Some Wilberforce causes

A synopsis of his enthusiasms and causes, condensed from wikipedia 7 July 2009

British politician, a philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade until Slave Trade Act 1807.
He was convinced of the importance of religion, morality, and education.
He championed Society for Suppression of Vice
British missionary work in India
the free colony in Sierra Leone
the Church Mission Society
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
His underlying conservatism led him to support politically and socially repressive legislation
He hoped his Registration Bill would improve parliamentary election procedures.
He proposed a bill to extend the dissection after execution of serious criminals and to reduce sentences for women convicted of treason.
Political and social reform
Deeply conservative about challenges to the existing political and social order.
Advocated change in society through Christianity and improvement in morals, education and religion, fearing and opposing radical causes and revolution.
Critics noted Wilberforce's support of the suspension of habeas corpus in 1795 and his votes for Pitt's "Gagging Bills", which banned meetings of more than 50 people, allowing speakers to be arrested and imposing harsh penalties on those who attacked the constitution.[155][156]
Wilberforce was opposed to giving workers' rights to organise into unions, in 1799 speaking in favour of the Combination Act, which suppressed trade union activity throughout the United Kingdom, and calling unions "a general disease in our society".[155][157]
He also opposed an enquiry into the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in which eleven protesters were killed at a political rally demanding reform.[158]
Concerned about "bad men who wished to produce anarchy and confusion", he approved of the government's Six Acts which further limited public meetings and seditious writings.[159][160]
views of women and religion were also reactionary: he disapproved of women anti-slavery activists such as Elizabeth Heyrick, who organised women's abolitionist groups in the 1820s, protesting: "[F]or ladies to meet, to publish, to go from house to house stirring up petitions – these appear to me proceedings unsuited to the female character as delineated in Scripture."
Wilberforce initially strongly opposed bills for Catholic emancipation which would have allowed Catholics to become MPs, hold public office and serve in the army,[164] although by 1813 he had changed his views, and spoke in favour of a similar bill.[165]
More progressively, Wilberforce advocated legislation to improve the working conditions for chimney-sweeps and textile workers, engaged in prison reform, and supported campaigns to restrict capital punishment and the severe punishments meted out under the Game Laws
He recognised the importance of education in alleviating poverty, and when Hannah More and her sister established Sunday schools for the poor in Somerset and the Mendips, he provided financial and moral support as they faced opposition from landowners and Anglican clergy.
From the late 1780s onward Wilberforce campaigned for limited parliamentary reform, such as the abolition of rotten boroughs and the redistribution of Commons seats to growing towns and cities, though by 1832, he feared that such measures went too far.
With others, Wilberforce founded the world's first animal welfare organisation, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (later the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
He was also opposed to duelling, which he described as the "disgrace of a Christian society"
Wilberforce was generous with his time and money, believing that those with wealth had a duty to give a significant portion of their income to the needy. Yearly, he gave away thousands of pounds, much of it to clergymen to distribute in their parishes.
He paid off the debts of others, supported education and missions, and in a year of food shortages gave to charity more than his own yearly income.
He was exceptionally hospitable, and could not bear to sack any of his servants. As a result, his home was full of old and incompetent servants kept on in charity.
Although he was often months behind in his correspondence, Wilberforce responded to numerous requests for advice or for help in obtaining professorships, military promotions, and livings for clergymen, or for the reprieve of death sentences.[173][174]
Evangelical Christianity
A supporter of the evangelical wing of the Church of England
Believed that the revitalisation of the Church and individual Christian observance would lead to a harmonious, moral society.
Sought to elevate the status of religion in public and private life, making piety fashionable in both the upper- and middle-classes of society.
Published an exposition of New Testament doctrine and teachings and a call for a revival of Christianity.
Wilberforce fostered and supported missionary activity in Britain and abroad.
He was a founding member of the Church Mission Society
Was involved, with the Clapham Sect, in numerous other evangelical and charitable organisations.
Changed the British East India Company's charter to provide teachers and chaplains for religious improvement of Indians, using petitions, meetings, lobbying, and letter writing. Critical of the British in India for hypocrisy and racial prejudice, and of aspects of Hinduism including the caste system, infanticide, polygamy and suttee.
Moral reform
Considered degeneracy of British society and the abolition of the slave trade as equally important.
Arranged for George III to issue in 1787 the Proclamation for the Discouragement of Vice to target “dissolute, immoral, or disorderly practices".
Sought to increase effect with public figures,and by founding the Society for Suppression of Vice.
Through this and others like the Proclamation Society, he tried to prosecute the ungodly such as brothel keepers, distributors of pornography, and those who did not respect the Sabbath. Criticised for being more interested in the sins of the poor than those of the rich, the societies were not highly successful in terms of membership and support.
His trying to legislate against adultery and Sunday newspapers was also in vain; but his softer approaches were more successful in the long-term. In time, morals manners and social responsibility increased.
Emancipation of enslaved Africans
Worked with the members of the African Institution to enforce abolition and encourage other countries. Lobbied the US to enforce its own prohibition more strongly.
Introduced a series of bills for compulsory registration of slaves, with details of their country of origin, for detecting illegal importation of foreign slaves.
Began publicly to denounce slavery itself, though he did not demand immediate emancipation.

1820 embroiled in unsuccessful mediation attempts George IV, and his wife Caroline of Brunswick,
Wilberforce still hoped "to lay a foundation for some future measures for the emancipation of the poor slaves", which he believed should come about gradually in stages. Aware that the cause would need younger men, in 1821 he asked others to lead the campaign in the Commons.
1823 founding of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery (later the Anti-Slavery Society), and his publishing 56-page Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in Behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies. He now urged that total emancipation was morally and ethically required, and that slavery was a national crime that must be ended by law.

He has long been a Christian hero, a statesman-saint and role model for putting his faith into action.
As humanitarian reformer he helped reshape political and social attitudes by promoting concepts of social responsibility and action.
In the 1940s, the role of Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect in abolition was downplayed by historian Eric Williams, who argued that abolition was motivated not by humanitarianism but by economics.
Recent historians have noted that the sugar industry was still making large profits at the time of abolition, and this has led to a renewed interest in Wilberforce and the Evangelicals, as well as a recognition of the anti-slavery movement as a prototype for subsequent humanitarian campaigns.

Wilberforcewill

William Wilberforce was one of a small group motivated to improve their world. 1800 was a good time for this: British rule had just been evicted from America, France had become a military republic after a horrible revolution, and the wealth of the industrial revolution was worried about popular power. So public conscience was becoming sensitive to slavery, poverty and injustice. Also Christianity was strongly held by many to be the only way ahead for righteous society.

Wilberforce always got on well with highly educated and mostly wealthy young men brought up to seek outlets for their abilities. Together they had fun, developed each others talents, and supported social projects. Wilberforce bought a seat in parliament, where his speaking ability, goodwill and independence earned him influence in the house and on the leadership groups. A good friend, a constructive ally, an indefatigable proponent of a cause. Over his lifetime he used all his wealth in service of his missions, the last of it in setting up a preaching church, and caring for the servants of his final home.

The anti-slavery movement was but one of dozens of ventures. This blog seeks to track down what he worked at and why he succeeded, and perhaps tease out a few patterns useful in a networked society.

In July 2009 wikipedia in a well-referenced article lists over 100 causes and issues he espoused and worked on. His commitment was powered by his new-found evangelical christianity, ie based on his own reading of the bible as God's word. His friends included the very able group around the British government at the time, hamstrung by royal interference but empowered by bitter enmity with dynamic French governments and a vision of global peace through trade. Nelson's navy made this peace a realistic hope, it gave security from invasion, for policing the trade routes and later for blocking the Atlantic slave route.

As an independent MP Wilberforce could support the government of the day or critique those bills he was concerned about, and bring his own bills to the house. He was never wantonly destructive of leaders, as our binary system dictates for party members. Unlike prime ministers, he had infinite time and political capital and support for even his most unpopular measures - they were all based on his religious principles, and large groups outside parliament would back him up later if say the wealthy in the Lords blocked a motion.

The slave trade cost him nearly thirty years to even dent, so deep was it as a paying proposition to those in power. Progress by funeral indeed.

The British had just seen three revolutions in their government, the last two being peacable affairs. They had no wish to see their country follow France with her guillotine and terrors. Reform not revolution was in the air. Reform of course is slower than revolution, you need to build goodwill for reform. Goodwill was Wilberforce's strength, he backed word with probity. He was strong in the Lord, and cared about society. Being before Darwin and evolution, he had no doubts about his God.

His mates were sharp, able and backed him strongly. His wife was a treasure, his homes magic places, his children loving and loyal. These stabilities gave him leave and materiel to openly question and repair tears in the fabric of society. Overcoming the mental junctures of his childhood, and the physical disabilities of his twisted adult body, seem to have released extra determination to succeed.

These advantages and more are increasingly available as the internet expands.