Similarly, Granville Sharp also had a big impact as he helped effectively outlaw slavery in Britain with the Somerset case. Sharp stopped a slave, James Somerset, from being shipped back to Jamaica by his master. When the case was put before Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of England, he rendered his verdict in favour of Somerset and concluded there was no legal justification for slavery in England. Mansfield decided that a master had no right to force a slave to return to a foreign country so Somerset was set free. This verdict could then be used to question slavery in the British colonies: if it was effectively illegal in Britain, there is less justification for it to happen in the colonies, which are under British jurisdiction. While it was Mansfield that ultimately made the decision, it was thanks to Sharp that the case got looked at in the first place. What Sharp achieved by bringing the Somerset case to public attention is set a milestone in the legal rights of Africans and create a powerful argument for the anti-slavery movement.
Nonetheless, perhaps the most important person in the Evangelic Movement was MP William Wilberforce. After being convinced to join the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, he fought diligently, heading the parliamentary campaign for abolition for 26 years, until the Slave Trade Act of 1807 finally abolished it. Wilberforce’s significance lies in that he was an MP. Unlike other campaigners, he could directly introduce motions into parliament and make speeches (he was an excellent speaker) to persuade the House of Commons to vote in the anti-slavery campaign’s favour. He also had a model of The Brookes made, showing that he tried several methods to increase awareness. Even though he was initially opposed to the immediate emancipation of the slaves, without his work and commitment to the cause it wouldn’t have been as successful.
Though there are also other factors to consider when considering the Evangelical Movement’s overall significance. For example, other key abolitionists like Olaudah Equiano. His hugely successful autobiography opened many people’s eyes to the horrors of the slave trade, especially the Middle Passage, and inspired a slew of other slave narratives. Furthermore, he travelled all over Britain promoting the book and making public speeches against slavery. The fact that he had first hand experience made him a valuable contributor to the anti-slavery campaign as it really helped it gather support.
However, British slavery did not end in 1807. In fact, slaves’ living conditions did not improve as it was presumed they would. And although Wilberforce continued to have some role in the campaign, calling for gradual emancipation in 1823, the Evangelicals’ overall significance decreased. This was mainly for two reasons: other individuals having a bigger impact and slaves taking their freedom in their own hands.
These other individuals include people like Elizabeth Heyrick, who published a leaflet called “Immediate, Not Gradual Abolition” in 1824, pushing the campaign forward. Soon after, the first women-only anti-slavery society was formed in Birmingham in 1825. Others followed, highlighting the major structural development. Women used new, innovative techniques, like attacking the problem demand-side by calling for a sugar boycott. As they couldn’t vote, woman expressed their feelings by signing anti-slavery petitions: in 1833, the signatures of 298,785 women were collected.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, slaves were taking action on an unprecedented scale. In 1831, led by Baptist preacher, Samuel Sharpe, as many as 60,000 slaves in Jamaica demanded freedom and a wage of "half the going wage rate" in order to continue working. What was supposed to be a peaceful strike turned into a violent riot which destroyed an enormous amount of property and had made planters extremely angry. Unsurprisingly, it initially seemed to have failed, with 200 slaves killed and Samuel Sharpe executed. Nevertheless, it led to the government setting up two inquiries, the results of which, combined with the input of William Knibb (Jamaican missionary and Baptist minister who gave a detailed eyewitness account) greatly helped the anti-slavery campaign. Simply put, the government realised it could not afford the loss of any human lives, that it would not be safe for anyone in the Caribbean unless slavery was abolished.
In conclusion, while not the only positive factor, the Evangelical Movement was vital to the success of the anti-slavery campaign up until 1807, with several Evangelicals making enormous contributions to both raising public awareness and getting the issue into parliament. After 1807, although Wilberforce was still important and made several contributions, the Evangelical Movement’s significance decreased as other things came into play, namely grass-roots activism from women and slaves’ own efforts in the form of riots. It was these that finally convinced parliament to abolish slavery in 1833.