August 24th marks the birthdate of William Wilberforce, one of the great abolitionist heroes. Today, Wilberforce’s name and abolition go hand-in-hand. But in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the long days and years that Wilberforce and his friends spent in abolition’s cause was a story of not despising small things. Wilberforce’s approach to his life’s work holds an important lesson for those engaged in combating slavery today—he accepted incremental wins against the seeming backdrop of defeat while keeping his eyes on the long-term prize of slavery’s end.
Born in Yorkshire, England in 1759, Wilberforce came from a family of merchants. He began his political career in 1780 at the age of 21—the youngest member in the House of Commons. He would serve as a Member of Parliament for 45 years, retiring in 1825. Wilberforce later admitted: “The first years in Parliament I did nothing—nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object.”
In 1784-1785, while touring Europe with his mother, sister, and friend, Isaac Milner, Wilberforce became a Christian. This was the great turning point in his life that would set the stage for the strong conviction weathering discouragement, the pursuit of virtue, and the friendships that would shape Wilberforce’s purpose-filled work that was to come.
The world that Wilberforce lived in was entrenched in slavery. To uproot it was unthinkable for most. But for some, many of whom were Quakers, slavery was morally wrong, and abolition was a cause worth devoting one’s life to. The Quakers were instrumental in bringing the first slave trade petition before Parliament, and established anti-slavery committees as part of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. These long-standing abolitionists needed a champion in Parliament who could bring an “Inquiry into the Slave Trade.” In the talented and newly reformed Wilberforce, they saw their champion.
In 1787, pioneering abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, Hannah Moore, and others—a group that would become known as the Clapham Sect—met with Wilberforce, convincing him to join their cause. During this same time, Prime Minister William Pitt, a friend of Wilberforce’s, asked him to become the parliamentary spokesperson for the campaign to abolish slavery. Wilberforce was in:
As soon as ever I had arrived thus far in my investigations of the slave trade, I confess to you, sir, so enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear, that my own mind was completely made up for abolition…Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.
Wilberforce may have thought that abolition’s victory would be quick and absolute. In reality, the economics of slavery, vested interests, domestic and international politics, parliamentary filibustering, outmaneuvering on fine legal points, bouts of debilitating illness, and vicious death threats and attacks from opponents that threatened Wilberforce’s own safety would thwart the success of abolition over decades.
In 1788, and under the advice of Olaudah Equiano, Wilberforce made his first move in Parliament supporting the 1788 Slave Trade Act. Known as the Dolben’s Act, this was the first piece of British legislation regulating slave shipping by limiting the number of slaves that a ship could carry based on the ship’s tonnage. The following year on May 12th, Wilberforce gave one of his first major speeches in the House of Commons on abolition and moved for 12 parliamentary resolutions condemning the slave trade.
Despite detailing slavery’s horrors and arguing that the trade was both morally reprehensible and required justice, those with a vested interest in the slave trade deftly defeated Wilberforce’s arguments and resolutions. This set-back did not stop Wilberforce or his friends. Wilberforce would go on to introduce parliamentary bills calling for the immediate abolition of the slave trade in 1791, 1792, 1793, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1804, and 1805. All ended in defeat.
It was not until 1807, that the House of Commons voted by 283 to 16 to abolish the British slave trade—a watershed vote and massive change of the political tide; the fruit of the persevering tenacity and sacrifices of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and others. However, while the Slave Trade Act of 1807 made it illegal to capture, transport, and sell enslaved Africans, slavery remained legal throughout Britain’s colonies. Total abolition was still 26 years away.
After this, Wilberforce remained an active abolitionist within Parliament and society at large. In January 1823, he co-founded the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Dominions along with Thomas Fowell Buxton. Wilberforce would pass parliamentary leadership of the abolitionists to Buxton upon his retirement in 1825. In 1833, and days before Wilberforce’s death, the Abolition of Slavery Act finally passed.
The lesson of advancement in the process is important. One may not feel or see change in the long days of faithful work. Small victories along the way are not the final product. But they do add up. And small victories are worth pursuing and celebrating because they create the opportunity for long-term change. There is something beautiful about the steady life that continues forward in pursuing what is good, right, and true no matter the discouraging setbacks and resistance that life throws.
Do not despise the day of small things. In 1804, Wilberforce wrote A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, saying “Immediate abolition preferable to gradual, both in the West Indies and in Africa” (p. 254). Wilberforce wanted immediate and complete abolition and did not lose sight of that. But he and his friends were also able to work through gradual means—small things—to achieve their end goal.
It took 20 years for the British slave trade to end, and almost 30 for slavery itself to become illegal. As we celebrate the life of William Wilberforce and his life’s work, it is an opportunity to take heart today in the slow work of justice. Because one day, like what Wilberforce saw, there will be a harvest if we do not grow weary in doing good.
