Wilberforce also became involved in other areas of social reform;
in August 1789 Wilberforce stayed with Hannah More at her cottage
in Blagdon and on visiting the nearby village of Cheddar and according
to William Roberts, the author of Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence
of Mrs. Hannah More (1834), they were appalled to find "incredible
multitudes of poor, plunged in an excess of vice, poverty, and ignorance
beyond what one would suppose possible in a civilized and Christian
country"; as a result of this experience, More rented a house
at Cheddar and engaged teachers to instruct the children in reading
the Bible and the catechism; the school soon had 300 pupils and over
the next ten years the More sisters opened another twelve schools
in the area where the main objective was "to train up the lower
classes to habits of industry and virtue."
Michael Jordan, the author of The Great Abolition Sham (2005) has
pointed out that More shared Wilberforce's reactionary political views,
"More set up local schools in order to equip impoverished
pupils with an elementary grasp of reading. This, however, was where
her concern for their education effectively ended, because she did
not offer her charges the additional skill of writing. To be able
to read was to open a door to good ideas and sound morality (most
of which was provided by Hannah More through a series of religious
pamphlets); writing, on the other hand, was to be discouraged, since
it would open the way to rising above one's natural station."
Wilberforce's biographer, John Wolffe, has argued, "Following
the publication of the privy council report on 25 April 1789, Wilberforce
marked his own delayed formal entry into the parliamentary campaign
on 12 May with a closely reasoned speech of three and a half hours,
using its evidence to describe the effects of the trade on Africa
and the appalling conditions of the middle passage. He argued that
abolition would lead to an improvement in the conditions of slaves
already in the West Indies, and sought to answer the economic arguments
of his opponents. For him, however, the fundamental issue was one
of morality and justice. The Society for the Abolition of the Slave
Trade was very pleased with the speech and sent its thanks for his
"unparalleled assiduity and perseverance". "
The House of Commons agreed to establish a committee to look into
the slave trade; Wilberforce said he did not intend to introduce new
testimony as the case against the trade was already in the public
record; Ellen Gibson Wilson, a leading historian on the slave trade
has argued, "Everyone thought the hearing would be brief,
perhaps one sitting. Instead, the slaving interests prolonged it so
skilfully that when the House adjourned on 23 June, their witnesses
were still testifying."
James Ramsay, the veteran campaigner against the slave trade, was
now extremely ill; he wrote to Thomas Clarkson on the 10th July 1789,
"Whether the bill goes through the House or not, the discussion
attending it will have a most beneficial effect. The whole of this
business I think now to be in such a train as to enable me to bid
farewell to the present scene with the satisfaction of not having
lived in vain."; 10 days later Ramsay died from a gastric haemorrhage,
but the vote on the slave trade was postponed until 1790.
Wilberforce initially welcomed the French Revolution as he believed
that the new government would abolish the country's slave trade; he
wrote to Abbé de la Jeard on the 17th July 1789 commenting that "I
sympathize warmly in what is going forward in your country.";
Wilberforce intended to visit France but he was persuaded by friends
that it would be dangerous for an English politician to be in the
country during a revolution; he therefore asked Clarkson to visit
Paris on behalf of himself and the Society for the Abolition of the
Slave Trade.
Clarkson was welcomed by the French abolitionists and later that month
the government published 'A Declaration of the Rights of Man' asserting
that all men were born and remained free and equal; however, the visit
was a failure as Clarkson could not persuade the French National Assembly
to discuss the abolition of the slave trade; Marquis de Lafayette
said "he hoped the day was near at hand, when two great nations,
which had been hitherto distinguished only for their hostility would
unite in so sublime a measure (abolition) and that they would follow
up their union by another, still more lovely, for the preservation
of eternal and universal peace."
On his return to England Thomas Clarkson continued to gather information
for the campaign against the slave-trade; over the next four months
he covered over 7,000 miles; during this period he could only find
twenty men willing to testify before the House of Commons; he later
recalled, "I was disgusted... to find how little men were
disposed to make sacrifices for so great a cause."; There were
some seamen who were willing to make the trip to London; one captain
told Clarkson, "I had rather live on bread and water, and
tell what I know of the slave trade, than live in the greatest affluence
and withhold it."
Wilberforce believed that the support for the French Revolution by
the leading members of the Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade
was creating difficulties for his attempts to bring an end to the
slave trade in the House of Commons; he told Thomas Clarkson, "I
wanted much to see you to tell you to keep clear from the subject
of the French Revolution and I hope you will."; Isaac Milner,
after a long talk with Clarkson, commented to Wilberforce, "I
wish him better health, and better notions in politics; no government
can stand on such principles as he maintains. I am very sorry for
it, because I see plainly advantage is taken of such cases as his,
in order to represent the friends of Abolition as levellers."
On the 18th April 1791, Wilberforce introduced a bill to abolish the
slave trade; he was supported by William Pitt, William Smith, Charles
Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, William Grenville and Henry Brougham;
the opposition was led by Lord John Russell and Colonel Banastre Tarleton,
the MP for Liverpool; one observer commented that it was "a war
of the pigmies against the giants of the House"; and unfortunately,
on the 19th April, the motion was defeated by 163 to 88.
In March 1796, Wilberforce's next proposal to abolish the slave trade
was defeated in the House of Commons by only four votes; at least
a dozen abolitionist MPs were out of town or at the new comic opera
in London; Wilberforce wrote in his diary, "Enough at the
Opera to have carried it. I am permanently hurt about the Slave Trade.";
Thomas Clarkson commented, "To have all our endeavours blasted
by the vote of a single night is both vexatious and discouraging.";
It was a terrible blow to Clarkson and he decided to take a rest from
campaigning.
In 1804, Clarkson returned to his campaign against the slave trade
and toured the country on horseback obtaining new evidence and maintaining
support for the campaigners in Parliament; a new generation of activists
such as Henry Brougham, Zachary Macaulay and James Stephen, helped
to galvanize older members of the Society for the Abolition of the
Slave Trade.
Wilberforce introduced an abolition bill on the 30th May 1804; it
passed all stages in the House of Commons and on the 28th June it
moved to the House of Lords; the Whig leader in the Lords, Lord Grenville,
said as so many "friends of abolition had already gone home"
the bill would be defeated and advised Wilberforce to leave the vote
to the following year; Wilberforce agreed and later commented "that
in the House of Lords a bill from the House of Commons is in a destitute
and orphan state, unless it has some peer to adopt and take the conduct
of it."
In 1805 the bill was once again presented to the House of Commons;
this time the pro-slave trade MPs were better organised and it was
defeated by seven votes; Wilberforce blamed "Great canvassing
of our enemies and several of our friends absent through forgetfulness,
or accident, or engagements preferred from lukewarmness."; Clarkson
now toured the country reactivating local committees against the slave
trade in an attempt to drum up the support needed to get the legislation
through parliament.
In February, 1806 Lord Grenville was invited by the king to form a
new Whig administration; Grenville, was a strong opponent of the slave
trade and was determined to bring an end to British involvement in
the trade; Thomas Clarkson sent a circular to all supporters of the
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade claiming that "we
have rather more friends in the Cabinet than formerly" and suggested
"spontaneous" lobbying of MPs.
Grenville's Foreign Secretary, Charles Fox, led the campaign in the
House of Commons to ban the slave trade in captured colonies; Clarkson
commented that Fox was "determined upon the abolition of it (the
slave trade) as the highest glory of his administration, and as the
greatest earthly blessing which it was the power of the Government
to bestow."; this time there was little opposition and it was
passed by an overwhelming 114 to 15.
In the House of Lords Lord Grenville made a passionate speech where
he argued that the trade was "contrary to the principles of justice,
humanity and sound policy" and criticised fellow members for
"not having abolished the trade long ago"; when the vote
was taken the bill was passed in the House of Lords by 41 votes to
20.
In January 1807 Lord Grenville introduced a bill that would stop the
trade to British colonies on grounds of "justice, humanity and
sound policy"; Ellen Gibson Wilson has pointed out, "Lord
Grenville masterminded the victory which had eluded the abolitionist
for so long... He opposed a delaying inquiry but several last-ditch
petitions came from West Indian, London and Liverpool shipping and
planting spokesmen.... He was determined to succeed and his canvassing
of support had been meticulous."; Grenville addressed the Lords
for three hours on the 4th February and when the vote was taken it
was passed by 100 to 34.
In 2007 the Royal Mail commemorated
the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act 1807, with a series of
six stamps.
Wilberforce commented, "How popular Abolition is, just now!
God can turn the hearts of men"; during the debate in the House
of Commons the solicitor-general, Samuel Romilly, paid a fulsome tribute
to Wilberforce's unremitting advocacy in Parliament and the trade
was abolished by a resounding 283 to 16; according to Clarkson, it
was the largest majority ever recorded on any issue where the House
was divided. Romilly felt it to be "the most glorious event, and
the happiest for mankind, that has ever taken place since human affairs
have been recorded."
Under the terms of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807) British
captains who were caught continuing the trade were fined £100 for
every slave found on board; however, this law did not stop the British
slave trade; if slave-ships were in danger of being captured by the
British navy, captains often reduced the fines they had to pay by
ordering the slaves to be thrown into the sea.
In 1807 Thomas Clarkson published his book History of the Abolition
of the African Slave Trade; he dedicated it to the nine of the twelve
members of Lord Grenville's Cabinet who supported the Abolition of
the Slave Trade Act and to the memories of William Pitt and Charles
Fox; Clarkson played a generous tribute to the work of Wilberforce,
"For what, for example, could I myself have done if I had
not derived so much assistance from the committee? What could Mr Wilberforce
have done in parliament, if I ... had not collected that great body
of evidence, to which there was such a constant appeal? And what could
the committee have done without the parliamentary aid of Mr Wilberforce?"
Some people involved in the anti-slave trade campaign such as Thomas
Fowell Buxton, argued that the only way to end the suffering of the
slaves was to make slavery illegal; Wilberforce disagreed, he believed
that at this time slaves were not ready to be granted their freedom;
he pointed out in a pamphlet that he wrote in 1807 that, "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."
In July, 1807, members of the Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade
established the African Institution, an organization that was committed
to watch over the execution of the law, seek a ban on the slave trade
by foreign powers and to promote the "civilization and happiness"
of Africa; the Duke of Gloucester became the first president and members
of the committee included Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Henry Brougham,
James Stephen, Granville Sharp and Zachary Macaulay.
Wayne Ackerson, the author of The African Institution and the Antislavery
Movement in Great Britain (2005) has argued, "The African
Institution was a pivotal abolitionist and antislavery group in Britain
during the early nineteenth century, and its members included royalty,
prominent lawyers, Members of Parliament, and noted reformers such
as William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, and Zachary Macaulay. Focusing
on the spread of Western civilization to Africa, the abolition of
the foreign slave trade, and improving the lives of slaves in British
colonies, the group's influence extended far into Britain's diplomatic
relations in addition to the government's domestic affairs. The African
Institution carried the torch for antislavery reform for twenty years
and paved the way for later humanitarian efforts in Great Britain."
Wilberforce made it clear that he considered the African Institution
should do what it could to convert Africans to Christianity; in 1811
he wrote, "In truth there is a peculiar call on our sensibility
in the present instance, for in proportion as the lot of slaves is
hard in the world, we ought to rejoice in every opportunity of bringing
them under their present sufferings, and secure for them a rich compensation
of reversionary happiness."
In 1808 the Clapham Set decided to transfer the Sierra Leone Company
to the crown, the British government accepted Wilberforce's suggestion
that Thomas Perronet Thompson would be a suitable governor; he introduced
an extensive range of reforms and made serious allegations against
the colony's former administrators; Stephen Tomkins, the author of
William Wilberforce (2007) has argued, "He (Perronet Thompson)
single-handedly abolished apprenticeship and freed the slaves. He
filed scandalised reports to the colonial office. Wilberforce told
him he was being rash and hasty, and he and his colleagues voted unanimously
for his dismissal. Wilberforce advised him to go quietly for the sake
of his career."
In the General Election following the passing of the Abolition of
the Slave Trade Act Wilberforce was challenged by a political opponent;
he won but the hard contest had left him "thin and old beyond
his years"; in 1811 he decided to give up the county seat for
reasons of health; Lord Calthorpe offered him a pocket borough at
Bramber and he was returned from there in 1812 without having to leave
his holiday home.
Francis Burdett was a supporter of Wilberforce's campaign against
the slave trade; in 1816 he attacked Wilberforce when he refused to
complain about the suspension of Habeas Corpus, during the campaign
for parliamentary reform; Burdett commented, "How happened
it that the honourable and religious member was not shocked at Englishmen
being taken up under this act and treated like African slaves?",
Wilberforce replied that Burdett was opposing the government in a
deliberate scheme to destroy the liberty and happiness of the people.
In 1823 Thomas Clarkson, Thomas Fowell Buxton, William Allen, James
Cropper and Zachary Macaulay formed the Society for the Mitigation
and Gradual Abolition of Slavery; Buxton eventually persuaded Wilberforce
to join his campaign but as he had retired from the House of Commons
in 1825, he did not play an important part in persuading Parliament
to bring an end to slavery.
At the conference in May 1830, the Society for the Mitigation and
Gradual Abolition of Slavery agreed to drop the words "gradual
abolition" from its title; it also agreed to support the plan
put forward by Sarah Wedgwood for a new campaign to bring about immediate
abolition; Wilberforce, who had always been reluctant to campaign
against slavery, agreed to promote the organisation; Thomas Clarkson
praised Wilberforce for taking this brave move, he replied, "I
cannot but look back to those happy days when we began our labours
together; or rather when we worked together - for he began before
me - and we made the first step towards that great object, the completion
of which is the purpose of our assembling this day."
William Wilberforce died on the 29th July, 1833; one month later,
Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act that gave all slaves in
the British Empire their freedom; when Thomas Clarkson heard the news
he locked the door of his study and his wife heard him "in an
agony of grief weeping and uttering loud lamentations."
In 1834 Robert Wilberforce and Samuel Wilberforce, began work on their
father's biography; the book was published in 1838; as Ellen Gibson
Wilson, the author of Thomas Clarkson (1989), pointed out, "The
five volumes which the Wilberforces published in 1838 vindicated Clarkson's
worst fears that he would be forced to reply; how far the memoir was
Christian, I must leave to others to decide; that it was unfair to
Clarkson is not disputed; where possible, the authors ignored Clarkson,
where they could not they disparaged him; in the whole rambling work,
using the thousands of documents available to them, they found no
space for anything illustrating the mutual affection and regard between
the two great men, or between Wilberforce and Clarkson's brother."
Wilson goes on to argue that the book has completely distorted the
history of the campaign against the slave-trade, the Life has been
treated as an authoritative source for 150 years of histories and
biographies; it is readily available and cannot be ignored because
of the wealth of original material it contains; it has not always
been read with the caution it deserves; that its treatment of Clarkson,
in particular, a deservedly towering figure in the abolition struggle,
is invalidated by untruths, omissions and misrepresentations of his
motives and his achievements is not understood by later generations,
unfamiliar with the jealousy that motivated the holy authors; when
all the contemporary shouting had died away, the Life survived to
take from Clarkson both his fame and his good name; it left us with
the simplistic myth of Wilberforce and his evangelical warriors in
a holy crusade.
Eventually, Robert Wilberforce and Samuel Wilberforce apologized for
what they had done to Clarkson, "As it is now several years
since the conclusion of all differences between us, and we can take
a more dispassionate view than formerly of the circumstances of the
case, we think ourselves bound to acknowledge that we were in the
wrong in the manner in which we treated you in the memoir of our father....
we are conscious that too jealous a regard for what we thought our
father's fame, led us to entertain an ungrounded prejudice against
you and this led us into a tone of writing which we now acknowledge
was practically unjust."
What 