Thomas Clarkson was born on this day 251 years ago. While a student at Cambridge, he entered and won an essay competition on the topic “Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?” While riding a horse between London and Cambridge after winning the prize, he was struck by a thought which he took as a revelation from God, that if the contents of his essay were true, he should devote his time and efforts to ending slavery.
Clarkson published his essay in 1786, and the notoriety which he gained brought him into contact with other abolitionists including Quakers, Puritans and other Nonconformists. The non-denominational Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed, with the founding members being nine Quakers and three evangelical Anglicans: Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce.
Clarkson travelled extensively to collect evidence to support the abolition of the slave trade, often facing physical danger from those with a vested interest in slavery. He collected a range of equipment used on slave ships and also a range of African goods demonstrating the level of skill achieved by African craftsmen. William Wilberforce made his first abolitionist speech in parliament in 1789, but the campaign dragged on until 1833 when slavery was abolished in England, and after that the campaign to abolish slavery elsewhere continued until Clarkson’s death in 1846.