Social Reformer. He was educated at Cambridge University, where in 1785 he won first prize in a Latin essay competition, "Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?" In May 1787, he was one of the twelve men who formed the Committee for Abolition of the African Slave Trade. He took on the role of fact-finder, and for the next two years rode around the country gathering evidence against the trade. His energies were not just confined to Britain. In the autumn of 1789, he went to Paris, France where he attempted to persuade the new government of France to abolish the slave trade, a goal that was achieved on February 23, 1807, the Parliament voted for abolishment. Celebrated as a national figure and a model of philanthropy, in 1808 he wrote the comprehensive "History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade". He was buried in Suffolk and also commemorated by a Memorial Plaque in Westminster Abbey close to the tomb of his friend and collaborator William Wilberforce. It simply reads 'Friend to slaves'.
Social Reformer. He was educated at Cambridge University, where in 1785 he won first prize in a Latin essay competition, "Is it right to make slaves of others against their will?" In May 1787, he was one of the twelve men who formed the Committee for Abolition of the African Slave Trade. He took on the role of fact-finder, and for the next two years rode around the country gathering evidence against the trade. His energies were not just confined to Britain. In the autumn of 1789, he went to Paris, France where he attempted to persuade the new government of France to abolish the slave trade, a goal that was achieved on February 23, 1807, the Parliament voted for abolishment. Celebrated as a national figure and a model of philanthropy, in 1808 he wrote the comprehensive "History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade". He was buried in Suffolk and also commemorated by a Memorial Plaque in Westminster Abbey close to the tomb of his friend and collaborator William Wilberforce. It simply reads 'Friend to slaves'.
Bio by: julia&keld
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