This Page date, in the Freshman series, is occupied with remarks about the Boswell/Johnson relationship, and Christian perception. Today we are concerned with William Wilberforce, whose work may have had more to do with the decline of slavery, and its abolition in developed countries than the efforts of any other person of his time. He prepared the way, and gained the first legislation in England’s House of Commons. That work followed a line to the Emancipation by Abraham Lincoln long after the deaths of Wilberforce and John Newton. Newton had much to do with the mentoring and efforts of Wilberforce. History validates the contributions of the men to the end of slavery – slavery from a legal right to a criminal status.
Because God is exclusive with persons, treating each one separately, and not at outset concerned about culture, race, status, or any other factor – I tend to start at that beginning, with God, when discussing history. This is common enough for studies made by evangelical Christians, so there is accent upon the affirmative and constructive factors in those focused human lives, perhaps accenting negatives in persons standing in opposition of the favored. This favoritism is gradually giving way to a more balanced study of leaders, so as to find all influences and forces, good or ill, that formed each life and work. Secularists are most concerned with the physical, intellectual and social heritage of the person. The secularist tends to follow the evidence and movements that can be analyzed from research of biological and natural events in the scope of a life. These studies may be skewed a bit, as the authors’ interests determine the pieces of evidence to be used. Biographies of scholars differ about Washington and others, even Jesus. (Note Renan’s treatment on Jesus. birthplace.) Will the real person please stand up?
The Slave Trade Act was passed in parliament, primarily through the pressure of Wilberforce, publicly supported by John Newton. The result was to change the world, ultimately to destroy slave trade and slavery. The Act included the establishment of Sierra Leone as a country where slaves could be returned to Africa and set free. Included was the concept that some might return as apprentices, so as indentured servants they could work out in a number of years to their release of slave identity. The Clapham Sect was established with the support of Wilberforce, with the goals of ending the slave trade, of civilizing Africa, and advancing the gospel of Christ. The apprenticeship concept which was common enough in Europe and the Colonies was turned into a euphemism for continuance of low cost labor. The governor, a man by the name of Thompson, saw the charade, and objected to Wilberforce, while also canceling apprenticeships. In the course of time, Wilberforce came down strongly on the side of the apprenticeships; Thompson was removed from office; and, the controversial program was reinstated. The analyst is forced to reduce a bit the glory of Wilberforce by the distortion that supported the belief that the end justified the means. The slave was to be declared free by right, not by earning it in fulfilling an unsatisfactory law.
This event, and many others, in the lives of those who are our heroes in history must be accepted if we are to discover the balances of history. The wisdom of the current mind is to understand human contexts. Persons have tried to reduce the impact of Lincoln’s life by some of the remarks he made relative to the Negro race, or the context of life between races, but it can’t be denied that he was opposed to slavery. Lincoln may not have made some early statements, now seen as racist, if he felt they would be taken as supportive of slavery. For many of the early abolitionist concepts the argument was not for equality, but for declaration against slavery for any persons. Wilberforce may not have offered apprenticeship paragraphs, if taken as supportive of slave trade. One is driven to believe that the political world requires compromises, but we should not permit the compromises identify us in truth. Compromise is not in one’s conviction of right and wrong, but in the belief that in the journey to practical application of rightness the individual accepts part of a package, so to set the stage for further advance in future exchange and action. To tar half-way people for a procedure is to miss the understanding of the directions that persuasion may take to accomplish a goal for mankind. Lesser solutions, like repatriation or reimbursement, may have served temporary purpose to emancipation. Nothing worked – so to Civil War. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020