AMAZING GRACE
2007 is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade by the British Parliament. To mark this monumental turning point in world history a major film on William Wilberforce and the campaign to abolish the slave trade is soon to be released: AMAZING GRACE
For the Inspiring story behind this important film and landmark event read the incredible story of the man who ended the slave trade.
William Wilberforce -
Setting
the Captives Free
As
we battle against great social evils such as abortion and
pornography and work for Reformation, the overwhelming opposition
and pressures can drive one to exhaustion and a temptation
to give up the fight. William Wilberforce – the Reformer
who led the campaign to abolish the slave trade and to set
those in bondage free – was persistently slandered
in the media, threatened, physically assaulted and even
the target of attempted murder. Yet he persevered and, after
a lifetime crusade, his steadfastness was rewarded with
the liberation of all slaves in the British Empire.
At
this critical stage in history (this year 2007 is the 200th anniversary of the obolition of the slave trade by the British Parliament) Christians need to learn
from one of the greatest Christian statesmen and how, in
the face of constant division and opposition, he succeeded
in abolishing the slave trade.
The
Scourge of Slavery
All nations and tribes engaged in slavery, particularly
the Muslim nations. However, it was the Emperor Charles
V (before whom Martin Luther made his historic “My
conscience is captive to the Word of God . . . Here I stand,
I can do no other . . .” speech) of the Holy Roman
Empire who first authorised Europe’s involvement in
the slave trade in 1519. Because of Pope Alexander VI’s
Line of Democration bull of 1493, which barred Spain from
Africa, Spain issued Asientos (a monopoly) to other nations
to supply slaves for her South American colonies. First
Portugal had this lucrative franchise, then the Dutch, then
the French. Finally, by the Treaty of Utrecht 1713, the
Asientos was transferred from France to Britain. Initially
the contract was for 4 800 slaves a year. Britain’s involvement in slavery was first
authorised in 1631 by King Charles I (who was later executed
by Parliament). His son, Charles II, reintroduced it by
Royal Charter in 1672. 
The
Trade, as it became known, involved a triangular voyage.
Slave ships sailed from Bristol or Liverpool loaded with
cloths, beads, muskets, iron bars and brandy. This merchandise
was then traded in West Africa in exchange for slaves. Some
African chiefs sold their own people, others engaged in
wars and slave raids against neighbouring tribes to capture
victims for the trade. Often professional Arab slave traders
provided the victims.
The
Middle Passage transported the slaves to the West
Indies. Here the slaves were sold and the ships loaded with
spices, rum, molasses and sugar. The third leg of the journey
was the return to England (160 British ships were involved
in slaving). The average Englishman on the street was kept
in the dark as to what actually happened on the middle passage,
until – in 1785 – Thomas Clarkson’s landmark
study “Slavery and Commerce in the Human Species”
was first published – in Latin – at Cambridge
and then translated into English and widely circulated.
In 1787 Wilberforce wore out the pages of his copy of Clarkson’s
book on Slavery. According to Clarkson’s research,
ten percent of the slaves would normally die during the
middle passage. Strong men would fetch as much as £40
while the women and children were sold in cheap batches
with the sick and weak men. The fit were often branded –
with silver branding irons to minimise infection. Slaving
was one of the largest, and certainly the most profitable,
sectors of the British economy. In England 18 000 people
were employed simply on making the goods to trade for slaves.
This trade constituted over 4% of British exports.
On
Sunday 28 October 1787, Wilberforce wrote in his diary:
“God Almighty has set before me two great objects,
the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of
Society.”
The
Crisis of Conversion
William Wilberforce was born, in 1759, into a wealthy family
and educated at Cambridge University. He was elected to
Parliament, in 1780, at the age of 21 and served in the
House of Commons for the next forty-five years! William
was short, frail, frequently sick and afflicted with poor
eye sight. However, he more than made up for his weak body
with his vigorous mind and boundless energy. He was a particularly
gifted speaker and generous to friends and strangers alike.
As a child he had been strongly influenced by the dedicated
faith of his uncle and aunt. William’s father died
when he was 9, so he was sent to live with William and Hanna
Wilberforce who were childless. William’s uncle and
aunt were friends of George Whitefield and William later
described how deeply he had been impressed by Whitefield’s
preaching and visits to his uncle’s home. He also met
John Newton, the former slave ship captain who had been
converted and later wrote “Amazing Grace.”
When William’s mother realised that her son was becoming
“too religious” she came and took him back,
placed him in a boarding school, and encouraged a more worldly
lifestyle.
As
a Member of Parliament, Wilberforce opposed the British
war against the American Colonies declaring that the Cabinet
Ministers were acting more like lunatics than statesmen
and denounced their “cruel, bloody and impractical”
policies. Wilberforce made his name with his quick wit and
devastating sarcasm. In 1783, he travelled to France, and
met King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Lafayette and Benjamin
Franklin. His good friend William Pitt was then elected
Prime Minister – at age 24 the youngest Prime Minister
in British history. Wilberforce then stood for Yorkshire,
the largest county in England, and won by a landslide.
It
was at this point, when he had won an unassailable position
in both politics and society, that Wilberforce was confronted
with the claims of the Gospel of Christ through a book “The
Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul” by Philip
Doddridge. His mind was convinced of the truth of the Gospel,
but he recognised that intellectual assent was not enough.
A
sharp conflict raged within him “I am no Christian”
he was forced to admit. He was overcome with anguish: “the
deep guilt and dark ingratitude of my past life forced
itself on me in the strongest colours, and I condemned myself
for having wasted precious time and opportunities and talents.”
He was appalled by his “shapeless idleness”
and “a sense of my great sinfulness in having so
long neglected the unspeakable mercies of my God and Saviour.”
Through all his heart searching, Bible study and prayer,
he was transformed. 
Since
nearly all politicians drank, gambled and engaged in corrupt
practices, William assumed that he would now have to give
up his political career. In turmoil he went to see his boyhood
hero, Rev. John Newton. Should he give up politics and become
a preacher? Or should he seclude himself from society to
live a life of quiet meditation and prayer? In response
Newton admonished him that to leave his post in Parliament
would be desertion from the duty to which God had called
him: “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.” If he stayed in politics
he would find opportunities to advance God’s Kingdom
that other men could only dream of.
Wilberforce
informed the Prime Minister that he could no longer vote
the party line if it conflicted with Christian principles.
The change in his behaviour and politics was dramatic. He
resigned from 5 clubs in one day. He stopped going to plays
and theatres (which had become particularly decadent at
that time) and gave up gambling. With a new intellectual
rigour, he set himself to redeem his idle years. He became
less temperamental, more stable and more cheerful. He saw
clearly that if a man became a Christian it should influence
everything he thinks and does. He began to search the Scriptures
for the principles upon which his policies should be based.
As he explained to one constituent: we are “to give
an account of (our) political conduct at the Judgement seat
of Christ.” At his conversion there were only 2
other evangelical Members of Parliament. By the time of
his death there were over 100 evangelical members in the
House of Commons and the House of Lords!
A
Call for Reformation
One of Wilberforce’s first actions as a Christian was
to persuade the King, George III, to issue a Proclamation
calling for spiritual Reformation throughout the land. On
1 June 1787, the King gazetted a “Proclamation
for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue and for the Preventing
of Vice, Profaneness and Immorality.” It declared:
“Whereas we cannot but observe with inexpressible
concern, the rapid progress of impiety and licentiousness
and that deluge of profaneness, immorality and every kind
of vice . . . do hereby declare our Royal Purpose and resolution
to discountenance and punish all manner of vice, profaneness
and immorality . . .” Church attendance was urged.
Sheriffs and justices were to be “very vigilant
and strict” in prosecuting those “guilty
of excessive drinking, blasphemy, profane swearing and cursing,
lewdness, or other immoral and dissolute practices.”
They were also ordered to close down brothels and destroy
“all loose and licentious prints, books and publications
dispersing poison in the minds of the young and to punish
the publishers and vendors thereof.”
The
Secretary of State was instructed to send 6 copies of the
Proclamation to the High Sheriff of every county with the
King’s Command that it be publicly read and acted upon.
At the time few realised that the Member for Yorkshire was
the author of the Proclamation.
Wilberforce
then established a Proclamation Society to
ensure that the Proclamation became a force rather than
a farce. Local chapters of this society worked to bring
about Reformation at every level of society. The time was
ripe. Many thousands whose lives had been transformed by
the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley got involved in this
campaign to clean up and reshape the nation. Magistrates
throughout the nation eagerly responded to the Proclamation.
The seriousness of the crime wave provoked a groundswell
of popular support for Wilberforce’s campaign. As Wilberforce
wrote: “Surely the principles as well as the practice
of Christianity are simple and lead . . . to action.”
Wilberforce
also wrote a book which had an enormous impact on the upper
classes of Britain: “A Practical View of the Prevailing
Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and
Middle Classes of this Country contrasted with Real Christianity.”
In 6 months it went through 5 editions and sold 7 500 copies.
By 1826, 15 editions had been printed in England and 25
in America. It was also translated into French, Italian,
Spanish, Dutch and German. David Livingstone – the
missionary who pioneered Christianity throughout the hinterland
of Africa and successfully campaigned to eradicate the Islamic
slave trade – testified that Real Christianity was
one of the most important and formative books he ever read.
Personal
Generosity not State Taxes
In Parliament, Wilberforce generally voted against the expenditure
of money. Although it was the government which needed to
free the slaves – because it was the government that
protected the slave traders, Wilberforce knew that the government
could not do everything. In fact it should not exceed it’s
jurisdiction. The Bible clearly limited the state’s
authority to the ministries of defence, law and order and
justice (Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13,14). For this reason
Wilberforce did not support the expansion of government
powers nor increased taxation. The state is the Minister
of Justice. The Church is the Minister of Grace. So William
did much to help the poor and needy – personally and
through voluntary societies. In some years he gave more
to charity than his entire income! Not surprisingly he ended
his life bankrupt.
In
1802 the Proclamation Society was replaced by The Society
for the Suppression of Vice. Amongst the many inspired
to Reformation principles by this society were Lord Shaftesbury
(who began his campaign to outlaw child labour in the factories
the year Wilberforce died) and Princess Victoria (who was
destined to be Britain’s longest reigning Queen). In
1803 Wilberforce also helped form the British and Foreign
Bible Society – which was the first interdenominational
society uniting Anglicans and Dissenters (Baptists, Methodists,
Presbyterians and others). He also supported Hannah More’s
pioneering of the first Sunday Schools, helped launch the
Church Missionary Society (in 1798) and started The Society
for Bettering the Condition of the Poor (1796). He sent
missionaries to Tahiti and regularly supported William Carey’s
Baptist Mission in India. As one person described Wilberforce:
“Factories did not spring up more rapidly in Leeds
and Manchester than schemes of Benevolence beneath his roof.”
Wilberforce’s
home became a kind of national centre for benevolence and
moral reform. At one time he was president, vice-president
or a member of the committee for 69 societies! And he managed
this while being married with four sons and two daughters.
Also remarkable is the fact that, unlike most men of Wilberforce’s
day and class, he spent quality time playing and praying
with his children. As he declared: “the spiritual
interests of my children is my first priority.”
All attended family prayers, which were held while kneeling,
twice a day. These times of devotions were described as
“short and cheerful.”
Wilberforce
urged his fellow MP’s to curtail their activities on
Sunday, if not to honour the Lord’s Day, at least for
the sake of their servants who had no choice but to work
on the sabbath if their masters decided to go hunting, yachting
or partying. William himself set the example, he attended
both services every Sunday and would only travel or discuss
politics on the Lord’s Day in the gravest emergency.
Professor
Henry Perkins in his Origins of Modern English Society (1969)
states that “between 1780 and 1850 the English ceased
to be one of the most aggressive, brutal, rowdy, outspoken,
riotous, cruel and bloodthirsty nations in the world and
become one of the most inhibited, polite, orderly, tender-minded,
prudish and hypocritical!” Evangelicalism was recognised
as the most formative power behind the Victorian era and
“the rock upon which the character of the Nineteenth
Century Englishman was founded.”
The
Crusade Against Slavery
However, it was the campaign to abolish slavery that dominated
most of Wilberforce’s life and demanded most of his
time and energy. Captain Sir Charles Middleton, while in
the Navy, had boarded a French slave ship in the West Indies
and was horrified by it. He wrote to Wilberforce requesting
him to raise the matter in Parliament. Wilberforce replied
that he felt unequal to the task, but “could not possibly
decline.” In discussing it with his friend Pitt, the
Prime Minister declared: “Wilberforce, England needs
a crusader to wake her up. This slave trade is horrible
business . . . it will be a long, hard fight, but someone
must take the lead. William you are that man!”
John Newton also encouraged him to launch the crusade against
slavery.
The
example of Christ inspired him:
“The
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord . . . has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken
hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release
for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1
Realising
that he was going to war against an extremely profitable
business with deeply entrenched financial interests and
political support, Wilberforce prepared his campaign carefully.
He gathered around himself a group of researchers and assistants
dedicated to eradicating slavery. Granville Sharp (who in
1772 had initiated a law suit which successfully established
the principle, based on the Common Law, that as soon as
any slave set foot in Britain he became free); Thomas Clarkson
(the author of “Slavery and Commerce in Human Species”);
Zachary Macaulay (who himself had once been a slave plantation
manager before his conversion) and others were tireless
and innovative in strengthening the campaign.
A debilitating illness delayed William, but finally on 12
May 1789 he introduced a Bill for the abolition of the slave
trade: “I mean not to accuse anyone, but to take
the shame upon myself, in common indeed with the whole Parliament
of 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 . . .” He spoke
for 3½ hours, moving 12 resolutions against the Trade.
Reports described it as one of the most gripping and moving
speeches ever delivered in Parliament. Pitt declared that
Wilberforce had “the greatest natural eloquence
of all the men I ever knew.”
Most
of the House was convinced of the righteousness of Wilberforce’s
arguments, but they were fearful that abolition would result
in an economic disaster. So the House accepted a delaying
tactic proposed by the planters that the slavers be granted
leave to produce evidence in reply. The matter was deferred
until the next session. Tragically, the French Revolution
erupted before the next session! And the tide of public
opinion hardened against abolition – in reaction to
the anarchy and mass murder across the channel.
When
the evidence on behalf of the Trade was concluded in April
1790, the slavers tried to get a snap decision before the
evidence against slavery could be heard. Wilberforce needed
to promptly mobilise his forces to win the right to continue.
A General Election in June 1790 interrupted the process.
The deteriorating situation in France and a bloody revolt
by slaves in St. Dominique were exploited by the planters
who attributed these revolutions to Wilberforce’s abolitionist
campaign! On 18 April 1791 the House debated Wilberforce’s
bill until 3:30 in the morning. The vote ended in defeat
for the abolitionists by 163 to 88.
In
the light of this reversal, Wilberforce began a regular
strategy meeting for his co-workers and allies in a library
in Clapham. The Clapham community recognised that this campaign
could well require a lifetime to win. These meetings were
often bathed in prayer and out of these strategy sessions
came the idea of outflanking the corrupt puppets of the
West Indian interests in Parliament – by creating a
groundswell of popular support for the abolition of slavery.
Many thousands (ultimately millions) of pamphlets were printed
and distributed. Clarkson produced a shocking drawing of
how slaves were packed like sardines into slave ships for
the middle passage. This print was mass produced and widely
circulated. Public meetings and rallies were organised country
wide. A boycott of slave grown sugar was supported by over
300 000 people. 517 petitions for Abolition were delivered
to Parliament and only 4 petitions against.
Against
All Odds
In 1792, with slave revolts in Haiti and threatened in British
Jamaica (where slaves outnumbered colonists 16 to 1), and
war with France looming, public reticence and panic swayed
the debate. The best Wilberforce could achieve was a resolution
to “gradually” abolish the slave trade
by 1796. This was passed by 230 to 85 in the House of Commons.
But the Bill became bogged down and sank beneath the surface
in the House of Lords. The fact that King George III went
insane at about this time and that Britain had just lost
their American colonies didn’t help matters either.
Wilberforce
pledged to introduce a new bill to abolish the slave trade
every year until it succeeded – and he did. The last
letter ever written by John Wesley was a fairly pessimistic
message to Wilberforce: “I see not how you can go
through with your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable
villainy which is the scandal of religion, of England and
of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very
thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and
devils.”
Indeed,
Wilberforce was becoming one of the most hated men in England.
On different occasions his life was physically threatened
by West Indian sea captains. National hero, Admiral Lord
Nelson wrote from his flagship Victory to condemn “the
damnable doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies!”
Admiral Lord Rodney declared that he had never known any
slave to be ill treated in the West Indies. Lord Heathfield,
the defender of Gibraltar, commented that a slave on the
way to the Indies had twice as much cubic air space as a
British soldier in a regulation tent! Admiral Lord St. Vincent
declared that “the whole of society would go to
pieces” if Wilberforce’s Abolition Bill went
through! The Duke of Clarence asserted in the House of Lords
that “the promoters of the Abolition were either
frauds or hypocrites!” Every disturbance or revolt
in the West Indies was blamed on Wilberforce. Lady Malmesbury
in 1791 insisted on Wilberforce being tried for murder and
executed because of some murders committed by slaves! Langford
Hodge accused Wilberforce of having “created a volcano!”
Wilberforce
was the target of scurrilous smear campaigns. While he was
still a bachelor he was accused of being a wife beater –
and his wife was a Black! Others accused him of being a
republican and a revolutionary. “All abolitionists
are Jacobins” (French Revolutionaries) declared
Lord Abingdon. King George III declared that Wilberforce
and his allies were “hypocrites and not to be trusted!”
Other printed attacks on Wilberforce included: “totally
ignorant of the subject of slavery!”; “the
most consummate hypocrite” and of favouring “fat
lazy Negro slaves” who were “laughing from
morning till night” over his own countrymen! Whindham
called him: “a wicked little fanatical imp!”
How
did Wilberforce manage to persevere in the face of such
sustained hatred and character assassination? He established
and sustained a life-time of daily discipline. He knew the
value of the first few hours of the day for Bible study,
prayer and mental preparation for the day. He sought to
discipline his tongue, tastes and thoughts. He surrendered
his reputation to God early on and commented after a slanderous
article published in the Courier that such attacks were
like the barking of dogs as one passes through a village.
He preferred criticisms to flattery and praised God that
He had freed him from the fear of men’s opinions.
He
did all that he could and then he left the result in God’s
hands. His faith was resilient because it was not in himself,
but in God alone.
Wilberforce
believed that God was Sovereign and He guided and overruled
in our lives down to the smallest details. That God could
put His thoughts into our minds. William once asked a pastor
if he believed in God’s specific guidance. “Yes”,
the Clergyman replied, “on great occassions.”
“As unphilosophical as unScriptural”, responded
Wilberforce. “Must not the smallest links be as
necessary for maintaining the continuity as the greatest?
. . . there is no great or little to God.” He was
adamant that God intervened and was Sovereign in both national
and personal matters. Wilberforce was so crystal clear about
his principles and so free of worry about himself, that
he was free to think of others.
Another
reason for Wilberforce’s astonishing resilience and
persistence in his campaigns is that he never worked alone.
He was supported by a community of dedicated and hard working
activists.
Experiment
in Africa
In order to accomodate freed slaves, the Clapham Community
of William Wilberforce founded a settlement in Sierra Leone
in 1787. They poured vast investments into this venture,
through their Sierra Leone Company, as a form of restitution
for England’s role in the slave trade. Initially the
venture was plagued with disasters and a series of revolts,
as well as a devastating raid by a French Naval squadron
in 1794. But by the time Zachary Macaulay (the first governor)
finally returned to England, in 1799, the capital, Freetown,
was a thriving community of 1 200 people with 300 houses
and 3 wharves to facilitate foreign trade. Sierra Leone
was an important project for the Abolitionists because it
demonstrated that relations between England and West Africa
could be healthy and involve legitimate commerce. It also
showed that freed slaves could hold down responsible positions
and that Africa had more products for trade than human flesh!
The day that the slave trade was abolished, in 1807, the
company handed Sierra Leone over to the Crown.
Fighting
for Justice
While fighting against slavery abroad, Wilberforce was also
intensely involved in Reform at home. As early as 1786 he
began introducing bills to reform the criminal law. He opposed
flogging (whipping) in the army, sought to improve prison
conditions, investigated working conditions and dangers
in the coal mines and was the first to campaign against
the abuses of child labour in the cotton mills. He also
pioneered popular education and campaigned against the game
laws.
However,
it was Britain’s global responsibilities that preoccupied
most of Wilberforces energies. He organised intervention
on behalf of the victims of the Napoleonic Wars, the Greeks
who were then fighting for their freedom from the Ottoman
Empire, the North American Indians, the Haitians and the
Hottentots!
Love
for our Neighbours
One of his most important campaigns was to work for a new
sense of Christian responsibility in Britain’s policies
for India. The prevailing view was that Britain’s relations
with India were purely commercial. The British East India
Company handbook, of 1810, devoted 48 pages to the subject
of mistresses, their upkeep, cosmetics and ornaments! The
company felt no responsibility for education or ethics.
By an act of British Parliament, missionaries were forbidden
to operate in India. The British missionary pioneer, William
Carey, had been forced to seek sanctuary in the Danish enclave
at Serampore in order to carry out his (illegal) missionary
work in British controlled India.
From
1793 Wilberforce began proposing resolutions to Parliament
to authorise chaplains, missionaries and school teachers
to serve in India. He brought to the Parliament’s attention
Carey’s research exposing the prevalent Hindu practices
of widow burning, infanticide, human sacrifices and the
horrors of the caste system. Yet the British government
refused to intervene because these practices had Hindu religious
sanction and they did not want to upset their commercial
dealings with India.
Wilberforce
declared that the exclusion of Christ’s ambassadors
from British India was “next to the slave trade,
the foulest blot on the moral character of our country.”
Describing the terrible poverty, degradation, disdain for
relieving human suffering and human rights abuses in India
he exclaimed: “The remedy, sir, is Christianity
. . . Christianity assumes her true character . . . when
she takes under her protection those poor degraded beings
on whom philosophy looks down with disdain or perhaps with
contemptuous condescension . . . Christianity delights to
instruct the ignorant, to succour the needy, to comfort
the sorrowful, to visit the forsaken.” When challenged
that he was “forcing his views” on the
Indians, he responded: “Compulsion and Christianity!
Why the very terms are at variance – the ideas are
incompatible . . . Christianity is the Law of Liberty!”
He was not asking Parliament to organise evangelism, but
merely to permit it.
Since
the East India Company had been given a monopoly by Parliament,
it was up to Parliament to ensure that they practised religious
freedom in India. In 1806, William wrote: “. . .
next to the slave trade, I have long thought our making
no effort to introduce the blessings of religion and moral
improvement among our subjects in the East, the greatest
of our national crimes . . . we have too many . . . who
seem to think our dominions safer under Brahma and Vishnu,
than under that of the Almighty.” Wilberforce fought
for a new Charter that would permit the activity of all
missionaries, whether ordained or lay preacher, of the established
Church of England or Dissenters.
Wilberforce’s
campaign was supported by 1,837 petitions – with half
a million signatures!
Ultimately
Wilberforce succeeded. In 1813 Parliament passed a new Charter
for the East India Company guaranteeing liberty for the
propagation of the Christian Faith. This was a watershed
in British relations with India, marking “the change
from looting to paternalism.” As a result of the
evangelical influence in British society and Parliament,
Britain approached the native races of Africa and Asia with
completely different goals from any other country:
“for administrative justice, kindness and moderation,
not merely of increasing the security of the subjects and
the prosperity of the country, but of advancing social happiness,
of ameliorating the moral state of men and of extending
a superior light.”
And
so in 1828, Lord Bentinck as Governor General of India outlawed
thuggee (assassination for religious purposes), suttee (the
burning alive of widows on their husbands’s funeral
pyres) and female infanticide.
Faithful
Perseverance Rewarded
In 1807, 20 years after he first began his crusade, and
in the middle of Britain’s war with France, Wilberforce
and his team’s labours were rewarded with victory.
Finally at 4 o’clock in the morning on 4 February the
Abolition Bill was passed in the House of Lords. On 22 February
1807 it passed the second reading in the House of Commons.
A new generation of statesmen inspired by Wilberforce’s
tenacious example rose up to speak in favour of the Bill.
The motion to abolish the slave trade was carried by an
overwhelming 283 votes to 16 against! The Parliamentarians
leapt to their feet with great cheers and gave Wilberforce
the greatest ovation ever seen in British history. William
bent forward in his seat, his head in his hands, tears of
gratitude streaming down his face that this long crusade
of 20 years had been crowned with success by Almighty God.
The
first clause declared that: “all manner of dealing
and trading in the purchase of slaves or their transport
from Africa to the West Indies or any other territory is
utterly abolished, prohibited and declared to be unlawful.”
The second clause declared that any British ship employed
in the Trade shall be confiscated and “forfeit to
the Crown.”
For
the next 26 years, Wilberforce worked for the total emancipation
of all slaves. In 1809 the British government issued an
Order-in-Council authorising British ships to search suspected
slave ships, even foreign vessels, on the high seas. In
1810 Parliament made slave trading a felony punishable by
14 years hard labour. Wilberforce also solicited the support
of foreign powers such as Tsar Alexander to help eradicate
slavery. He mobilised 800 petitions, with almost a million
signatures, for Abolition and compelled the British representative
at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 to insist on Abolition
being included in the international treaty. The obstructionism
of some was swept aside when Napoleon returned from Elba
and proclaimed the Abolition of the Slave Trade! No doubt
a bid to win British favour. In that Napoleon failed, but
when Louis XVIII was restored by British arms after Waterloo,
he had no choice but to confirm Napoleon’s gesture
and bow to British pressure. A Declaration by the eight
powers of Europe that they would abolish the Slave Trade
“as swiftly as possible” was annexed to
the final Treaty signed on 9 June 1815.
However,
only the British Navy seriously attempted to enforce the
Congress’s decision. Squadrons of British warships
patrolled the West coast of Africa to intercept slave ships
and set captives free.
Now
Wilberforce fought for the registration of all slaves in
British overseas territories with the goal of their eventual
emancipation. Individual cases of abuses, such as the whipping
of slaves, were widely publicised to mobilise public opinion
against slavery. Slave owners shown to have mistreated their
slaves were prosecuted. Wilberforce founded the Anti-Slavery
Society in 1823 and wrote a new book “Appeal to
the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of
the British Empire on behalf of the Negro Slaves in the
West Indies.” In response the slave owners mounted
the most unprecedented campaign of character assassination
against Wilberforce – hoping to wear him down. But
Wilberforce was of tougher mettle and refused to be diverted
from his path. 
A
Legacy of Liberty
In 1824 Britain passed a Bill ranking slave trading with
piracy and punishable by death. In spite of all the opposition,
the groundswell of anti-slavery opinion was mobilising and
finally, in 1833, while Wilberforce lay dying, a runner
was sent to his house to inform him that his lifetime campaign
of 59 years was now fully successful. By an act of Parliament,
all 700,000 slaves in British overseas territories were
set free!
“Thank
God that I have lived to witness the day in which England
is willing to give twenty million sterling for the Abolishment
of Slavery!” he exclaimed. Within 3 days he died,
rejoicing.
The
fulfillment of his labours was the end of his life. The
body of William Wilberforce was buried in Westminster Abbey.
There the memorial states:
“.
. . He was among the foremost of those who fixed the character
of their times . . .
To warm benevolence . . . he added the abiding eloquence
of a Christian life . . . a leader in every work of charity
. . . his name will ever be specially identified with those
exertions which, by the blessing of God, removed from England
the guilt of the African slave trade, and prepared the way
for the abolition of slavery in every colony of the Empire:
. . . He relied, not in vain, on God; But in the process,
he was called to endure great verbal abuse and great opposition:
He outlived, however, all enmity: . . . through the merits
of Jesus Christ, his only Redeemer and Saviour, (Whom, in
his life and in his writings he had desired to glorify),
he shall rise in the resurrection of the just.”
The
“History of European Morals” suggests that
“The unweary, unostentatious and inglorious crusade
of England against slavery may probably be regarded as among
the three or four perfectly virtuous pages comprised in
the history of nations.”
“
. . . where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17
Wilberforce
was convinced that Christianity must be allowed to pervade
and penetrate every corner of a Christian’s existence.
He determined to put his faith into action in the political
arena and he persevered for 59 years to outlaw one of the
most inhumane – and profitable – practices of
his time. Wilberforce and his friends were uniquely effective
in altering the spirit of their age. John Venn commented
on the Clapham community: “Their lives spoke far more
plainly and convincingly than any words. We saw their patience,
cheerfulness, generosity, wisdom and activity daily before
us, and we knew and felt that all this was only the natural
expression of hearts given to the service of God.”
As
William himself often declared: “it is not in fact
talents, in which we are chiefly wanting, but in resolute
integrity.” The test for every question was : “Is
it morally right?” Wilberforce declared that the central
test of any country was whether it really believed in and
practised true Christianity. As he declared, one of the
supreme political benefits of Christianity is its direct
hostility to selfishness!
“Then
you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
His
biographer, John Pollock, observed “Wilberforce would
disclaim the credit, but the essentials of his beliefs and
of his conscience formed the foundation of the British character
for the next two generations at least. He was proof that
a man may change his times, though he cannot do it
alone.” Wilberforce had become the national
conscience and the effect of his actions on succeeding generations
was extraordinary. He pioneered a new political integrity
in an age of corruption and transformed the House of Commons
from a self serving club to an Assembly concerned for the
common good of people worldwide.
Wilberforce
had also developed new ways of rousing public opinion (such
as the pamphlet wars, petitions, graphic prints, local societies
and voters guides) and using  it to influence Parliament.
He also ensured that British foreign policy would have its
roots in the Biblical principle of love for ones neighbour.
Most significant of all, Wilberforce transformed his fellow
countrymen’s attitudes towards Africa and India. He
planted in the public conscience not merely a sensitivity
against injustice, but a positive sense of obligation towards
those people. He inspired an ideal of trusteeship that was
to influence British conduct overseas for at least another
century.
The
abolition of slavery was one of the great turning points
of history. If slavery had not been abolished before the
great scramble for Africa began, then Africa would have
been turned into a great slave farm so enormous that it
would have corrupted and destroyed Europe itself –
just as surely as world conquest under conditions of slavery
destroyed the Roman Empire. Wilberforce’s obedience
to the Bible was graciously used by God to bring freedom
and life to millions.
The
abolition of the slave trade and slavery removed a monumental
obstacle for missionary outreaches in Africa. So long as slaving continued it was very difficult for missionaries
to even get into the interior of Africa, let alone gather
a congregation amidst the understandable suspicion of foreigners
and fear of being captured by slave raiding tribes. And
so William Wilberforce and his co-workers helped prepare
the way for the 19th Century to become the greatest century
for missionary advance. May God raise up a new generation
of Reformers in the tradition of Wilberforce for the 21st
Century.
“.
. . proclaim liberty throughout the land . . ."
Leviticus 25:10
This article comes from:
Dr.
Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
PO Box 74
Newlands,
7725
Cape Town,
South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Fax: 021-685-5884
E-mail: admin@frontline.org.za
Web: www.frontline.org.za
For additional Resources on William Wilberforce and the ongoing battle against slavery today and social injustice:
   
For the Film's Website see here: http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/
See Also:
Slavery Today and the Battle over History
The Scourge of Slavery
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