A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade

William Wilberforce’s name is synonymous with the abolition of the slave trade. Both a man of God and a man of politics who cared deeply about humanity, he made it his life’s mission to rid the world of the abhorrent practice of condemning fellow beings to a lifetime of humiliation and servitude. Three days after hearing that the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was assured to be agreed upon by Parliament, he passed away. He died a contented man knowing he had helped abolish slavery throughout most of the British Empire and that the rest of the world would soon follow. A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade allows readers the opportunity to have a rare insight into Wilberforce’s thoughts on why no human being with a conscience could rest easy until slavery was abolished.

Wilberforce worked on the 400-page “letter” through the latter half of 1806, when slavery had become an election issue. As a pivotal work in the establishment of human rights, Wilberforce’s work is an extremely articulate and powerful account of the horrors and fundamental wrongs of slavery. As a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire, Wilberforce had been campaigning for an end to slavery since 1787. And as this work poignantly proves, his conviction and passion burned just as bright two decades later. The book serves as a prime example that words possess an inherent power and can change the course of history.