William Wilberforce was an evangelical Christian.
They abolished slavery in Britain without a civil war. But of course, the American civil war was not fought over slavery:
He was DEFEATED ELEVEN TIMES.
— Proudofus.uk (@ProudofusUK) February 15, 2026
Attacked. Threatened with DEATH. Nearly blind.
Addicted to opium just to function. They told him to stop. He spent forty-six years refusing.
His name was William Wilberforce. Born in Hull, 1759.
He could have lived a comfortable life. Wealthy… pic.twitter.com/kZjBQJ4noo
A hero indeed.
And Triad, adding to our point that Lincoln’s War was not fought over slavery: Lincoln stated that when he invaded the South after the Ft. Sumter tripwire. 3 months later when he finally called Congress into session, Congress also stated that the invasion of the South had nothing to do with slavery. Furthermore, most Northern state legislatures also passed resolutions saying the same thing.
I think they glommed onto saying it was about slavery after the fact because they were ashamed of the killing of 700,000 people and the enduring rape of the South “for the preservation of the Union”…which isn’t too different than saying the hegemony of Lincoln’s Republican Party in spite of only getting 39% of the popular vote.
J. Sobran, thanks for some perceptive comments. I think the Wilberforce story demonstrates that, with sustained effort and time, slavery could have been eliminated without a civil war taking place.
Oh my goodness. Then there wouldn’t be any Confederate memorials to topple.
The whole thing is ridiculous, Fred, but for the fact that so many people died in that war.