ABSTRACT

The two publications by Wilberforce, Practical Christianity (1797) and An Appeal (1823), both met with success that was occasioned by his work for the abolition of the slave trade and emancipation of the slaves in the colonies. Practical Christianity itself went into fifteen editions by 1824 in Britain, and twenty-five in the United States. It was also translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German. Wilberforce’s Appeal led to the establishment of the Anti-Slavery Society (which still exists), of which Thomas Folwell Buxton was president and Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson vice-presidents. From this group of humanitarians, who were also referred to as the ‘Clapham Sect’ (after Clapham, the area where many of them lived) or The Saints’ (bestowed in Parliament in reference to their religious convictions), a massive antislavery movement sprang up in small towns, in large cities, and in Parliament.