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Apedemak
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Posted: Monday March 19th, 2007 12:21 |
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William Wilberforce and the Abolition of Slavery
[url=javascript:ol('http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_editorial?id=56515626');]http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_editorial?id=56515626[/url]
Thursday, March 8th 2007
The year 1789 is not usually thought of as a turning point in English
politics, certainly not when you compare it with what was taking place
across the Channel, but it is arguable that the abolition of the slave trade
two hundred years ago could not have happened when it did without a speech
made by William Wilberforce in May of that revolutionary year. A soft-voiced
MP from Hull, Wilberforce spoke for nearly four hours, condemning the
'horrid trade' 'founded in iniquity' that shamed 'the whole parliament of
Great Britain'. He began with a reserve typical of the Enlightenment, hoping
to 'guard both myself and the House from entering into the subject with any
sort of passion ... I ask only for their cool and impartial reason." But he
had grasped the truth well enough to know: "We are all guilty-we ought all
to plead guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame on
others..."
Wilberforce described the lives of slaves-the beatings, the torture,
the endless degradation-in unsettling detail. Afterwards, it was no longer
possible for any MP to claim ignorance of England's unconscionable misrule
in its Caribbean colonies. The speech forced Parliament to confront the full
horror of the slave trade, and to begin thinking about the slow and
unpopular tasks of abolition and emancipation. Edmund Burke, himself one of
the great orators of the age, said Wilberforce's speech was worthy of
Demosthenes.
Great men are out of fashion in modern historiography, usually with
good reason. Wilberforce certainly relied on other abolitionists,
particularly the pioneering Thomas Clarkson, to make his case. He was
willing to forgo his petition when it seemed that France's revolutionary
fervour might take hold in Britain's colonies. And, for all its power, his
speech changed nothing for eighteen long years-emancipation would take
almost as long again. It is also true that much of what he argued for could
not have come about without the heroic struggle of the slaves themselves.
Many historians also tend to ignore the bravery of the former slaves who
exposed the barbaric conditions on slaveships and plantations at great
personal risk. A stirring speech in Westminster does not seem quite so
impressive once you read CLR James's magnificent account of the life of
Toussaint L'Ouverture in Black Jacobins.
Moreover, abolition was not as altruistic as some would have us
believe. There was a contemporary acceptance of the slave trade that far
exceeds our often rather benign view of English society. In Capitalism and
Slavery, Eric Williams wrote: 'Slavery existed under the very eyes of
eighteenth century Englishmen. An English coin, the guinea, rare though it
was and is, had its origin in the trade to Africa. A Westminster goldsmith
made silver padlocks for Blacks and dogs. Busts of blackamoors and
elephants, emblematical of the slave trade, adorned the Liverpool Town Hall.
The insignia and equipment of the slave traders were boldly exhibited for
sale in the shops and advertised in the press.'
Williams had little time for the canonization of Wilberforce and wrote
that compared to men like Clarkson who 'personified' all the best in the
humanitarianism of the age', Wilberforce 'with his effeminate face appears
small in stature. There is a certain smugness about the man, his life, his
religion. As a leader, he was inept, addicted to moderation, compromise and
delay." But Williams did concede that Wilberforce 'was a persuasive and
eloquent speaker, with a melodious voice which earned him the sobriquet of
'the nightingale of the house.'
It is easy, then, to deflate the myth of Wilberforce, to hedge him in
with the qualifications of modern knowledge and to allow him only a
supporting role in drama of abolition and emancipation. We can ascribe his
success to the economic problems of the slave trade, to evangelical
lobbying, or to the much wider sense of liberty which took root after the
French Revolution. These may be true in part, but they can never explain why
this resolute man rose to make his speech in the first place, nor how he
managed to keep on forcing the issue through many years of political
manoeuvring by the slave interest, years of great self-doubt, ill health and
frustration. Faced with similar odds, how many of us would have persisted?
Moral challenges await the Wilberforces of our day (child labour, debt
bondage, human trafficking, torture...), but only small groups in any
developed country seriously consider the untelevised suffering of strangers.
No more than a handful of us ever make the effort to learn about the wrongs
of the world and to urge public action in the name of justice. Depressingly,
the last few years have also shown that even public anger is not enough to
deter a few wilful politicians from pursuing foolish wars and false
crusades. The nightmare in Iraq alone will probably last for the rest of
this low, dishonest decade. Seen in this context, Wilberforce's failings
seem very human, and his achievement all the more remarkable.
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one," wrote
Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations. William Wilberforce would have
understood.
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"Let no voice but your own speak to you from the depths; let no
influence but your own rouse you in time of peace and time of war.
Hear all but attend only to that which concerns you," Marcus Garvey
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Incognito
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Posted: Wednesday March 21st, 2007 07:54 |
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| http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6456765.stm
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I live satisfied that my enemies know I am right!
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Apedemak
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Posted: Wednesday March 21st, 2007 15:06 |
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^ Thanks.
Warren Jordan
Moss Side
"I don’t think there are many lasting impressions of slavery, it's not a part of everyday life.
"However, that doesn't mean it should be forgotten about. In fact, black people should be respected for it."
Hes wrong but hes right.
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*$HaNnY_Bu*
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Posted: Thursday March 22nd, 2007 14:22 |
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| ... but what is that mans definition of us bei ng 'respectful' of slavery!
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