How important was William Wilberforce to the campaign to abolish British participation in the slave trade?

Answer 1

Wilberforce acted as a catalyst in the Anti-Slavery campaign. He was a key member in the London Committee (the committee that focused on gathering evidence and petitions to fight against the slave trade and later on, slavery as a whole) and acted as the political fighter for the cause.

Obviously, there were other factors and individuals involved, such as Thomas Clarkson, who travelled practically, all around the world trying to find evidence against the trade and create connections with people and gather signatures for massive petitions to give as evidence in Parliament; Elizabeth Heyrick, who began the women's involvement in mass campaigning for the end of slavery, which in turn influenced the Anti-Slavery Committee Wilberforce and Clarkson were involved in, to change their approach to lobbying for 'Immediate' Abolition rather than 'Gradual' which, had previously, not gotten anywhere. Also, the economic factor cannot be ignored - it has been suggested that the industry would have 'ran out of its own steam' economically too - don't make me going into specifics but basically if there are like a hundred different brands of sugar - the consumer is going to buy the cheapest one, therefore the profits lower etc etc.

However, Wilberforce definitely played a part - without his relentless energy and resilience against the constant opposition in parliament, accompanied by his respectability, his media image (look through some poetry, he's always perceived in a positive light) and his unfaltering confidence in the campaign would the Abolition of Slave Trade Act have been passed in 1807? Probably not, it would have been a lot later.

Answer 2

Yes wiliam wiberforce was higly important. wiliam was a campaigner for the rights of black people in the English Parliament in the 1790's