Great Britain
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William Wilberforce
Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, Great Britain
Archival Overview
British politician and philanthropist who headed the twenty-year parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.
Biographical Record
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) was an English politician, philanthropist, and leader of the movement to eradicate the transatlantic slave trade. Elected to the House of Commons as an independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire at age twenty-one, he underwent a deep evangelical Christian conversion that redirected his political career toward humanitarian reform.
Persuaded by Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano, Wilberforce spearheaded the parliamentary battle against powerful commercial interests for over two decades. His relentless moral crusade culminated in the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. He spent his remaining years campaigning for the total emancipation of enslaved people across the British Empire, learning on his deathbed in 1833 that Parliament had passed the Slavery Abolition Act.
Key Life Milestones
Passage of the Slave Trade Act
Carried the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act through Parliament after 20 years of continuous parliamentary struggle.
Abolition of Slavery Across the British Empire
Received confirmation that the Slavery Abolition Act had passed its third reading in the Commons three days before his death.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialCadogan Place, London, Great Britain