Monday, February 05, 2007
Bi-centenary of the abolition of the slave trade
The local "newspaper" informs us of a "walk-tribute" to William Wilberforce, who of course was instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade.
I couldn't help noticing that William Wilberforce was also MP for Hull in his day and I wonder what his views would be on the present incumbent.
Anyway I digress, when discussing the slave trade, it is all too easy to forget the part played by England and Britain in the abolition of the same. Whilst it is true that the abolition doesn't cancel out all that was done, it is also true that the actions taken for abolition shouldn't be ignored.
It was in England that indignation about this trade caused people to campaign against it and ultimately outlaw it. It will be interesting to see just how widely this anniversary is marked. The actions of William Wilberforce and his contemporaries should be a source of pride and honour for the whole nation, I hope to see this reflected in the breadth of the commemorations of this event.
I couldn't help noticing that William Wilberforce was also MP for Hull in his day and I wonder what his views would be on the present incumbent.
Anyway I digress, when discussing the slave trade, it is all too easy to forget the part played by England and Britain in the abolition of the same. Whilst it is true that the abolition doesn't cancel out all that was done, it is also true that the actions taken for abolition shouldn't be ignored.
It was in England that indignation about this trade caused people to campaign against it and ultimately outlaw it. It will be interesting to see just how widely this anniversary is marked. The actions of William Wilberforce and his contemporaries should be a source of pride and honour for the whole nation, I hope to see this reflected in the breadth of the commemorations of this event.
Tags: justice, liberty, rights, freedom
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
