Michael Langler

How important was William Wilberforce to the Campaign to Abolish British Participation in the Slave Trade?
William Wilberforce played a key role in the abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 for many different reasons. They included his connections within Parliament and the Clapham Sect which were both key players in the 1807 Act and the 1833 Act to abolish the Slave Trade and Slavery. Firstly, and most importantly, Wilberforce was close friends with the Prime Minister at the time, William Pitt. This was a great help throughout the late 18th Century as many local Politicians were against the abolition acts as money was becoming very tight in the 1780s. Pitt had been persuaded by Wilberforce to join the campaign to abolish the Slave Trade but knew that he would face some severe opposition economically. But in May 1788, Pitt proposed that the House of Commons should investigate the Slave Trade based on facts. By May 1789, Wilberforce had recovered from a life threatening illness and made his first abolition speech on the twelfth day. He argued that although England was prospering in the light of slavery, it had a detrimental effect on Africans and refused to justify the economic advantages, increasing his own moral image. Despite of Wilberforces speech and the backing of the Prime Minister, many MPs could not turn down the chance of investment within the Slave Trade and the vote was later defeated. In the years after the first abolition speech in the House of Commons, Wilberforce used his new found prominent figure in the abolition movement that Pitt had given him to slowly collate evidence and gain support to finally begin to get MPs on the side of the movement. MP James Stephen argued that Trade was not in the best economic interest of Britain of that time, which coupled with the death of William Pitt, made it ever more likely for abolition of the trading of Slaves and Slavery. Here you can see that Wilberforces strong connections to Pitt and other MPs forced his abolition argument into the spotlight. In contrast however, Thomas Clarkson, possibly the most important figure within the abolition cause, took a different approach to that of Wilberforce to gain popularity and support against the economic advantages. This story starts in 1785 when Clarkson is at Cambridge University and his entry to an essay contest. The subject he wrote about was anti-slavery. His essay won the competition and one night whilst riding on horseback to London, he experienced an epiphany, and decided to find other people who also supported his cause. He would later find Granville Sharp and become involved with the Quakers. After his essay had been published by the Quakers, Wilberforce was brought to him and Clarkson persuaded his to support the abolition cause. Spurred on by the success of gaining an influential member to the cause, Clarkson went out gathering evidence from across the United Kingdom to help further the abolition cause. He continued this, apart from a ten year break due to a nervous breakdown, until the 1807 Act to abolish the Slave Trade and then onto the 1833 Act to gradual abolition of Slavery. From this you can see that Thomas Clarkson was too a very important figure within the abolition cause. In addition, Olaudah Equiano contributed to the abolition cause his first hand experience within Slavery and the Slave Trade. Throughout the latter half of the 18th Century, Equiano was bought and sold by many a high power individuals and travelled the world as a deckhand and barber. During this time, he had managed to save up the 40 he needed to buy his freedom from buying and

Michael Langler
selling goods. After this, he became a member of the Sons of Africa in which he was a prominent figure who campaigned for abolition. He later married an English woman, Susanna Cullen, and used his new found white connections to help get his abolition cause pushed into the political spotlight. Also, he met Granville Sharp through the Sons of Africa and joined the Sierra Leone Project in which he was a vital player in getting MPs on the side of the abolition cause. He later died in 1797, only ten years before the 1807 Act to Abolish the Slave Trade. As you can see from above, there Equiano was a key figure within the abolition movement. In conclusion, from the points expressed above, William Wilberforce was amongst a flurry of significant individuals that were heavily involved within the abolition movement. Although Wilberforce was did do a considerable amount for the cause, close relationship with William Pitt and James Stephen MP, we cannot forget the efforts made by Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano.