COURSE: Criticism of Public Discourse 26000

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Lisa Waite ASSIGNMENT TITLE: William Wilberforces Abolition Speech ASSIGNMENT PROJECT DESCRIPTION: We were tasked to do an in-depth analysis of any form of rhetoric that was discoursed during the American Civil War or was in reference to American civil rights. REFLECTIONS: This assignment required me to look beyond the basic functions of a public speech and identify the intrinsic and extrinsic elements of a classic piece of rhetoric. I chose to do my criticism of William Wilberforces speech about abolition because of its historical significance.

Running head: ABOLITION

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A Reflective Criticism of William Wilberforces

Abolition Speech to the British Parliament, Delivered in 1789

Justin Robert Speight

Kent State University at Stark

19 February 2013

ABOLITION

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Abraham Lincoln is often given credit as being the brave and fearless leader who

abolished slavery. The average American would attest to that statement, not truly knowing where

the fight to end slavery and the slave trade began. William Wilberforce should be given credit for

being the first politician to wholeheartedly fight a ferocious battle to end the slave trade

throughout the entire British Empire, eventually making its way across the Atlantic to the

United States.

During the years that Wilberforce fought his battle, the British Empire had expanded

throughout the West Indies where plantations were active with the agricultural production of

sugar. The sugar cane crop was difficult to raise and harvest; therefore, plantation owners were

purchasing slaves from Africa in great numbers to work on the plantations. William Wilberforce

was not as concerned with the actual institution of slavery as he was with the industry of the

slave trade.

Slave trading in the 18th century was a profitable and lucrative form of commerce. The

slave traders in Africa, the ship owners in England, and the plantation owners throughout the

British Empire all profited from the practices of slave trading. The slave traders gained profit

from the large numbers of slaves that they sold; the ship owners profited from the number of

slaves that were transported like cargo; and the planation owners reaped the financial benefits

from the labor produced on the plantations. All of the predominant players in the slave trade

were vested in the financial rewards that resulted from the practice of trading slaves; therefore,

William Wilberforce had faced a difficult battle to abolish the slave trade.

The parliament in Great Britain was faced with the decision to abolish slavery in the

years surrounding 1789. William Wilberforce was a member of parliament and gave his speech

about abolition as an attempt to persuade his political counterparts to outlaw the practices

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involved with trading slaves. At that particular time in history, the historian, John Stoughton

(1923), best described the slave trade when he wrote of Wilberforces reasoning behind his

rhetoric in parliament.

Englishmen within the last twenty years of the seventeenth century transported 300,000

unhappy beings from their native shores to the Western plantations; and between 1700

and 1786 carried in slave-ships no less than 610,000 of the same class to the island of

Jamaica; then, towards the close of the eighteenth century other Englishmen rose up

indignant at the inhumane traffic and proceeded to take measures for putting a stop to this

flagrant iniquity. (p. 65)

A tragic amount of the members of parliament did not have the same attitude as Wilberforce,

regardless of the facts. It took a crafty form of heartfelt oratory to convert the members of

parliament to see the travesties of slavery from the perspective that William Wilberforce was

rendering.

When Wilberforce addressed parliament, he utilized several intrinsic factors that assisted

in the delivery of his message. The first notable example is the way that Wilberforce opened his

argument to his audience on that day in 1789. He began by doing the opposite of demonstrating

his creditability and he exemplified the enormity of the subject he was addressing. Wilberforce

went on to explain his apprehensions about taking on a task as noble as ending the salve trade

throughout the entire British Empire. By undermining his abilities, he created an impression that

his commission was not a choice, but a necessity.

Near the end of Wilberforces speech, he reversed his ethos and gave himself the

credibility that he deserved. He mentioned that he investigated the slave-ships and inspected the

conditions that the slaves were being transported. Through his two methods of displaying his

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character, William Wilberforce portrayed himself before parliament as sensible and qualified

expert of the matter.

Throughout his rhetoric, Wilberforce reached in the pathos of the parliament members by

saying, Let any one imagine to himself 6 or 700 of these wretches chained two and two,

surrounded with every object that is nauseous and disgusting, diseased, and struggling under

every kind of wretchedness (1789). This strategy provided the audience with a visual

description of the conditions on the slave-ships that Wilberforce was attempting to describe.

Another tactic that Wilberforce used to persuade his audience was the continued use of

graphic descriptive terms to portray the conditions of the slave-ships. Terms such as wretched,

misery, evil, and dreadful were used by Wilberforce (1789) to describe the conditions

aboard the slave-ships. These vivid descriptions were creatively used by Wilberforce to assist in

the paining of a mental picture for his audience in parliament. Had Wilberforce used a less

abrasive form of describing the conditions, the intended listeners may not have paid the

appropriate attention required of the subject.

The rhetorical problem that William Wilberforce faced was demonstrated by an exigence

for a campaign to end slavery and the slave trade throughout the British Empire. While society

accepted the false realities of what slavery actually was, Wilberforce was among few leaders in

power that were privy to the cruelties of the trade. He was challenged by his peers and his

constituents, yet Wilberforce was consistent in his views and managed to change the minds of his

fellow policy makers in London. Although the slavery was not completely outlawed throughout

the British Empire, William Wilberforce was successful in ending the slave trade. His rhetorical

act had influenced not just the members of parliament in 1789, but eventually the rest of the

world would see the problem as William Wilberforce once did.

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References

Stoughton, J. (1923). William Wilberforce. New York, NY: A. C. Armstrong & Son.

Wilberforce, W. (1789) Abolition Speech. Speech presented to British Parliament, London,

England.