History Project1.odt

7/27/2019 History Project1.odt

1/37

John Wesley

John Wesley was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, on June 17, 1703. He was the

fifteenth of the 19 children of Samuel Wesley, an Anglican minister who took

his pastoral duties seriously and instilled this idea in his son. John's mother, a

woman of great spiritual intensity, disciplined her children through a code of

strict and uncompromising Christian morality, instilling in John a firm

conception of religious piety, concern, and duty.

In 1714 Wesley entered Charterhouse School, and in 1720 he became astudent at Christ Church, Oxford. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in

1724, and then in 1725 he was ordained a deacon in the Church of England

and was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1726. He became

curate to his father in the following year and was ordained a priest in 1728.

Returning to Oxford in 1729, Wesley, in addition to the duties of his

fellowship at Lincoln, became active in a religious club to which his younger

brother Charles belonged. The Holy Club, nicknamed "Methodists" by its

critics, met frequently for discussion and study. Its members engaged in

prayer, attended church services, visited prisoners, and gave donations tothe needy. The Holy Club was one of Wesley's formative influences, and he

soon became its acknowledged leader.

In 1735, John, sustained by his years at Oxford and keen of putting the

principles of the Holy Club to work elsewhere, accepted the invitation of

James Oglethorpe to become a minister in the recently founded colony of


2/37


3/37

From the beginning Wesley viewed his movement as one within the Church

of England and not in opposition to it. As he gained converts around England,

however, these men and women grouped themselves together in societies

that Wesley envisioned as playing the same role in Anglicanism as the

monastic orders do in the Roman Catholic Church. He took a continual and

rather authoritarian part in the life of these societies, visiting them

periodically, settling disputes, and expelling the unruly. Yearly conferences of

the whole movement presented him with the opportunity to establish policy.

Under his leadership each society was broken down into a "class, which

dealt with matters of finance, and a "band, which set standards of personal

morality. In addition, Wesley wrote numerous theological works and edited 35

volumes of Christian literature for the edification of the societies. A tireless

and consummate organizer, he kept his movement prospering despite a

variety of defections.

Yet the continual opposition of the Anglican bishops, together with their

refusal to ordain Methodist clergy, forced Wesley to move closer to actual

separation toward the end of his life. In 1784 he took out a deed of

declaration, which secured the legal standing of the Methodist Society after

his death. In the same year he reluctantly ordained two men to serve as

"superintendents" for Methodists in North America. He continued the practice

to provide clergymen for England but very sparingly and with great

hesitation. Wesley always maintained that he personally adhered to the

Church of England.

Methodism had a significant impact on English society. It brought religion to

masses of people who, through the shifts of population brought about by the

industrial revolution, were not being reached by the Anglican Church. In

addition, it had a beneficial effect on many within both the Church of England

and rebellious congregations. By emphasizing morality, self-discipline, and

thrift to the deprived classes, Wesley has been credited by some historians

as being a major force in keeping England free of revolution and widespread

social unrest during his day. He himself was politically conservative, a critic

of democracy, and a foe of both the American and French revolutions.

Throughout his life Wesley's closest confidant was his brother and co-worker

Charles, the composer of a number of well-known hymns. Wesley, always

extraordinarily healthy, remained active to the end, preaching his final

sermon at an open-air meeting just 4 months before his death on March 2,

1791, in London. The 18th century found the Church of England out of touch

with both the religious and social problems of the day. Its leadership was


4/37

constituted largely by political appointees, its clergy were riddled with

ignorance, and churchmen of genuine concern were rare. The influence of

rationalism and deism even among dedicated clergymen caused the

Anglican Church to be unaware of the spiritual needs of the masses. John

Wesley's great achievement was to recognize the necessity of bringing

religion to this wide and neglected audience.

George Fox

George was the son of a weaver, and was born in July 1624 at Fenny

Drayton, Leicestershire. He became a cobbler with little book learning

beyond the Bible. When he was 19, a voice told him to "forsake all"; so he

became a dropout, wandering about England in an introverted quest forreligious truth. Gradually he clarified his beliefs, convinced that he derived

them from direct experiences of God's light within him, "without the help of

any man, book, or writing."

Holding that every man and woman could be similarly enlightened by Christ,

he began "declaring truth" in public and developed into a dynamic,

passionately sincere speaker. He preached in barns, houses, and fields and in

churches "after the priest had done"; but because his zeal sometimes led

him to interrupt services, he was imprisoned as a disturber of public order.

Inspired by the "Inner Voice," he became spiritual leader of someNottinghamshire former Baptists but then went to the north of England,

preaching, praying, and protesting at every opportunity. In 1652 he trekked

about Yorkshire, a sturdy figure in leather breeches wearing a broad brimmed

hat over the ringlets of hair which fell to his shoulders.


5/37

Though Fox denounced creeds, forms, rites, external sacraments, and a

"man-made" ministry, he became something of a negative formalist, refusing

to tip his hat to anyone or to call months and days by their pagan names;

and he used "thee" and "thou" instead of "you." Such violation of

conventions provoked intense opposition. Fox was repeatedly beaten by

rowdies and persecuted by the religious, and the forces of law and order

imprisoned him eight times for not conforming to the establishment. But his

unconquerable courage and his emphasis on the spirit rather than the letter

of religion won him converts, even among his persecutors.

Oddly, this opponent of institutional religion showed a genius for organizing

fellowships of Friends complete with unpaid officers, regular meetings, and

funding arrangements. As a result, though his message was universal,

individualistic, and spiritual, Fox founded what, by 1700, became the largest

Nonconformist sect in England. In 1654 he organized a team of some 60 men

and women as a mission to southern England. After converting many there,

he extended his own preaching to Scotland (1657-1658), Wales (1657),

Ireland (1669), the West Indies and America (1671-1673), the Netherlands

(1677 and 1684), and Germany (1677). By 1660 he was issuing epistles to

the Pope, the Turkish Sultan, and the Emperor of China. He was a strange

mixture of fanaticism and common sense, selflessness and exhibitionism,

liberalism and literalism.

In 1669 Fox married the outstanding female leader in the Quaker movement,

Margaret, widow of his friend and patron Thomas Fell. But God's service tookpriority over their partnership, which was interrupted by his missions, his

imprisonments in 1673-1675, and his supervision of the movement. He died

in London on Jan. 13, 1691.

Fox composed hundreds of tracts for his times, defending principles of the

Friends and exposing other men as sinners and ministers of the "Great

Whore of Babylon;" but it is by his Journal, a record of his day-to-day

activities and thoughts, that he is best remembered.


6/37

William Wilberforce

William was born in august 1759 and died in July 1833; he

was born in the great northern seaport of Hull and served in the English

Parliament from 1780 to 1825. Living for something much greater than him,he fought for the sake of human pride and affected the lives of millions

across the globe. Although he was involved with programs for education,

overseas missions, parliamentary reform, and religious liberty, he is

honoured most for his untiring commitment to the abolition of slavery and

the slave trade. When Wilberforce's opponents criticized his faith and

attacked his reforms, instead of condemning them, he won them over with

integrity, honesty, and sensitivity, using his incredible gifts of oration

(speech) and persuasion. Wilberforce's unrelenting forty-year crusade

against slavery required supreme perseverance and patience to overcome

the many setbacks and defeats. In 1807, Parliament finally passed his bill of

abolition. His triumph brought him incredible prestige and freed him to

pursue other plans for improving the quality and morality of life in Great

Britain. His efforts made the foundations for the great moral revival of the

Victorian period. William was the son of a wealthy merchant who died when

he was still a child. Placed under the guardianship of his uncle and aunt (a

strong supporter of John Wesley), William developed an early interest in


7/37

Methodism. His mother, however, was disturbed by this development and

the young William was returned to her care.

After attending Pocklington School in 1776, William Wilberforce was sent to

St John's College, Cambridge. He was shocked by the behaviour of most of

his fellow students and later wrote: "I was introduced on the very first nightof my arrival to as licentious a set of men as can well be conceived. They

drank hard, and their conversation was even worse than their lives."

Wilberforce spent most of his time with the social elite, eventually losing his

interest in Biblical religion. He was able to live off his parents' wealth doing

as little work as possible.

In these surroundings, he befriended William Pitt the Younger who would

later become the Prime Minister of England. At the young age of twenty-one,

Wilberforce ran for the seat in the House of Commons of Hull in 1780. The

8,000 he spent and his incredible gift for speaking brought about histriumph over both his opponents. (Wilberforce never lost an election till he

died, shortly before his 74th birthday.)

On the long holidays between Parliament sessions, he would sometimes

travel with friends or family. One time, he invited Isaac Milner, a friend since

grammar school. Milner turned out to be a strong Christian without the

stereotypes that Wilberforce had felt about Evangelicals. The following

summer, Wilberforce travelled again with Milner and discussed the Bible for

hours and hours. Wilberforce said his intellectual assent became profound

conviction.

This conversion to Christianity and the subsequent change in his life were

manifested when he wrote that riches were, "considering them as in

themselves, acceptable, but, from the infirmity of [our] nature, as highly

dangerous possessions; and [we are to value] them chiefly not as

instruments of luxury or splendour, but as affording the means of honouring

his heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind." By the

same token, he believed everything in politics was for the purpose of

alleviating misery and spreading happiness for all.

Wilberforce struggled about how to practice his beliefs in his public life.

William Pitt tried to talk him out of becoming an Evangelical, saying that this

change would "render your talents useless both to yourself and mankind."

On December 7, 1789, Wilberforce risked seeing the unpopular Evangelical

parliament member, John Newton. He had so many doubts about going to

see Newton, he walked twice around the block before he could get up the


8/37

courage to knock on his door. Newton encouraged him not to cut himself off

from public life and wrote him two years later: "It is hoped and believed that

the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the

nation." No one could have imagined at that time what Wilberforce would

accomplish.

The battle of uncertainties lasted for a few months until a more peaceful

serenity came over him on Easter Day, 1786. Wilberforce went into the fields

to pray when, as he said in a letter to his sister Sally, "amidst the general

chorus with which all nature seems on such a morning to be swelling the

song of praise and thanksgiving."

Wilberforce was so ashamed of the "shapeless idleness" of his prior life that

he wrote, "I was filled with sorrow. I am sure that no human creature could

suffer more than I did for some months." Beginning soon after his conversion

until he was married 11 years later, Wilberforce spent his days studying"about nine or ten hours a day," typically "breakfasting alone, taking walks

alone, dining with the host family and other guests but not joining them in

the evening until he 'came down about three-quarters of an hour before

bedtime for what supper I wanted.'" "The Bible became his best-loved book

and he learned stretches by heart." It seems as though Wilberforce wanted

to make up the time he wasted due to his laziness in college. At 37 years old,

Wilberforce met Barbara and married her and on May 30, 1797, about two

weeks after they met. In the first eight years of their marriage, they had four

sons and two daughters. They were still married when Wilberforce died,thirty-six years later.

Wilberforce became interested in social reform, in particular improving

working conditions in factories. Millions of men, women, and children had no

choice but to work sixteen hours, six days a week in grim factories. People

had come to the cities to find work but had been exploited and crowded

together in filthy apartments. Here, they could easily catch cholera, typhoid,

and tuberculosis.

Eventually, Lady Middleton (Albinia Townshend, elder sister of Thomas

Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney) approached Wilberforce and asked him to

use his power as an MP to stop the slave trade. Wilberforce wrote "I feel the

great importance of the subject and I think myself unequal to the task

allotted to me," but he agreed to do his best. On May 12, 1789, Wilberforce

made his first speech against the slave trade. As he studied the slave trade

and learned of the atrocities, he became more and more resolved to do


9/37

something about it. He described his conviction, "I confess to you, so

enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable (permanent) did its wickedness

appear that my own mind was completely made up for Abolition. Let the

consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would

never rest until I had effected its abolition." He viewed the slave trade as his

personal responsibility and asked the Parliament to be responsible as well, "I

mean not to accuse anyone but to take the shame upon myself, in common

indeed with the whole Parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this

horrid trade to be carried on under their authority. We are all guilty we ought

to all to plead guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame

on others."

Most of Wilberforce's fellow Tories were against any limits to the slave market

but Wilberforce persisted. Even when his first bill, in 1791, was defeated by a

landslide of 163 votes to 88, Wilberforce did not give up. The opposition that

carried on for more than twenty years was because the plantations in the

West Indies produced huge financial benefits to the traders and to the British

as a whole. They could see no other way to produce besides using slave

labour. It was such an emotionally heated debate that Wilberforce's life was

threatened at times, especially when he criticized the slave ship captain,

Robert Norris. Besides the concern of physical harm there was the sorrowful

loss of friends and the enormous political pressure to back down because of

the international political consequences. For instance, the West Indian

colonial assemblies said they would declare independence from Britain and

federate with the United States if Britain outlawed slavery. These kinds offinancial and political arguments kept the Parliament stirred up for decades.

In 1805, the House of Commons finally passed a law that made it illegal for

any British subject to transport slaves, but the House of Lords blocked it. In

1807, William Grenville made a speech saying that the slave trade was

"contrary to the principles of justice, humanity, and sound policy." This time,

when the vote was taken, a huge majority in the House of Commons and the

House of Lords backed the proposal and the Abolition Bill was passed with

283 votes to 16, making the slave trade illegal on all British ships. It was an

emotional day in Parliament and Wilberforce, having given so much of hisheart and effort, broke down and cried. It became law on March 25, 1807.

After 1807, with the support of friends such as Beilby Porteus, the Bishop of

London, Wilberforce continued to fight for the complete emancipation of

slaves in the British Empire. In 1823, Wilberforce wrote a 56-page booklet,

Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British


10/37


11/37

been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and decay,

being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutriment.

Too many men and women were hanged. Venality, drunkenness, and the

high crime rate arose from the general decadence, especially the corruption

and irreligion of the trend setters, not in those days pop stars and mediamoguls but the nobility and landed gentry. The high civilization of eighteenth

century England was built on the slave trade, mass poverty, child labour, and

political corruption in high places. As one historian wrote, there was little to

choose between the morals of the English and French aristocracy in the

century before the French Revolution.

Wilberforce endeavoured to make goodness fashionable by establishing the

Proclamation Society that was dedicated to promoting virtue in public life.

Philanthropy was encouraged and a number of parliamentary measures for

the poor, the deaf, the mentally ill, and for animals were introduced.Wilberforce also crusaded against pornography. In his driving passion to lift

the moral climate of that time, Wilberforce was known to be involved with

over 60 organizations.

The British East India Company was set up to give the English a share in the

East Indian spice trade (before the Spanish Armada, Portugal and Spain had

monopolized the market). In 1793, the East India Company had to renew its

charter and William Wilberforce suggested adding clauses to enable the

company to employ religious teachers with the aim of "introducing Christian

light into India." He had also tried to set up a mission in India. This plan was

unsuccessful, but Wilberforce tried again in 1813, when the charter had to be

renewed again. Wilberforce, using many petitions and various statistics,

managed to persuade the House of Commons to include the clauses. In part

of his efforts, his work enabled missionary work to become a part of the

conditions of the British East India Company's 1813 renewed charter.

(Although concerned with the country deeply, Wilberforce himself had never

been to India.)Eventually, this resulted in the foundation of the Bishopric of

Calcutta.

Wilberforce was also a founding member of the Royal Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as well as the Church Missionary Society

(since renamed Church Mission Society).

He also worked with the reformer, Hannah More, in the Association for the

Better Observance of Sunday which had the goal to provide all children with

regular education in reading, personal hygiene and religion. Wilberforce


12/37

worked to establish educational reform, prison reform, health care reform,

and to limit the number of hours children were required to work in factories.

The seventeenth century house in which he was born is today Wilberforce

House museum in Kingston upon Hull.

The Quakers

The Quakers also commonly known as the Religious Society of Friends

comprises religious organizations arising out of a Christian movement in mid-

17th century England which focused on ordinary individuals' own experience

of Christ. There is no single Religious Society of Friends with universal


13/37

juridical authority as each national or regional organization (usually termed a

Yearly Meeting) has full autonomy (independence). Today, there is a large

range of theological belief between Yearly Meetings, reflecting developments

in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some Yearly Meetings (termed conservative)

have retained Friends' beliefs of relying on the guidance of the eternal Christ;

whereas other Yearly Meetings have moved towards evangelicalism, with a

stress on Scriptures, biblical inerrancy and salvation; and other Yearly

Meetings who have moved towards liberalism with their stress on individual

interpretation, in some cases with some members now holding universalist or

non-theistic beliefs.

Friends worship in a variety of forms. Some meet for silent worship with no

human leader and no fixed programme (mainly in Europe, Australia, New

Zealand and parts of North America). Some meet for services led by a pastor

with readings and hymns (mainly in Africa, Asia and parts of North America).

Some have a form of worship which incorporates elements of both styles.

Most branches of the Religious Society of Friends are known to the public by

testifying to their faith in their actions and the way they live their lives. Such

testimony may vary according to how different individuals are led and events

in the wider world at the time; however, well known examples of ways in

which Friends have acted historically in many yearly meetings in North

America and the UK have included refusing to participate in war; social

action aimed at promoting social justice and equality including participating

in the anti-slavery movement in North America during the mid-19th Centuryand the women's rights movement; wearing particular, simple clothing (plain

dress); using the same form of address to refer to everyone (e.g. using thee

and thou to talk to anyone and not using titles such as Mr, Mrs, etc.); and

refusing to swear oaths.

The Religious Society of Friends has been categorized as one of the peace

churches, alongside the Church of the Brethren, Mennonites and Amish,

because of all of these churches' emphasis on Christian pacifism. These

churches also share other similarities in terms of theology including a literal

interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, an emphasis on simplicity inspeech and dress, and a lack of creedal statements.

The name "Religious Society of Friends", dating from the 18th century,

remains the most widely accepted name to this day, although often

"Quakers" is added in parentheses for the sake of clarity.


14/37

During the seventeenth century they often referred to themselves as the

'Saints'. Other common names in the early days were 'Children of the Light'

and 'Friends of the Truth', reflecting the central importance of Christ as an

Inner light that showed individuals' true condition. The term 'Religious

Society of Friends', harks back to the 'Friends of the Truth'.

The origin of the name "Quaker" is unclear. In 1650, a prominent Friend,

George Fox, was brought before Justice Bennet of Derby on a charge of

blasphemy. According to Fox'sJournal, Bennet "called us Quakers because

we bid them tremble at the word of God", a scriptural reference (e.g., Book of

Isaiah 66:2, Ezra 9:4). Therefore, what began apparently as a way to make

fun of Fox's admonition by those outside the Society of Friends became a

nickname that today many Friends use for themselves.

However, there are some Friends who prefer other names: some evangelical

Friends' organizations use the term "Friends Church", and some monthly andyearly meetings (usually in the programmed tradition) do not use the term

'Religious' and refer to themselves as part of the "Society of Friends" (e.g.

London Yearly Meeting, until the mid-twentieth century).

The Religious Society of Friends began in England in the late 1640s, in a

context of social upheaval which included increasing dissatisfaction with the

established church, the execution of the king, and the rise of Nonconformist

movements.The founder of Quakerism is generally accepted to have been

George Fox. He became convinced that it was possible to have a direct

experience of Jesus Christ without the mediation of clergy. He began to

spread this message as an itinerant preacher and found several pre-existing

groups of like-minded people; he felt called to gather them together,

eventually becoming accepted as their leader.In the first few years of the

movement, Quakers thought of themselves as part of the restoration of the

true Christian church after centuries of apostasy.

Generally, Quakerism has had no creed but always had doctrines. George

Fox dismissed theologians as "notionists" but accepted the Catechism and

Confession of Faith by Robert Barclay. Some Quakers today are little

concerned with theology and are more focused on acting in accordance with

the leading of the Spirit. Quakers historically have expressed a preference for

understanding coming from God's Spirit over the knowledge derived from

objective logic or systematic theology. Early Friends believed that the direct

experience of God was available to all people, without mediation (e.g., not

through hired clergy, nor through outward sacraments). Fox described this by


15/37

insisting that "Christ has come to teach His people Himself." Parallels have

been observed between the beliefs of the early Quakers and those of the

anabaptists, whom Voltaire refers to as the 'fathers' of the Quakers.

Since Friends believe that each person has the ability to experience and

respond to God, much of the Quaker perspective is based on trying to hearGod and to allow God's Spirit free action in the heart. Isaac Penington wrote

in 1670: "It is not enough to hear of Christ, or read of Christ, but this is the

thing to feel him my root, my life, my foundation..."

The theological beliefs of different Yearly Meetings vary considerably,

ranging from evangelical Christianity to Universalist and new thought beliefs.

In addition, wide variation exists in the degree of yearly meetings'

acceptance of dissenting beliefs among their individual members and

constituent local groups.

As a public statement of faith, many Yearly Meetings publish their own

version of a Book of Discipline - often called Faith and Practice - which

expresses their sense of truth and purpose; these documents generally are

revised periodically.

While the predominant theological beliefs of different Yearly Meetings do not

tally exactly with the style of service, there is often some co-relation, with

many Yearly Meetings that hold programmed worship having more

evangelical theological beliefs, and those with unprogrammed worship

tending to have more liberal theological beliefs.

Quakers also believe in continuing revelation, with the idea that God speaks

directly to any person, without the need for any human intermediary. For this

reason, many reject the idea of priests or holy people, but believe in the

priesthood of all believers, and reject the doctrine of sola scriptura. The idea

of the Inner Light, or Inward Light of Christ is important to many Quakers: the

idea that there is that of God within everyone, guiding them through their

lives.


16/37

The ClapHam Sect

The Clapham Sect or Clapham Saints were a group of influential like-

minded Church of England social reformers based in Clapham, London at thebeginning of the nineteenth century (active c. 1790 1830). They are

described by the historian Stephen Tomkins as "a network of friends and

families in England, with William Wilberforce as its centre of gravity, who

were powerfully bound together by their shared moral and spiritual values,

by their religious mission and social activism, by their love for each other,

and by marriage".


17/37

Its members were chiefly prominent and wealthy evangelical Anglican who

shared common political views concerning the liberation of the slaves, the

abolition of the slave trade and the reform of the penal system.

The group's name originates from Clapham, then a village south of London

(today part of south-west London), where both Wilberforce and Thornton, thesect's two most influential leaders, resided and where many of the group's

meetings were held. They were supported by Beilby Porteus, Bishop of

London, who sympathised with many of their aims.

They founded Freetown in Sierra Leone, the first major British colony in

Africa, whose purpose in Thomas Clarkson's words was "the abolition of the

slave trade, the civilization of Africa, and the introduction of the gospel

there".

After many decades of work both in British society and in Parliament, thegroup saw their efforts rewarded with the final passage of the Slave Trade

Act in 1807, banning the trade throughout the British Empire and, after many

further years of campaigning, the total emancipation of British slaves with

the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. They also campaigned

vigorously for Britain to use its influence to eradicate slavery throughout the

world.

Lampooned in their day as "the saints", the group published a journal, the

Christian Observer, edited by Zachary Macaulay and were also credited with

the foundation of several missionary and tract societies, including the Britishand Foreign Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society.

Other societies that they founded or were involved with included: the Anti-

Slavery Society, the Abolition Society, the Proclamation Society, the Sunday

School Society, the Bettering Society, and the Small Debt Society.

The Clapham sect have been credited with playing a significant part in the

development ofVictorian morality, through their writings, their societies,

their influence in Parliament, and their example in philanthropy and moral

campaigns, especially against slavery. In the words of Tomkins, "The ethos ofClapham became the spirit of the age".
http://www.answers.com/topic/zachary-macaulay-1http://www.answers.com/topic/british-and-foreign-bible-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/british-and-foreign-bible-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/church-mission-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/anti-slavery-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/anti-slavery-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/sunday-schoolhttp://www.answers.com/topic/sunday-schoolhttp://www.answers.com/topic/victorian-moralityhttp://www.answers.com/topic/british-and-foreign-bible-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/british-and-foreign-bible-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/church-mission-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/anti-slavery-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/anti-slavery-societyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/sunday-schoolhttp://www.answers.com/topic/sunday-schoolhttp://www.answers.com/topic/victorian-moralityhttp://www.answers.com/topic/zachary-macaulay-1


18/37

Members of the Clapham Sect included:

Thomas Fowell Buxton (17861845), MP and brewer

William Dealtry (17751847), Rector of Clapham, mathematicianEdward James Eliot (175897), parliamentarian

Thomas Gisbourne (17581846), clergyman and author

Charles Grant (17461823), administrator, chairman of the directors of the

British East India Company, father of the first Lord Glenelg

Katherine Hankey

Zachary Macaulay (17681838), estate manager, colonial governor, father

ofThomas Babington Macaulay

Hannah More (17451835), writer and philanthropist

Granville Sharp (17351813), scholar and administrator

Charles Simeon (17591836), Anglican minister, promoter of missions
http://www.answers.com/topic/sir-thomas-buxton-1st-baronethttp://www.answers.com/topic/william-dealtryhttp://www.answers.com/topic/mathematicianhttp://www.answers.com/topic/edward-james-eliothttp://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-gisbournehttp://www.answers.com/topic/charles-grant-british-east-india-companyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/east-india-companyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/zachary-macaulay-1http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-macaulayhttp://www.answers.com/topic/sir-thomas-buxton-1st-baronethttp://www.answers.com/topic/william-dealtryhttp://www.answers.com/topic/mathematicianhttp://www.answers.com/topic/edward-james-eliothttp://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-gisbournehttp://www.answers.com/topic/charles-grant-british-east-india-companyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/east-india-companyhttp://www.answers.com/topic/zachary-macaulay-1http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-macaulay


19/37

James Stephen (17581832), Master of Chancery, great-grandfather of

Virginia Woolf.

Lord Teignmou th (17511834), Governor-General of India

Henry Thornton (17601815), economist, banker, philanthropist, MP forSouthwark, great-grandfather of writer E.M. Forster

Henry Venn(172597), founder of the group, father of John Venn and great-

grandfather ofJohn Venn (originator of the Venn diagram)

John Venn (17501813), Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Clapham

William Wilberforce (17591833), MP successively for Kingston upon Hull,

Yorkshire and Bramber, leading abolitionist

James Ramsey

Born at Lossiemouth in a traditional two-room cottage, Ramsay MacDonald

was the illegitimate son of Mary Ramsay and a ploughman named

MacDonald. He was educated at a local board school in Drainie and read
http://www.answers.com/topic/john-shore-1st-baron-teignmouthhttp://www.answers.com/topic/henry-thornton-abolitionisthttp://www.answers.com/topic/southwarkhttp://www.answers.com/topic/e-m-forsterhttp://www.answers.com/topic/john-vennhttp://www.answers.com/topic/venn-diagramhttp://www.answers.com/topic/william-wilberforcehttp://www.answers.com/topic/member-of-parliament-1http://www.answers.com/topic/kingston-upon-hullhttp://www.answers.com/topic/yorkshirehttp://www.answers.com/topic/bramberhttp://www.answers.com/topic/john-shore-1st-baron-teignmouthhttp://www.answers.com/topic/john-shore-1st-baron-teignmouthhttp://www.answers.com/topic/henry-thornton-abolitionisthttp://www.answers.com/topic/southwarkhttp://www.answers.com/topic/e-m-forsterhttp://www.answers.com/topic/john-vennhttp://www.answers.com/topic/venn-diagramhttp://www.answers.com/topic/william-wilberforcehttp://www.answers.com/topic/member-of-parliament-1http://www.answers.com/topic/kingston-upon-hullhttp://www.answers.com/topic/yorkshirehttp://www.answers.com/topic/bramber


20/37


21/37

He married Margaret Ethel, daughter of Dr. J. H. Gladstone in 1896. She

seemed to provide MacDonald with some of the social graces he lacked and

bore him six children. After her death in 1911, wrote her biography.

Among his writings are Socialism and Society, 1905; Labour and the Empire,

1907; The Social Unrest, 1913; Parliament and Revolution, 1919; and twobooks on India - The Awakening of India, 1913, and The Government of India,

1919.

Thomas Clarkson

Thomas Clarkson was among the foremost British campaigners against both

slavery and the slave trade. He was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 28

March 1760 and educated at the grammar school there where his father, the

Rev. John Clarkson, was headmaster. In 1775, he went to St. Paul's School in

London where he excelled. He went up to Cambridge in 1780 where he was

an outstanding student. His awareness of slavery originated in an essay,


22/37

originally written in Latin, as an entry in a Cambridge University prize

competition, which it won. (In fact, Clarkson had already won a BA

competition, and he wanted and became the first person to win the MA

competition as well.) The question - and there was only one - was "is it lawful

to make slaves of others against their will?" (Anne Liceat Invitos in

Servitutem Dare?) The question was set by the vice-chancellor, Peter

Peckard, a man of liberal views who later wrote two abolitionist pamphlets

himself. Although Clarkson knew nothing about this subject, it engaged his

curiosity and he soon discovered the works of Anthony Benezet, which

became at that stage his principal source. He also asked around, and found

both students and others with personal experience of slavery and the slave

trade. His research paid off and, after having written the essay (and collected

the prize) he translated it into English, rather hurriedly he apologetically

informs us, so that it could gain a wider audience. In 1786, the essay was

published as an essay on the slavery and commerce of the human species,particularly the African, translated from a Latin Dissertation, which was

honoured with the first prize in the University of Cambridge, for the year

1785.

Clarkson's Essay was immediately influential, and it soon brought him into

contact with others who had published or campaigned against the slave

trade, including James Ramsay and Granville Sharp. In May 1787, Clarkson

was one of the twelve men who formed the Committee for Abolition of the

African Slave Trade. Clarkson took on the role of fact-finder, and for the next

two years rode around the country gathering evidence against the trade. Insome places, notably the major slave-trading ports of Bristol and Liverpool,

this was a dangerous activity, not least because Clarkson tried openly to

gather support for the abolition campaign. On his periodic returns to London,

Clarkson passed his evidence to the Abolition Committee, who arranged for

the campaign to be taken to parliament where William Wilberforce was

leading the effort to outlaw the trade. In February 1788, a committee of the

privy council started to take evidence on 'the present state of the African

trade'. While Wilberforce steered the campaign through parliament, Clarkson

continued to produce new evidence, evidence which Wilberforce put to good

use in his famous speech of 12 May 1789. Meanwhile, Clarkson made much

of his evidence available to the wider public as well as to parliament:

between 1787 and 1794, he wrote several books or pamphlets opposing the

slave trade. His energies were not just confined to Britain. In the autumn of

1789, he went to Paris where he attempted (with little success) to persuade

the new government of France to abolish the slave trade. As he pointed out


23/37

in the many letters he wrote to Mirabeau on the subject, and which were

later published, the revolutionary ideals of libert, fraternit, and galit

meant little if they were not extended to the slaves. Clarkson's energy was

unabated on his return to London early in 1790. He continued to work hard in

London and, later that year, resumed his travels throughout Britain, travels

which he kept up for several years. In the meantime, the parliamentary

campaign was not going well. [See the Wilberforce page for more details]

Public interest in abolition declined as well. Clarkson threw himself into the

task with increased vigour, but it could not last. In July 1794, he suffered a

physical breakdown brought on by overwork. Completely burned-out, and

having spent most of his money, he was forced to retire from the campaign.

A subscription was raised on his behalf by Wilberforce. Unfortunately, this act

of charity was later to be the source of some unpleasantness.

The abolition campaign lay dormant until the early years of the nineteenth

century. In 1803, Clarkson returned to the committee and, in the following

year, its efforts were renewed with a new campaign. Clarkson once again

toured the country gathering evidence while Wilberforce again introduced

the Abolition Bill before parliament. The Bill fell in 1804 and 1805, but gave

the abolitionists an opportunity to sound out support. A public campaign

once again promoted the cause, and the new Whig government was in

favour as well. In January 1807, the Abolition Bill was again introduced, this

time attracting very considerable support, and, on 23 February 1807,

parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of abolition of the slave trade.

Clarkson was celebrated as a national figure and a model of philanthropy. In1808, on the crest of this wave, he wrote the comprehensive History of the

Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave

Trade. This book provides the historian with much of the detail of the

abolition campaign, and is an important record of the movement. However,

some felt that Clarkson overplayed his own contribution (he had, after all,

been absent between 1794 and 1803). Modern historians have also noted

the rather self-congratulatory tone of the work, which did much to foster the

myth of virtuous philanthropy of the anti-slavery 'saints'. Nonetheless,

Clarkson's dedication to the cause is undoubted.

With the abolition of the slave trade, public interest in the issue waned

temporarily. Clarkson remained committed, not only to abolition of the trade

around the world, but to the complete emancipation of the slaves in British

colonies. He remained active on both fronts, including travelling to France in

1818 to press the Czar of Russia, Alexander I, to suppress the slave trade. In

1823, the Anti-Slavery Society was formed to press for emancipation.


24/37


25/37

Cambridge. Thus, in 1773, at the very young age of fourteen, William Pitt the

Younger set off for Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, where he studied the

classics, math, English history, and political philosophy.

Having been sickly all of his life, William had another attack of gout. For this,

his doctor prescribed a bottle of port a day as the cure. Even though he wasonly fourteen, he continued to drink for the rest of his life. Several years

later, after graduating, in 1778, Pitts father made his last speech. Less than

a month after this speech, he died leaving his son an income of less than

3,000 a year. This sent Pitt into major debt, which he kept till his death.

While at Cambridge, Pitt met and befriended a young scholar named William

Wilberforce. Their friendship is important because later, Wilberforce helped

Pitt in his rise to power as the Prime Minister. In addition, Pitt also helped

Wilberforce in his fight for the abolition of slavery. While they were both still

in their early 20s, Pitt and Wilberforce were both elected to Parliament. Thishelped Pitt in his political career immensely because now he could make his

opinions known to the important members of society.

Beginning in 1782 a series of political circumstances quickly moved the

office of Prime Minister onto Pitt's young shoulders. Charles Watson-

Wentworth succeeded Lord North as Prime Minister but he died only three

months later. William Petty, another Whig, was appointed Prime Minister by

the King. Most of the other Whigs, including Charles James Fox (a sworn

political enemy of Pitt), disliked this decision and many protested. However,

Pitt decided to support Petty and was then given the position of Chancellor of

the Exchequer, second only to the Prime Minister.

Fox then joined with Lord North, and they decided to bring about the defeat

of Petty. When Petty resigned in 1783, King George III, who hated Fox, offered

Pitt the office of Prime Minister. But Pitt declined, knowing he would never

gain the support of the House of Commons. The Fox-North Coalition rose topower, and eventually lost control of the government and resigned. After this

resignation, the King once again asked Pitt to take on the role as Prime

Minister and 24 year old Pitt gladly accepted, becoming the youngest Prime

Minister on record.

Pitt appeared to have no religious status. Looking over his life, there was no

sign that he was a Christian. He appeared to believe in God, but it all ends


26/37

there. As far as can be deciphered, Pitt showed no interest in religion until

William Wilberforces conversion. But even after that, all records have shown

he had no interest in God or Jesus at all.

After having been Prime Minister for a few years, Pitt had gained much

popularity. In 1788, Pitt advised William Wilberforce to take up the fightingfor the abolition of the slave trade. After much convincing, Wilberforce finally

agreed. But on the day Wilberforce was supposed to propose the resolution,

he became ill. Because of this, Pitt had to propose the resolution for him.

Surprisingly enough, after giving the resolution to the House of Commons,

his main support came from the Fox administration, his sworn enemy.

Because of this unexpected support, the resolution was passed into

Parliament.

Then war struck. Prior the start of the French revolution, Pitt had to keep

England finances alive. This was an ironic job for William due to the fact thehe personally owed thousands of pounds in various debts. On January 1,

1801, Pitt saw the success of his work to unite Roman Catholic Ireland and

Anglican England as a stand against possible French invasion. However, King

George III would not allow the additional freedoms Pitt pushed for the

Catholics and Pitt resigned in protest. Following the resignation of Prime

Minister Henry Addington in 1804, William Pitt returned to the position

despite his weakened body from a life time of sickness. In October 1805,

Admiral Horatio Nelson performed spectacularly at the Battle of Trafalgar,

perhaps causing Napoleon Bonaparte to put off his French invasion intoEngland.

The war against France was still not going well when, at only 47 years old,

Prime Minister Pitt lay in his bed very sick with presumably liver failure. As he

looked out his window he thought of England. His last words are reported to

be either, Oh, my country! How I leave my country! or I think I could eat

one of Bellamy's veal pies. At his death in 1806, he was buried at West

Minster Abbey and his debt of 40,000 was paid off by the country of

England. Years later, when William Wilberforce died, he was buried right next

to his lifelong friend, William Pitt.


27/37

James Stephen

James Stephen was born on 30 June 1758 and died on 10 October 1832.He

was the principal English lawyer associated with the abolitionist movement.

Stephen was born in Poole, Dorset; the family home later being removed to

Stoke Newington. He married twice and was the father of Sir James Stephenand grandfather of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen and Sir Leslie Stephen and

great-grandfather of Virginia Woolf.

James Stephen began his career reporting on parliamentary proceedings.

Later he held an official post in the Caribbean at St. Kitts; at that time a

British colony. During a visit to Barbados he witnessed the trial of four black

slaves for murder. The trial, which found the men guilty as charged, was


28/37

considered by many to be a grave miscarriage of justice. The men were

sentenced to death by burning, and Stephens' revulsion at both the trial and

the verdict led him to vow never to keep slaves himself, and to ally himself

with the abolitionist movement. He opposed the opening up of Trinidad

through the use of slave labour when ceded to the British in 1797,

recommending instead that Crown land should only be granted for estates

that supported the immigration of free Africans. He considered that, besides

the evangelical arguments in support of freedom from slavery, internal

security, particularly from potential French interests, could be obtained in the

British West Indian Islands by improving the conditions of slaves.

Stephen was a skilled lawyer whose specialty was the laws governing Great

Britain's foreign trade. He was a defender of the mercantilist system of

government-licensed controlled trade. In October, 1805 the same month

that the British fleet under Lord Nelson defeated the French fleet his book

appeared: War in Disguise; or, the Frauds of the Neutral Flags. It called for

the abolition of neutral nations' carrying trade, meaning America's carrying

trade, between France's Caribbean islands and Europe, including Great

Britain. Stephen's arguments two years later became the basis of Great

Britain's Orders in Council, which placed restrictions on American vessels.

The enforcement of this law by British warships eventually led to the War of

1812, even though the Orders were repealed in the same month that

America declared war, unbeknown to the American Congress.

James Stephen's second marriage was to Sarah, sister of William Wilberforce,in 1800, and through this connection he became frequently acquainted with

many of the figures in the anti-slavery movement. Several of his friendships

amongst the abolitionists were made in Clapham (home to the Clapham

Sect) where he had removed from Sloane Square in 1797; also in the village

of Stoke Newington a few miles north of London, where James Stephen's

father leased a family home from 1774 onwards called Summerhouse. The

property adjoined Fleetwood House andAbney House at Abney Park and

stood where Summerhouse Road is built today. Close by were the residences

of three prominent Quaker abolitionists: William Allen (17701843), Joseph

Woods the elder, and Samuel Hoare the younger (17511825). The latter twowere founder members of the predecessor body to the Committee for the

Abolition of the Slave Trade.

Anna Letitia Barbauld, author ofAn Epistle to William Wilberforce (1791) also

came to live in Stoke Newington in 1802. Inevitably, Wilberforce also became


29/37

a frequent visitor to Stoke Newington, combining meetings with William Allen

and his Quaker circle with visits to his sister Sarah and brother-in-law James.

James Stephen came to be regarded as the chief architect of the Slave Trade

Act 1807, providing William Wilberforce with the legal mastermind he needed

for its drafting. To close off loopholes pointed out by some critics, he becamea Director of the Africa Institution for the Registration of Slaves through

which he advocated a centralized registry, administered by the British

government, which would furnish precise statistics on all slave births, deaths,

and sale, so that "any unregistered black would be presumed free". Though

he introduced many successful ideas to strengthen the legal success of the

abolitionist cause, this mechanism which he believed to be "the only

effective means to prevent British colonists from illicitly importing African

slaves" was never taken up. His last public engagement was a speaking

engagement at a meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society at Exeter Hall in 1832.

From 1808 to 1815 James Stephen became an MP, and in 1811 Master in

Chancery. In 1826 he issuedAn Address to the People and Electors of

England, in which, echoing his speeches, he had some success in urging the

election of Members of Parliament who would not be "tools of the West India

interest", paving the way for the second Abolition Bill which succeeded in

1833.

Stephen's second wife, Sarah ne Wilberforce, died in 1816. Her Niece,

Barbara Wilberforce, died in 1821, and in 1832 Stephen himself died. All

three are buried at St Mary's churchyard, Stoke Newington, London, along

with Stephen's first wife, his mother and father and two of his infant

daughters. Three sons from Stephen's first marriage (m. Anna Stent at St

Leonard, Shoreditch 1783) survived him, and achieved prominence in law,

abolition and the civil service: Sir James Stephen (17891859), Henry John

Stephen (17871864), and George Stephen (17941879). NOTE: - Sarah

Wilberforce (c. 1757 1816) was the eldest sister of William Wilberforce

(17591833), the Abolitionist of Slavery, and Barbara (17991821) was his

daughter.


30/37

Zachary Macaulay

Zachary Macaulay (2 May 1768 13 May 1838) was a slavery abolitionist and

campaigner.Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, the son of the Rev.

John Macaulay (17201789, minister in the Church of Scotland, grandson of

Dmhnall Cam,[1] and his mother was Margaret Campbell. He had two

brothers, Rev. Aulay Macaulay, scholar and antiquary, and Colin Macaulay,

General, slavery abolitionist and campaigner.

Receiving only a rudimentary education, he eventually taught himself Greek

and Latin, and read the English classics. Having worked in a merchants

office in Glasgow, he fell into bad company and began to indulge in

excessive drinking.


31/37

In late 1784, at the age of sixteen, in order to get his life into some kind of

order, Macaulay emigrated to Jamaica, where he worked as an assistant

manager at a sugar plantation. He was at first deeply affected by the horrific

violence of the slavery which surrounded him, but eventually became

hardened to the plight of the slaves (by his own admission callous and

indifferent). He was a good worker, had successfully moderated his drinking,

and proved himself to be a model bookkeeper. He also, eventually, began to

take an interest in the slaves and their welfare.

In 1789 Macaulay returned to Britain and secured a position in London. His

sister Jean had married Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple, Leicestershire,

a country gentleman and ardent evangelical, and soon after Macaulay went

to stay with them he began to come under their influence. He underwent

what he described as a conversion experience and soon came to know

Babingtons associates, among whom were William Wilberforce and Henry

Thornton.

Sierra LeonePartly because of his experiences in Jamaica, in 1790 Macaulay

was invited to visit Sierra Leone, the west African colony founded by the

Sierra Leone Company to provide a home for emancipated slaves from the

United States who came to Sierra Leone via Nova Scotia.

Returning to the colony in 1792 as one of the council members, he was

promoted to governor in 1794, and was the longest serving governor of

Freetown during the 1790s. An unpopular governor, Macaulay remained as

governor until 1799.

Macaulay married Selina Mills of Bristol (to whom he had been introduced by

Hannah More) on 26 August 1799, and they settled in Clapham, Surrey. They

had several children, including

Thomas Babington Macaulay the historian, poet and politician .Hannah More

Macaulay (18101873) who married Sir Charles Trevelyan and was the

mother of Sir George Otto Trevelyan

Macaulay became a member of the Society for the Abolition of the SlaveTrade, working closely with William Wilberforce, and soon becoming a leading

figure in the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. He later

became secretary of the committee, which became known as the African

Institution.

His major contribution was to work on the collection and collating of the huge

volume of evidence and drafting of reports a role to which he was ideally


32/37

suited as a skilled statistician with a meticulous approach and an exceptional

head for figures.

He also became a member of the Clapham Sect of evangelical Christian

reformers, together with Wilberforce, Henry Thornton and Edward Eliot, and

edited their magazine, the Christian Observer, from 1802 to 1816.

In the 1820s Macaulay turned his attention towards securing the total

abolition of slavery itself. He helped found the Society for the Mitigation and

Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later the Anti-Slavery Society) in 1823, and was

editor of its publication, the Anti-Slavery Reporter. Through his incessant

hard work and reasoned argument, he helped to lay the foundation for the

eventual abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833.

A fellow of the Royal Society, he was also an active supporter of the British

and Foreign Bible Society the Cheap Repository Tracts and the ChurchMissionary Society.

Last daysAfter a period of ill health, Macaulay died in London on 13 May

1838. A memorial to him was erected in Westminster Abbey, depicting the

figure of a kneeling slave with the motto Am I not a Man and a Brother?


33/37

Charles James Fox

Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 13 September 1806), styled The

Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose

parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early

19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of

William Pitt the Younger. The son of an old, indulgent Whig father, Fox rose to

prominence in the House of Commons as a forceful and eloquent speaker

with a notorious and colourful private life, though his opinions were rather

conservative and conventional. However, with the coming of the American

Revolution and the influence of the Whig Edmund Burke, Fox's opinions

evolved into some of the most radical ever to be aired in the Parliament of

his era. He came from a family with radical and revolutionary tendencies and

his first cousin and friend Lord Edward Fitzgerald was a prominent member of

the Society of United Irishmen who was arrested just prior to the Irish

Rebellion of 1798 and died of wounds received as he was arrested.

Fox became a prominent and staunch opponent of George III, whom he

regarded as an aspiring tyrant; he supported the revolutionaries across the

Atlantic, taking up the habit of dressing in the colours of George

Washington's army. Briefly serving as Britain's first Foreign Secretary in the

ministry of the Marquess of Rockingham in 1782, he returned to the post in a

coalition government with his old enemy Lord North in 1783. However, the


34/37

King forced Fox and North out of government before the end of the year,

replacing them with the twenty-four-year-old Pitt the Younger, and Fox spent

the following twenty-two years facing Pitt and the government benches from

across the Commons.

Though Fox had little interest in the actual exercise of power and spentalmost the entirety of his political career in opposition, he became noted as

an anti-slavery campaigner, a supporter of the French Revolution, and a

leading parliamentary advocate of religious tolerance and individual liberty.

His friendship with his mentor Burke and his parliamentary credibility were

both casualties of Fox's support for France during the Revolutionary Wars,

but he went on to attack Pitt's wartime legislation and to defend the liberty

of religious minorities and political radicals. After Pitt's death in January 1806,

Fox served briefly as Foreign Secretary in the 'Ministry of All the Talents' of

William Grenville, before he died on 13 September 1806, aged fifty-seven.


35/37

Table of

ContentsJohn Wesley page 1

George Fox page 4

William Wilberforce page 6

The Quakers page

12

The Clapham Sect page

16

James Ramsey page

19

Thomas Clarkson page

21

William Pitt page 23

James Stephen page

27


36/37

Zachary Macualay page

30

Charles James Fox page

33

History

Project


37/37

Documents

History Project1.odt