William Wilberforce
1759 – 1833 British Member of Parliament, abolitionist
The parliamentary leader of the campaign that abolished the British slave trade in 1807 and slavery itself in 1833.
- Religion
- Evangelical Christian
- Affiliations
- Clapham Sect
William Wilberforce was the member of Parliament who led the long campaign against the slave trade from within the Commons. Backed by the evangelical Clapham Sect and the researcher Thomas Clarkson, he introduced abolition bills year after year until the trade was outlawed in 1807. He then pressed for the end of slavery across the empire, dying in 1833 just as the Slavery Abolition Act passed. The act freed enslaved people but compensated their owners, not the enslaved.
Connections
- ally of Granville Sharp — Fellow founder of the abolition society.
- associate of Olaudah Equiano — His narrative aided the parliamentary cause.
- associate of Olaudah Equiano — The formerly enslaved writer whose testimony aided the cause.
- ally of Thomas Clarkson — His tireless research partner in the abolition campaign.
- ally of Thomas Clarkson — Supplied the evidence for his parliamentary campaign.
- ally of William Pitt the Younger — Close friend and prime minister who supported abolition.
- ally of William Pitt the Younger — Close friend who backed his abolition campaign.
In the timeline
- 1787 Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade founded a leader of the movement
- 1789 Wilberforce denounces the slave trade in Parliament mentioned
- 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade the parliamentary leader of abolition
- 1807 Britain abolishes the slave trade the parliamentary leader
- 1833 Abolition of slavery in the British Empire the campaigner who died as the act passed