William Wilberforce Brief Biography

William Wilberforce was born on August 24, 1759 in Hull, England.  As a teenager, a substantial inheritance left him independently wealthy, which led to a hedonistic lifestyle.  Known for his generosity and affable nature, Wilberforce became quite popular.  He met William Pitt, a future Prime Minister, who eventually encouraged Wilberforce to seek a seat in Parliament.
 
At the age of twenty-one, Wilberforce became a Member of Parliament, even before finishing his studies.  A few years later, he experienced an evangelical conversion.  His religious enthusiasm led him to question his role as a politician, but Pitt and another friend, John Newton, counseled him to stay the course.  Newton, a former captain of slave ships, had since become an Anglican clergyman and abolitionist.  He is best known for writing Amazing Grace.

​As a member of the British Parliament, William Wilberforce led an impassioned twenty-year long battle for the abolition of slavery.  In 1807, the slave trade was finally abolished across the British Empire.  Existing slaves, however, were not granted freedom. It was not until 1833 that Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, banning slavery in the empire.  Wilberforce died three days before its passage.