WILLIAM WIBERFORCE: CHRISTIAN CHANGE AGENT

 

William Wilberforce was one of the greatest reformers, spiritual or secular, in world history. When one thinks of reformers, they think often of Martin Luther, John Wesley, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King Jr; one rarely thinks of Wilberforce. His primary purpose in life-ending the slave trade in the British Empire- eventually led to the abolition of slavery which freed millions of people without violent revolution.

William Wilberforce was born on August 24, 1759, in Hull, England. His family was in the merchant business as Hull was the leading English seaport trading in the North Sea and Baltic regions of Europe.

Through relatives, he had an early exposure to Methodists, evangelical reformers founded by John and Charles Wesley. But Wilberforce remained thoroughly secular in his worldview until much later. He entered Cambridge University in 1776 at the age of 17 and the deaths of his grandfather and uncle in 1777 left him independently wealthy.

Almost immediately following graduation from Cambridge in 1780, Wilberforce was elected to Parliament. He befriended William Pitt the Younger, one of the greatest British politicians of the time who became his political mentor. Yet Wilberforce continued to focus on his personal pleasures of gaming and drinking.

Then in 1785 the “big change” in Wilberforce’s life occurred. The brother of the popular headmaster of Hull Grammar School, which he attended as a youth, was Isaac Milner, professor of mathematics at Oxford University and one of the leading scientists in Europe. On a trip to the European continent that year, Wilberforce and Milner spent much time together with Milner witnessing to his young friend about surrendering his life to Jesus Christ. This he did and Wilberforce began to re-prioritize his life with new attitudes towards his money, time, and talents. He also began to engage others in discussing spiritual matters.

England, the home base of Great Britain and indeed of the entire British Empire, during this time was a cesspool of moral decay. Despite contemporary nostalgic views, English life was generally brutal, decadent, violent, and vulgar. Societal evils included alcoholism; child prostitution; child labor; public executions for petty crimes, often with public dissections and burnings of the executed criminals; animal cruelty; and the presence of about eight thousand African slaves. While the Church of England gave a thin veneer of respectability to the upper class, the non-conformists or dissenters who were often the reformers- Methodists, Quakers, Moravians, etc.- often appealed to the lower and were generally “tolerated.”

Wilberforce’s Christian faith produced two “great objects” of his life. His first objective was to eliminate slavery within the British Empire.

In 1787, the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was organized and in short order, Wilberforce was asked to lead the efforts.  While Wilberforce was the public face of the abolition movement, an impressive team was assembled for support, encouragement, and action-

·       Henry Thorton, economist

·        John Wesley, Methodist evangelist

·        James Stephen- attorney & Wilberforce’s brother-in-law

·        Thomas Clarkson- Latin essayist & researcher

·        Hannah More- writer, poet, & playwright

·        James Ramsey- ship’s surgeon & Anglican priest

·        Sir Charles & Lady Middleton- naval officer & politician

·        Sir Joshua Reynolds- painter

·        Josiah Wedgewood- potter

·        William Cowper- poet

·        Granville Sharp- linguist, musician, & biblical scholar

·        Ottobar Cugoano- former slave & philosopher

·        Olaudah Equiano- former slave & writer

 

But Wilberforce’s most influential counselor was his second great love after Jesus Christ, his wife. Barbara Spooner had had a Christian conversion early in her life, and as a result, her parents were concerned about her “Methodist sympathies.”  When Barbaraa met William, it was the proverbial love at first sight. When they married in 1797, Barbara was 20 and William was 37. Their union produced six children.

The Clapham Circle reinforced the antislavery movement. The Circle was an informal community of evangelical Anglicans in the London suburb of Clapham, four miles from downtown. It included both residents and visitors, and had spiritual, intellectual, and activist dimensions. Mutual interests among the Circle’s members included Christian fellowship, abolition of slavery and the slave trade, and other reforms.

The Circle was conceived by John Thornton, whose sister Hannah married Wilberforce’s uncle, also named William.  John’s son Henry invited Wilberforce in 1792 to live with him and several others in a bachelors’ “chummery,” Wilberforce continued to live in Clapham after his marriage in 1797 at least for another decade,

Wilberforce also had key allies in the political arena. Among these were three prime ministers- William Pitt the Younger, William Grenville, Spencer Perceval, and a Member of Parliament, Charles Fox. But he also faced opposition from members of the royal family and from Banastre Tarleton, Member of Parliament and infamous British army officer during the American Revolution.

 

Wilberforce introduced a bill in Parliament in 1791` for the abolition of the slave trade. In 1807, the slave trade was finally abolished. And in 1815, slave trading was deemed a felony with punishment of 14 years in Australia. In 1823, the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Finally, in 1834, 800,000 slaves were freed in the British Empire. The abolition was accomplished by the British government paying the slaveholders at value of 5 percent of Gross National Product (100billion pounds in 2016 rates).

In addition, the Royal Navy was tasked to help end the global slave trade until the 1920s. It has been estimated that several thousand Royal sailors and marines died from disease and injuries performing this duty. Thid was the beginning of end for socially acceptable slavery. Wilberforce also became a hero to many Americans, including Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, in their efforts to end slavery in the US.

In the later years of his life, Wilberforce turned his attention to the second great objective of his life, the reformation of manners-

1.     He introduced a bill to end the burning of women at the stake and selling corpses of hanged criminals for dissection

2.     He proposed sending teachers and missionaries to India, and ending female infanticide and the practice of suttee

3.     He sought to reduce the number of crimes punishable by hanging

4.     He opposed floggings in the army and navy, animal cruelty, and the use of “climbing boys” to clean chimneys

5.     He worked for Catholic religious freedom, and to improve conditions for orphans, widows, and single women

Wilberforce’s legacy in reforming the manners of civil society is not as well-known as his anti-slavery efforts, nevertheless his efforts in this arena were vital.  British society became more humane with civility and respect. Hanging offences were reduced from 200 to 8. In British India, the extreme native customs were eliminated. And the reformed habits and attitudes gave Britain a moral force in the anti-slavery movement.

Christians and others can learn some valuable lessons from Wilberforce-

·       Before advocating for reform in others, one must be personally reformed

·       Personal faith can effectively guide public policy

·       Systemic reform takes public and private partnership

·       Great causes take great amounts of time

·       Team up and build alliances

·       Create opportunities for small wins

William Wilberforce died July 29, 1833.  Despite his instructions for a private funeral, Parliament decreed a public service. He was buried in Westminster Abbey near hi friend, Pitt the Younger.