Ioan Gruffudd is outstanding in his portrayal of William
Wilberforce, the iconic British statesman whose tireless efforts would end the
slave trade in all of the British colonies. Albert Finney; plays former ship’s Captain
John Newton; who has turned to life as a
Priest in order to assuage the guilt having transported 20,000 human beings
into slavery. That guilt would haunt him for the rest of his life. He also
wrote the timeless hymn “Amazing Grace.” Together, the two give stellar
performances in this unforgettable film.
Wilberforce is a young man of privilege who, as the youngest
Member of Parliament at the time, would have slavery abolished in all of the
English territories and possessions. But he is in for a long hard struggle; a
struggle which eventually costs him both his health and a good bit of his
sanity. He must fight the moneyed interests who ply the slave trade and build
the ships which transport that cargo.
The scenes in Parliament are well documented exchanges of
opinion between those who would uphold the practice of slavery and those who
would like to see it gone forever. It is well to note that this film takes place
in the period from the late 1700’s through 1833 when the law banning slavery
for good was finally enacted. Wilberforce, however, didn’t live to see it put
into practice. His tireless efforts to achieve that goal resulted in his death
in 1834 just as the law he had championed for so long was taking effect.
This is a superb film, one that is as gripping as Spielberg’s
“Lincoln.” The direction is taut, the writing distinguished and the acting
flawless. The only criticism that I can find with this movie is that it might
leave some with the impression that Wilberforce singlehandedly put an end to
the slave trade in 1833. In truth though, the slave practice was halted on
English soil in 1772 by Lord Mansfield.
The full story of slavery’s abolition in Britain involves a
slave named James Somerset and an English Justice named Lord Mansfield. It is
one of the most captivating stories ever told concerning the abolition of
slavery, and I would be remiss if I did not recount it briefly here. Not only
did it lead to the abolishment of the practice on the English island in 1772;
it did so while the American colonies were fighting for their own freedom,
which did not include the slaves.
James Somerset was owned by Charles Stewart, an English
customs official who made the mistake of bringing his servant with him on his
return to England. Once there Somerset escaped for almost 2 months, hiding in
the slums of London. When he was captured he was slated to be shipped to Jamaica,
and a slow, sure death in the sugar fields.
Only a petition by 3 persons claiming to be Somerset’s “godparents”
was Somerset able to obtain a hearing in front of Lord Mansfield, the chief
jurist in England at the time. He found that Somerset was a free man by virtue of
the fact that he could find nothing in English law that upheld the practice of
slavery.
But, to dodge the threat of economic ruin in England’s
colonies, he found that slavery was only disallowed on the main island of
Britain, and was to continue in all of her possessions, commonwealths and
colonies. But, without Lord Mansfield’s decision 60 years earlier, there would
have been no William Wilberforce to end the practice for good in all the
British Empire.
Happy Birthday, Sarah!
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