According to history, William Wilberforce was a very spiritual and conscious person. After his father died, William lived with his aunt and uncle, Hannah and William Wilberforce. http://www.mylearning.org/william-wilberforce/p-688/ states that “They were keen Methodists and took the young William to church regularly, where he heard important figures like George Whitefield preach. At that time, Methodism was known as a branch within the Church of England that was particularly concerned with social welfare.” Exposure to the Methodist doctrine no doubt helped further shape Wilberforce’s moral social beliefs and concepts. In 1792, he married Barbara Spooner, who also had strong convictions aligned with the abolishment movement. It is documented that Wilberforce was a sickly man, he was prescribed opium, …show more content…
However, when it came to the cause of ending the Atlantic slave trade, Wilberforce was relentless in his effort, he stood before Parliament introducing bill after bill after bill. He petitioned the citizens of Britain, as a result 390,000 signatures was obtained. Eventually, he and his colleagues devised a billed that bankrupted the slave trade that inevitably led to its eradication. John Newton, the half-brother of Hannah More, was an ex-slave trader, according to, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p275.html, “After four years as a slave ship captain, Newton resigned his commission on the advice of his doctors. By this time his views on the trade had begun to change. Several years later, after becoming a minister, he wrote, “I think I should have quitted [the slave trade] sooner had I considered it as I now do to be unlawful and wrong. But I never had a scruple upon this head at the time; nor was such a thought ever suggested to me by any friend.” In 1770, John Newtown went on to pen one of the most famous Christian hymns that are still referenced and song around the world to this very day, “Amazing Grace.” As Wilberforce’s minister, Newton also