Born to a wealthy family in Yorkshire England, William Wilberforce was a British Abolitionist, Politician and Social Reformer. He suffered ill health most of his life but this did not slow him in his efforts to abolish slavery, a trade that brought the British Empire 80% of its foreign income.
Wilberforce gained a seat in the House of Commons at the young age 21. He was independently wealthy and spent his early years in the pursuits of gambling and drinking. During a European trip he experienced a Christian conversion in 1785 wherein he became a man of great faith, believing God called him to the institution of right and just social reform. He wrote, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners.” He saw no separation between a man’s private faith and his public office stating, “Religion is the peculiar concern of the political man.”
In the midst of slander, failure and bad health, Wilberforce tendered a bill to end slavery and joined the ranks of famous abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807.
Wilberforce founded the Church Mission Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was convinced of the importance of religion, morality, and education. His efforts included improving conditions of factory workers, missionary work in India, reduced prison time for women and the creation of a free colony in Sierra Leone.
Wilberforce continued to fight for the total abolition of slavery in the English Empire and died 3 days after the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. He left a wife and 6 children and was buried next to his friend William Penn in Westminster Abbey. An Evangelical Christian, he is celebrated in the Anglican Church.