry William Wilberforce.
A film entitled Amazing Grace, about the life of Wilberforce and the struggle against slavery, directed by Michael Apted, with Ioan Gruffudd playing the title role, is currently (2006) in post-production, but its release date is unknown.
Further reading
- Hochschild, Adam, Bury the Chain, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2005, ISBN 0618104690, Excellent story of the British Abolishionist movement
- Belmonte, Kevin, Hero for Humanity: A Biography of William Wilberforce, Navpress Publishing Group, October 2002, ISBN 1576833542
- Vaughan, David, Statesman and Saint: The Principled Politics of William Wilberforce, Highland Books, November 2001, ISBN 1581822243
- Wilberforce, William, Real Christianity, Barbour Pub Inc, July 1999, ISBN 157748584X
- Pollock, John, Wilberforce, Lion Publishing Corporation, March 1986, ISBN 0745910610
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- ↑ Keay, John. India: A History. Grove Press Books, distributed by Publishers Group West. United States: 2000 ISBN 0802137970, pp. 429
External links
- St Paul's Church Mill Hill: the church built by Wilberforce and its plans for a Wilberforce centre
- Wilberforce House Museum
- Wiliam Wilberforce: biography and bibliography by Carey Brycchan (Part of his British Abolitionists project)
- Works by William Wilberforce. Project Gutenberg
- Speech by William Wilberforce, House of Commons, May 1789
- Papers of William Wilberforce
- John Wesley's Last Letter (to William Wilberforce)
- Reflections on the Life and Labor of William Wilberforce
- "Epistle to William Wilberforce, Esq. On the Rejection of the Bill for Abolishing the Slave Trade"
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