Who was William Wilberforce and why did he believe in stopping slavery?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

Answer 1

William Wilberforce (24 August 1759–29 July 1833) was an English politician, Member of Parliament for Yorkshire (1784–1812), a philanthropist, and evangelical Christian who, as a leading abolitionist headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade, culminating in the passing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807, which paved the way for the complete abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833.Wilberforce had not yet found a cause on which to focus his attention and energy but, nevertheless, was beginning to show his interest in humanitarian reform, at the same time demonstrating his lack of experience in parliamentary procedure. However, by the end of 1786, he had decided to sell his house in Wimbledon and leased a house in Old Palace Yard, Westminster, in order to be closer to parliament.[6]

In November 1786 Wilberforce had received a letter from Captain Sir Charles Middleton, MP, and father-in-law of his old friend Gerard Edwards, which was to ignite again his old interest in the subject of the slave trade.[21][22] At the urging of Lady Middleton, he suggested that it should be Wilberforce who should bring forward the cause of the abolition of the slave trade in Parliament. In early winter, William Wilberforce spent some time with the Middletons at Barham Court, and the other members of the growing group campaigning against the slave trade, who came to be known as the Testonites, including Ramsay, Sharp, Porteus and Hannah More.[23]

In early 1787 Thomas Clarkson, already convinced of his God-given mission, called upon Wilberforce at Old Palace Yard with a copy of his Essay on Slavery. This was the first time the two men had met, and a collaboration was formed which was to last over fifty years.[24][25]

The Quaker members of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade recognised their need for influence within Parliament and urged Clarkson to secure an immediate commitment from Wilberforce that he would bring forward the case for abolition in the House of Commons.[26]

So it was arranged that Bennet Langton, a Lincolnshire landowner and mutual acquaintance of Wilberforce and Clarkson would arrange a dinner party, at which the suggestion would be made and Wilberforce given the opportunity to confirm his intention to raise the issue.[27] This took place on 13 March, 1787, other guests including Charles Middleton, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Windham, MP, James Boswell and Isaac Hawkins Browne, MP. By the end of the evening they had elicited the response that they had sought, and Wilberforce agreed in general terms that he would be willing to bring the measure forward in Parliament, provided that no person more proper could be found

Answer 2

William Wilberforce Wiki

Answer 3

He was an English Member of Parliament. He was one of a number who thought the slave trade to be morally wrong.