William Wilberforce

English politician and abolitionist (1759–1833)

OverviewAI-generated

William Wilberforce (August 24, 1759 – July 29, 1833) was an author whose writings include *A history of the York Lunatic Asylum*, *A practical view of the prevailing religious system of professed Christians*, and *Advice suggested by the state of the times*. His literary output is cataloged across various databases, with Open Library listing 114 works, Crossref recording 5, and Europeana noting 2.

Wilberforce is associated with specific historical statements, including the declaration that "God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners." He also noted, "Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know." His legacy is documented in 813 other encyclopedia articles, and he has a small presence on music platforms with 5 listeners and 8 playcounts.

Synthesized by Vinony from 16 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Europeana Sparql, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: August 24, 1759
Died: July 29, 1833
Works: 114

Top works

A history of the York Lunatic Asylum
Substance of speeches on the clause of the East-India bill for promoting the religious instruction and moral improvement of the natives of the British dominions in India, on the 22d of June, and the 1st and 12th of July, 1813
An enquiry into the state of the public mind amongst the lower classes, and on the means of turning it to the welfare of the state
A practical view of the prevailing religious system of professed Christians
A letter from Lord J. Russell to Mr. Wilberforce, on the proceedings against the Queen

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 5
Total plays: 8

via Last.fm · William Wilberforce

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

VMD: Visual molecular dynamics
· 1996 · cited 62,861x
Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure
· 1976 · cited 44,803x
Comparison of simple potential functions for simulating liquid water
· 1983 · cited 39,507x
QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data
· 2010 · cited 30,939x
Preparation of Graphitic Oxide
· 1958 · cited 28,676x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.”
“God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners...”
“Thank God that I should have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give twenty millions sterling for the abolition of slavery.”
“All men of enlightened understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also acknowledge, that vice must offend and virtue delight him. In short they must, more or less, assent to the Scripture declaration, “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.””
“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”
“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners (morality).”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: William
Gender: male
Citizenship: Kingdom of Great Britain
Place of death: London
Occupation: politician
Languages spoken: English language
Religion: Anglicanism
Image: William wilberforce.jpg
Work location: London

Show 12 more facts

described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
place of burial: Westminster Abbey
Commons category: William Wilberforce
date of birth: 1759-08-24
date of death: 1833-07-29
name in native language: William Wilberforce
affiliation: Clapham Sect
writing language: English language
on focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject Human rights
candidacy in election: 1820 United Kingdom general election
significant person: John Newton
P12749: Sophie Dorothee of Württemberg

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

2 objects attributed to William Wilberforce, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Untitled

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, and became an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Anglican, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform.

In 1787, Wilberforce came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of activists against the transatlantic slave trade, including Granville Sharp, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he became a leading English abolitionist. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for 20 years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Wilberforce” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.