Editing William Wilberforce (section)

==Early parliamentary career==
Wilberforce began to consider a political career while still at university and during the winter of 1779–1780, he and Pitt frequently watched [[House of Commons]] debates from the gallery. Pitt, already set on a political career, encouraged Wilberforce to join him in obtaining a parliamentary seat.<ref name="Pollock 1977 9"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=24–25}}</ref> In September 1780, at the age of 21 and while still a student, Wilberforce was elected Member of Parliament for [[Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston upon Hull]],<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> spending over £8,000, as was the custom of the time, to ensure he received the necessary votes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=11}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|p=125}}</ref> Free from financial pressures, Wilberforce sat as an [[Independent politician|independent]], resolving to be "no party man".<ref name="Wolffe2009" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=36}}</ref> Criticised at times for inconsistency, he supported both [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] and [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] governments according to his conscience, working closely with the party in power, and voting on specific measures according to their merits.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=359}}</ref><ref name="Oldfield 2007 44">{{Harvnb|Oldfield|2007|p=44}}</ref>

Wilberforce attended Parliament regularly, but he also maintained a lively social life, becoming an habitué of [[gentlemen's club|gentlemen's gambling clubs]] such as Goostree's and [[Boodle's]] in [[Pall Mall, London]]. The writer and socialite [[Anne Louise Germaine de Staël|Madame de Staël]] described him as the "wittiest man in England"<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|pp=125–26}}</ref> and, according to [[Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]], the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]] said that he would go anywhere to hear Wilberforce sing.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=15}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Wilberforce|Wilberforce|1838|p=23}}</ref> Wilberforce used his speaking voice to great effect in political speeches; the diarist and author [[James Boswell]] witnessed Wilberforce's eloquence in the House of Commons and noted, "I saw what seemed a mere shrimp mount upon the table; but as I listened, he grew, and grew, until the shrimp became a whale."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article1563804.ece |title=Sickly shrimp of a man who sank the slave ships|access-date=27 November 2007 |date= 25 March 2005 |work = [[The Sunday Times]] | location=London|publisher=The Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014080324/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article1563804.ece|archive-date=14 October 2008}}</ref>

During the frequent government changes of 1781–1784, Wilberforce supported his friend Pitt in parliamentary debates.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=44–52}}</ref> In autumn 1783, Pitt, Wilberforce and [[Edward James Eliot|Edward Eliot]] travelled to France for a six-week holiday together.<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> After a difficult start in [[Rheims]], where their presence aroused police suspicion that they were English spies, they visited Paris, meeting [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette|General Lafayette]], [[Marie Antoinette]] and [[Louis XVI]], and joined the French court at [[Palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=23}}</ref>

Pitt became Prime Minister in December 1783, with Wilberforce a key supporter of his [[minority administration|minority government]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|pp=23–24}}</ref> Despite their close friendship, there is no record that Pitt offered Wilberforce a [[Minister (government)|ministerial position]] in this or future governments. This may have been due to Wilberforce's wish to remain an independent MP. Alternatively, Wilberforce's frequent tardiness and disorganisation, as well as his chronic eye problems that at times made reading impossible, may have convinced Pitt that he was not ministerial material.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=52–53, 59}}</ref> When Parliament was dissolved in the spring of 1784, Wilberforce decided to stand as a candidate for the county of [[Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire]] in the [[1784 British general election|1784 general election]].<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> On 6 April, he was returned as MP for Yorkshire at the age of twenty-four.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=31}}</ref>

===Conversion===
In October 1784, Wilberforce embarked upon a tour of Europe with his mother, sister and [[Isaac Milner]], the younger brother of his former headmaster. They visited the [[French Riviera]] and had dinners, played cards, and gambled.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=70–72}}</ref> In February 1785, Wilberforce returned to London temporarily, to support Pitt's proposals for parliamentary reforms. He rejoined the party in [[Genoa]], Italy, and they continued their tour to Switzerland. Milner accompanied Wilberforce to England, and on the journey they read "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul" by [[Philip Doddridge]], a leading early 18th-century English nonconformist.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=72–74}}</ref>
[[File:Wilberforce john rising.jpg|thumb|right|William Wilberforce by [[John Rising]], 1790, pictured at the age of 30|alt=An oil-on-canvas portrait of Wilberforce holding a pen.]]

Wilberforce's spiritual journey is thought to have changed course at this time. He started to rise early to read the Bible and pray and kept a private journal.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=37}}</ref> He underwent an evangelical [[Conversion to Christianity|conversion]], regretting his past life and resolving to commit his future life and work to the service of God.<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> His conversion changed some of his habits, but not his nature: he remained outwardly cheerful, interested and respectful, tactfully urging others towards his new faith.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=99–102}}</ref> Inwardly, he became self-critical, harshly judging his spirituality, use of time, [[vanity]], self-control and relationships with others.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=207–10}}</ref>

At the time, religious [[enthusiasm]] was generally regarded as a social transgression and was stigmatised in polite society. Evangelicals in the upper classes were exposed to contempt and ridicule,<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2006|pp=380–82}}</ref> and Wilberforce's conversion led him to question whether he should remain in public life. He sought guidance from [[John Newton]], a leading [[evangelical Anglican]] clergyman of the day and Rector of [[St Mary Woolnoth]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=38}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2006|p=383}}</ref> Both counselled him to remain in politics, and he resolved to do so "with increased diligence and conscientiousness".<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> His political views were informed by his faith and by his desire to promote Christianity and Christian ethics in private and public life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2006|p=386}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Bradley|first=Ian|title=Out of Slavery: Abolition and After|editor=Jack Hayward|publisher=Frank Cass|year=1985|chapter=Wilberforce the Saint|isbn=978-0-7146-3260-5|pages=79–81 }}</ref> His views were often deeply conservative, opposed to radical changes in a God-given political and social order, and focused on issues such as the [[Sabbath in Christianity|observance of the Sabbath]] and the eradication of immorality through education and reform.<ref name="Hague 2007 446">{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=446}}</ref> He was often distrusted by progressive voices because of his conservatism, and regarded with suspicion by many Tories who saw evangelicals as radicals who wanted the overthrow of church and state.<ref name="Oldfield 2007 44"/>

In 1786, Wilberforce leased a house in [[Old Palace Yard]], [[Westminster]], in order to be near Parliament. He began using his parliamentary position to advocate reform by introducing a Registration Bill, proposing limited changes to parliamentary election procedures.<ref name="Wolffe2009" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=97}}</ref> In response to the need for bodies for dissection by surgeons, he brought forward a bill to extend the measure permitting the [[dissection]] after execution of criminals such as rapists, arsonists, burglars and violent robbers. The bill also advocated the reduction of sentences for women convicted of treason, a crime that at the time included a husband's murder. The [[House of Commons of Great Britain|House of Commons]] passed both bills, but they were defeated in the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=97–99}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|pp=40–42}}</ref><ref name="Devereaux2015" />

===Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade===

====Initial decision====
The British initially became involved in the slave trade during the 16th century. By 1783, the [[Triangular trade|triangular route]] that took British-made goods to Africa to buy slaves, transported the enslaved to the West Indies, and then brought slave-grown products such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton to Britain, represented about 80&nbsp;percent of Great Britain's foreign income.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=116, 119}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|D'Anjou|1996|p=97}}</ref> British ships dominated the slave trade, supplying French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and British colonies, and in peak years carried forty thousand enslaved men, women and children across the Atlantic in the horrific conditions of the [[middle passage]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|pp=14–15}}</ref> Of the estimated 11&nbsp;million Africans transported into slavery, about 1.4&nbsp;million died during the voyage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|p=32}}</ref>

The British campaign to abolish the slave trade is generally considered to have begun in the 1780s with the establishment of the [[Quakers]]' anti-slavery committees, and their presentation to Parliament of the first slave trade petition in 1783.<ref name="Pinfold2007">{{cite book|last=Pinfold|first=John|title=The Slave Trade Debate: Contemporary Writings For and Against|publisher=Bodleian Library, University of Oxford|year=2007|chapter=Introduction|isbn=978-1-85124-316-7}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Ackerson|2005|p=9}}</ref> The same year, Wilberforce, while dining with his [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] friend Gerard Edwards,<ref name="Pollock 1977 17">{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=17}}</ref> met [[James Ramsay (abolitionist)|Rev. James Ramsay]], a [[ship's surgeon]] who had become a clergyman and medical supervisor on the island of St Christopher (later [[St Kitts]]). Ramsay was horrified by the conditions endured by the enslaved peoples, both at sea and on the plantations and returned to England and joined abolitionist movements.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|pp=138–39}}</ref> Wilberforce did not follow up on his meeting with Ramsay,<ref name="Pollock 1977 17"/> but three years later, inspired by his new faith, Wilberforce became interested in [[humanitarianism|humanitarian]] reform. In November 1786, he received a letter from Sir Charles Middleton that re-opened his interest in the slave trade.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=48}}</ref><ref name="Tomkins 2007 55">{{Harvnb|Tomkins|2007|p=55}}</ref> Middleton suggested that Wilberforce bring forward the abolition of the slave trade in Parliament. Wilberforce responded that he "felt the great importance of the subject, and thought himself unequal to the task allotted to him, but yet would not positively decline it".<ref>{{Harvnb|Hague|2007|p=140}}</ref> He began to read widely on the subject and met with a group of abolitionists called the [[Testonites]] at Middleton's home in the early winter of 1786–1787.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=53}}</ref>

[[File:Slaveshipplan.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Diagram of a slave ship, the [[Brookes (ship)|''Brookes'']], illustrating how slaves were transported|alt=see caption]]

In early 1787, Thomas Clarkson met with Wilberforce for the first time at Old Palace Yard and brought a copy of his essay on the subject.<ref name="Brogan2011">{{Cite ODNB| last1 =Brogan| first1 = Hugh| title= Clarkson, Thomas (1760–1846)| date = 19 May 2011|id=5545|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Pollock 1977 55">{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=55}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|pp=123–24}}</ref> Clarkson visited Wilberforce weekly, bringing first-hand evidence he had obtained about the slave trade.<ref name="Pollock 1977 55"/><ref>{{Cite book | last = Clarkson | first = Thomas | title = The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade | publisher = John W. Parker|location=London |page=157| year = 1839| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mfVeAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA157}}</ref> The Quakers, already working for abolition, recognised the need for influence within Parliament, and urged Clarkson to secure a commitment from Wilberforce to bring forward the case for abolition in the House of Commons.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|p=122}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|D'Anjou|1996|pp=157–158}}</ref> It was arranged that Bennet Langton, a [[Lincolnshire]] landowner and mutual acquaintance of Wilberforce and Clarkson, would organise a dinner party on 13 March 1787 to ask Wilberforce formally to lead the parliamentary campaign.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=56}}</ref> By the end of the evening, Wilberforce had agreed in general terms that he would bring forward the abolition of the slave trade in Parliament, "provided that no person more proper could be found".<ref>{{Harvnb|Hochschild|2005|pp=122–124}}</ref>

The same spring, on 12 May 1787, the still hesitant Wilberforce held a conversation with William Pitt and the future Prime Minister [[William Grenville]] as they sat under a large oak tree on Pitt's estate in Kent.<ref name="Wolffe2009" /> Under what came to be known as the "Wilberforce Oak" at [[Holwood House]], Pitt challenged his friend to give notice of a motion concerning the slave trade before another parliamentarian did.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tomkins|2007|p=57}}</ref> Wilberforce's response is not recorded, but he later declared this was when he decided to bring forward the motion.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pollock|1977|p=58}}</ref>