Why Did Wilberforce Become An Abolitionist?

Parliament's Abolitionist William Wilberforce was an honorable man. He was an abolitionist who got the slave trade to end in England. His Christian morals played a big part in his fight to abolish slavery; many of the lords were making a profit off of the slave trade and did not want it to end. Towards the end of his life, he retired from parliament and chose a younger politician, Thomas Fowell Buxton, to become the new face of abolition. William was raised a Methodist for part of his childhood, and eventually went back to that religion as an adult. When he was first elected into parliament, he had not become a Methodist yet, but when he became one, he thought he should quit parliament and “seek a life of solitude where he could read the Bible and pray all day.”(Benge, 82).
William resolved to stay in Parliament and met some abolitionists, some of whom were Methodists, who “believed that William was the key to their success.”(Boyack, 57). Becoming an abolitionist, William worked hard to get an anti-slave trade bill passed. He never associated with a particular party, but instead sided with whomever he believed was in the right, and “This desire to vote in the name of principle over party surely cost Wilberforce and those who voted with him dearly in terms of political gain.”(White, 168). He was able to get his bill passed in the House of Commons on multiple occasions, but was then outvoted in the House of Lords. Because a lot of the Lords were making a good amount of money off the slave trade, William had a difficult time getting the bill passed in the House of Lords. The bill, when sent to the House of Lords, was either postponed until forgotten or voted against. William believed and asked “to outlaw the slave trade, no matter what the cost.” (Bauer, 401). Others often did not have the same