William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (August 24, 1759 - July 29, 1833) was an evangelical Protestant who led the fight against the British slave trade, finally achieving its suppression in 1807.
Born in Kingston upon Hull in 1759 and educated at St John's College, Cambridge, Wilberforce was a close friend of William Pitt the Younger and became MP for his home town in 1780. It was in about 1784, while travelling in Europe, that he underwent a religious conversion and began his mission, supported by the Quakers, to abolish the slave trade. After 1807, with the suport of friends such as Beilby Porteus, the Bishop of London, he continued to fight for the complete emancipation of slaves in the British Empire.
His power in parliament was always limited to only a few MPs, but in the precarious situtation of the time, this group, known as both "the saints" and the Clapham Sect, often held the deciding vote in parliament. During his life Wilberforce also took up a number of other causes, such as humanizing the penal system and aiding the destitute. He was a founder member of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The effort he put into the struggle caused his health to break down, and he resigned from Parliament in 1825 as a result He died in 1833 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
The 17th century house in which he was born is today Wilberforce House Museum in Kingston upon Hull.
=External Links=
Wilberforce House Museum
Referenced By
100 Great Britons | 100 Greatest Britons | 24 August | 24th August | 29 July | 29th July | Abolitionism | Abolitionist | African slaves | American slavery | August 24 | August 24th | Beilby Porteus | Bishop Beilby Porteus | City of Kingston upon Hull | Clapham Sect | Enslavement | Famous English people | Hull, England | Involuntary servitude | James Stephen | John Smith (missionary) | July 29 | July 29th | Kensington Gore | Kingston-Upon-Hull | Kingston upon Hull | Kingston upon Hull; City of UA | List of English people | List of famous English people | List of people by name: Wi | Philanthropist | RSPCA | Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | Samuel Wilberforce | Slave trade (Americas) | Slavery | Slaves | St. John's College, Cambridge | St John's College, Cambridge | St Johns College | University of Cambridge/St Johns College | Wilberforce | Wilberforce University
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