William Wilberforce: Take Up the Fight

Heroes of History #25

by Janet Benge, Geoff Benge

"William wondered how anyone was supposed to battle slavery. After all, King George III and the Church of England both had large amounts of money invested in trade with the West Indies. And a large number of bishops sat in the House of Lords. William shook his head. This was a much bigger fight than he felt capable of taking on." For two hundred years, British slave ships plied the Middle Passage, taking African men, women, and children to their doom. Ending slavery in the mighty British Empire seemed like an impossible dream, but once William Wilberforce (1759-1833) resolved to represent the abolitionists in Parliament, he would fight to the bitter end -- for nearly half a century -- to achieve that goal. Together with a community of dynamic reformers, Wilberforce struggled to rid his nation of evil and to give dignity and freedom to all people -- slave and slave trader, poor and powerful. His example continues to inspire others to use their gifts and influence to do good against the odds.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Christian, Audiobook, Christianity, Childrens

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2015

About the author

Janet and Geoff Benge are a husband and wife writing team with twenty years of writing experience. They are best known for the books in the two series Christian Heroes: Then & Now series and Heroes of History. Janet is a former elementary school teacher. Geoff holds a degree in history. Together they have a passion to make history come alive for a new generation. Originally from New Zealand, the Benges make their home in the Orlando, Florida, area.

Reviews

[Daniel Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilberforce’s legacy was helping to abolish the 200 year British slave trade. The ships would take goods to Africa, trade for slaves, take them to the Caribbean (called the Middle Passage), and return to England with sugar. He filed bill after bill in the Parliament for years and kept the fight alive until the country was ready to abolish it and no other country was able to take over. He died a few days before the practice was abolished. He is buried in Westminster Abby.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

After finishing John Newton, we needed the rest of the story. This was a good read .

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love this series; we've listened to three of them now on Audible in the car. This has been my least favourite of the three though - I personally found it interesting and it's obviously a fantastic and important story, but this retelling is a bit long and I'm pretty sure my children didn't appreciate the depth it goes into about the inner workings of the English Parliament in the 18th century! If you're interested in Wilberforce and your children are studying him elsewhere then this would be a great resource. For a "just because" read I would probably recommend one of the other biographies.

[Ruthe Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing team of Janet and Geoff Benge have written another winning book about a winning person, William Wilberforce. Here we read of a man of privilege who didn't really make a difference in his world until Jesus Christ came into his life. Then his ideas, values and habits turned him into a man whose influence became great and still influences our cultures today around the world. He is most remembered for his role in the abolition of slavery, but he did a lot of things for the good of people. He is an inspiration and a person all young people should know about and emulate.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

He worked so hard to end slave trans-Atlantic slave labor. It took years and years. He was harassed by the slave owners, lost his health but ultimately right triumphed.

Read one of his speeches trying to convince the Parliament to outlaw slave labor:
It ended this way:
"I confess to you sir, so enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition. A trade founded in iniquity, and carried on as this was, must be abolished, let the policy be what it might,-let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition."

He was considered a hero of history but he also was a devout follower of Jesus. I might have to read Eric Metaxas' book on him

[Watermarked Pages · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Wilberforce is one of my heroes—he is so inspiring. This is the fifth biography of Wilberforce that I’ve read, and it wasn’t the best. I read it aloud with my grade school kids and I think a lot of it went over their heads. It went into a lot of details of the British parliament and I don’t think my kids understand how it works well enough to follow. There were also many, many side characters. And honestly the book was a bit dry.

My favorite biography of Wilberforce is “William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity” by Kevin Belmonte.

[Summer Moeller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the story of William Wilberforce and many of the books in this series. This book, however, was a little bit harder for us to follow than other books in the series. There were so many political characters, friends and historical events that made it hard for my younger children to follow. It was interesting to see how many significant events and people were intertwined with Wilberforce's story (Newton, Napolean, Carey, etc.); it just wasn't as gripping of a book as others in the series.

[Marcela Lema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resulta admirable conocer la historia de un hombre, quien con perseverancia, abraza la lucha por una causa justa: la abolición de la esclavitud en Gran Bretaña. William Wilberforce fue un ejemplo de cristiano consecuente, quien guiado por la convicción de que las tareas de construir una sociedad más justa y moral se las entregó Dios, luchó incansablemente desde un sitial estratégico: el Parlamento Británico.

[Alice]

I think we can take wisdom from Wilberforce as we consider how to fight the battles of our day. Are we willing to do something about the evils taking place around us? William fought nearly his whole adult life for one primary cause. Do we have the commitment and perseverance to keep going in a fight that may continue beyond our death? To fight for something when we may not see the change in our own lifetime? How quickly do we give up when rejected time and time again?

[Janet Purser · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Wilberforce spent most of his adult life fighting for the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom. His transformation from a self-centered young college student to a crusader for this great cause is a story worth reading (or listening to as I did.) This was my first "Heroes of History" book. It will not be my last.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Wilberforce's story, so much I've listened to it twice on Hoopla! This whole series has been very inspiring, especially the stories about the missionaries. I'm amazed at how many times I run across William Wilberforce in other biographies that I've listened too - helping and doing as much as he can for their cause.

[Lady Safari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook Review

I really enjoyed listing to the story of William Wilberforce’s life. It absolutely astounds me that he endured and persevered for 26 years to see the end of slavery!

Thank you to both the authors and the narrator for sharing this story!

[megan perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and so enjoyable to read

This book was so well written. I love the details about Wilberforce’s life and the time period he lived in. The authors also did an excellent job of explaining the way in which government functioned at that time in Britain.

[David Asche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible story of a man who was in the right place at the right time to change history: a British legislator who converted to Christianity and then spent the rest of his life fighting to pass legislation that abolished slavery. Truly inspiring.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Biography of an incredible person. Would have rated it higher if I liked biographies more. There were too many characters coming and going throughout the years (and pages) that it was hard to follow.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this showed how God can use anything- wealth, connections, sheer tenacity to accomplish great things.

[Mary Sasala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to these with my kids on our road trip. I knew fairly little of Wilberforce, so this was very good. Certainly a hero for my kids to learn about.

[Lea Berryreadinbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best of this collection

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wilberforce used his position to change laws that effected the world. He fought the battle hard and desperately and finally saw the change he worked so hard for.

[Trashy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed hearing about William's part in ending slavery in Britain.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about a great man!

[Lauren Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible man. Hard life. Faithful to the Lord.

[Jessica Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Just not my favorite re-telling of this story.

[K Ehoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great. I am pre-reading several for my 3rd graders to read. It may seem a little slow going, but I admired all William did to fight against slavery.

[Mishon · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not my favourite in this whole series, it’s still a good book and one I’d recommend because I think he is an important historical figure.

[Amy’s-musings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about a good man but the writing did not blow me away.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4* Audio

[Carissa Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilberforce has such character, everyone can be inspired by him and his values. I read this to my son and then we watched the movie "Amazing Grace" 2006 about his battle for abolition in England.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It is a must-read for anyone interested in Willaim Wilberforce! It thoroughly covered his life from boyhood to old age. It covers a lot about parliament and great men who were alive during that time (especially Willaim Pitt)
This is a very good clean Christian book.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in the Heroes of History series. A couple of things that really struck me with this book:

1. the shortness of life - so many deaths mentioned through Wilborforce's life, many of whom were young children.
2. the really, really long titles of books. For example, a book Wilborforce wrote was called A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. Phew!

This book was a little hard to follow at times due to the large number of people that William Wilberforce came into contact with. It was fascinating to realise some of the other people who were alive at the same time as Wilberforce such as John Newton, William Carey, William Cowper, Napolean.

One quote I found rather funny was when William was at a tea house with a group of abolutionist friends. His friend Thomas Babington told him he should take particular notice of Barbara Spooner... "Miss Spooner is well connected and what is better, she is a strong Christian. I believe she reads her bible and prays like a methodist".