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Primary Source of the Month
"William Wilberforce, M. P., The Friend of Africa," bronze medal by D. B. Spooner & Co., Birmingham, England, 1807. From the collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
This commemorative medal was created in 1807 to honor William Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament who was a driving force in an attempt to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain and its colonies. Made by D. B. Spooner and Company, this bronze medal shows the head of Wilberforce with the inscription “WILLIAM WILBERFORCE M. P. THE FRIEND OF AFRICA.” The reverse side shows Britannia being attended by the figures of Mercury, Prudence and Justice. Victory is crowning Britannia. Inscribed underneath them is “I HAVE HEARD THEIR CRY.” At the bottom of the medal is “SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED MDCCCVII (1807).”
In 1796, Parliament had passed a law that said British ships could no longer carry slaves, but it was written to be a “gradual” termination that did little to end the slave trade. In 1807, the Slave Trade Act became law, which permanently and immediately stopped British ships from carrying slaves. Slavery was completely abolished in Great Britain in 1838, setting the precedent for the abolition of slavery in the United States almost thirty years later.
This article was written by Dee Albrinck, elementary school teacher, Florence, KY, and Linda Colbert, retired elementary school teacher, Williamsburg, VA.
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