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William Wilberforce - a
fight for freedom and social justice
25 March 2007 marked 200 years to the day that
a Parliamentary Bill was passed to abolish the slave trade. The prime mover was
the great Conservative MP William Wilberforce (1759-1833). Fellow abolitionists
such as one-time slave Olaudah Equiano and Granville Sharp also made huge
contributions.This parliamentary bill
was the culmination of a 20 year campaign conducted from what is now Vauxhall
Constituency.
Wilberforce thrived in Vauxhall:
- Wilberforce and the great anti-slavery
campaigners held their meetings to abolish the slave trade on Kennington
Road (at Hawkstone Hall, until recently the home of the The Centre for
Social Justice founded by Iain Duncan-Smith MP)
- Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists
in the Clapham Sect worshipped at Holy Trinity Church, Clapham
- The Charity Anti-Slavery International,
based in Stockwell, has its roots in the first abolitionist society founded
in 1787
The Wilberforce Legacy – freedom and
social justice
Wilberforce’s anti-slavery campaign has had an
enduring effect on global thinking:
- The campaign to end the slave trade in
Britain was taken up in America; Abraham Lincoln and others were profoundly
influenced by William Wilberforce.
- Slavery today is of course universally
abhorred: the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article
4 clearly states: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery
and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”
- What Wilberforce had to fight for is now
taken for granted. There can be no greater legacy.
The Great Conservative Tradition of
Social Reformers
These are just some of the many Conservative
reformers who have fought for social justice:
Anthony Ashley Cooper (7th Earl of
Shaftesbury, 1801-1855). He was responsible for implementing an inspection
system to prevent children being employed in mills or underground in the mines.
He secured the prohibition of child chimney sweeps, and he legislated to provide
lodging houses for the poor.
Benjamin
Disraeli (1804-1881). His government introduced many social
reforms such as the Artisans Dwellings Act (1875), the Public
Health Act (1875), the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1875), the
Climbing Boys Act (1875), the Education Act (1876). His
government also introduced a new Factory Act to protect workers,
and the Employers and Workmen Act (1878) to enable workers to
sue employers in the civil courts if they broke legal contracts.
Quintin
Hogg (1845-1903). He opened a school for poor children at
Charing Cross in 1864. In 1882, he founded Regent Street
Polytechnic, now the University of Westminster. It was the
largest provider of adult education in London. |
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Olaudah Equiano, member of the Clapham Sect
Credit: © Anti-Slavery International
Iain Macleod (1913-1970). Whilst holding
down a job as shadow conservative chancellor Iain Macleod made time to found the
charity Crisis in 1967 to improve the plight of London’s homeless. The Charity
was named by his wife Eve.
John Profumo (1915-2006). Resigned from
the Cabinet in 1963 and then worked relentlessly for Toynbee Hall, an east
London charity, for more than 40 years. He became the charity's chairman for 10
years and later its president. He was a legendary fundraiser and is often
credited with putting the charity’s finances on a secure financial footing.
So it isn’t at all surprising that
David
Cameron has been quick to emphasise that “The right test for our policies
is how they help the most disadvantaged in society, not the rich.”
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=party.builttolast.full.page
No room for complacency
1807 marked the abolition of the slave trade.
But despite article 4 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, it is estimated
that over 20 million people are still in forms of servitude today, including
bonded labour (individuals are forced to work as slaves to pay off loans) and
forced marriages. For more information, visit Anti-Slavery International’s
website at
http://www.antislavery.org
Sadly slavery’s illegality does not mean it has
been eradicated.
Richard Hyslop, Michael Poole-Wilson
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