A very good copy of one of the many bills Wilberforce introduced over the course of a decade to weaken Britain’s commitment to slavery.
Wilberforce’s 1804 bill, like the one three years later which would become law, only sought to abolish the slave trade, ie the traffick of people, but not slavery itself. The bill commences with the abolition statement and then lists penalities for those caught continuing to engage in it. These included the nullification of any insurance policy; the seizure of said vessels, their armoury and any other merchandise; and the jurisdiction of the prosecution.
ODNB describes its fate in the House of Commons: “In the parliamentary session of 1804 the prospects for abolition at last improved. [O]n 20 May, Wilberforce obtained leave to bring in a bill by a margin of 124 to 49, and this bill passed through all its stages in the Commons before the end of June. Once again, however, the dawn proved false: it was too late in the session to attempt to get the bill through the Lords that year. Wilberforce had to reintroduce the measure in the Commons in February 1805, only this time to be defeated on the second reading. In the meantime Wilberforce in July 1804 persuaded Pitt to use an order in council to stop the slave trade to Dutch Guiana, which had been captured by Britain. Although the government procrastinated and did not issue the order until September 1805, it did suggest that the trade’s days were numbered.”
This bill marked an important step on the path to abolition. It was followed by a subsequent abolition bill on 19 February, 1805. Then in 1806 A Bill to prevent the Importation of Slaves, by any of His Majesty’s Subjects, into any Islands, Colonies, Plantations, or Territories, etc. And in 1806, A Bill to prohibit any Ships to clear out from any Port of Great Britain, for the Coast of Africa, for the Purpose of taking on board Negroes, unless such ships have been previously employed in the African Trade… (13 June, 1806) before the final, successful abolition bill was tabled in February 1807.
There are many differences between this text and the 1807 Act and, of real interest, this document represents the version of abolition Wilberforce et al believed they could pass through Parliament.
Parliamentary bills were only printed in limited numbers for use among MPs. As a result, they’re very scarce indeed.
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