WILLIAM WILBERFORCE’S SPEECH

William Wilberforce was an English politician and the leader of the movement against slavery and
the slave trade in British Empire. In his speech, all his ideals and reasons why slavery is such a
brutal and inhuman practice emerge. He is essentially saying that every country during the 18th
century has been developing, whereas only the African continent has not known any progress, and
that is Great Britain’s fault.
His speech is powerful and inspirational and Wilberforce pronounces some sentences containing a
strong message, aiming at making people understand how shameful the slave trade truly is. What
really touched me was, in particular, when he says that the slave “sunk them so low in the scale of
animal beings” (where “them” is obviously referred to African enslaved people) because I reckon it
really gives the idea of how dehumanized and deprived of any rights they all were.
Wilberforce underlines the brutalities and injustices concerning the slave trade, from the way black
slaves were transported to the way they were treated by white captains. He wants Africa to be
restored and this can only happens whether the slave trade is finally abolished and a new, fair and
regular trade begins.
Luckily, he achieved his aim and in 1833 the slave trade was abolished in the British Empire.
Nevertheless, the effect of this inhuman practice was huge, and it had many consequences on the
African population, the collapse of African kingdoms’ economies and the development of the racist
ideology.

MODERN FORMS OF SLAVERY

Even though slavery has been abolished nearly two centuries ago, they still exist other forms of
enslavement that many times are not much better than the older ones and nowadays, millions of
children and adults are trapped in slavery in every country in the world.
When we talk about modern slavery, we’re referring to the exploitation of other human beings both
for commercial or personal gain. Enslavement is everywhere, including behind the making of our
everyday clothes or shoes and even though we don’t see it with our own eyes, it is essential to be
aware of its existence.
To give an insight of the amount of enslaved people nowadays, it is estimated that about 40 million
people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide: 1 in 4 of them are children and almost three
quarters are women and girls.
There are many modern forms of slavery which can include, for example, debt bondage, the most
common form of slavery in the world, where a person is forced to work for free to pay off a debt.
Others significant forms of slavery are also child slavery, forced marriage, domestic servitude and
forced labour, where victims are forced to work against their will under threat of punishment and
through violence.
As far as domestic servitude is concerned, the employees working in private homes are forced into
serving or convinced that they aren’t allowed to leave their work; whereas, regarding forced
marriage, it concerns women and children who are forced to marry another without their consent or
against their will.
Honestly, what touches me the most is the children slavery, that is when a child is exploited for
someone else’s gain. Children are particularly vulnerable to slavery as they can be more easily
manipulated and naïve than adults. They are easily controlled and unlikely to demand higher better
working conditions. Children slavery can include child trafficking, child soldiers, child marriage
and child domestic slavery. Some have been forced into physical work such as working in mines
while other ones are forced into sexual exploitation, prostitution, pornography or drugs trade.
Many people have fallen into this oppressive trap called slavery simply because they were trying to
escape poverty or insecurity, improve their lives or support their families and I reckon this is truly
sad and unfair.
I’m really touched from everything I’ve learnt about slavery nowadays and I sincerely hope the
future reserves good news for us in every aspect of life, but it is not that easy believing in this since
the society always seems to improve but still remains with many negative aspects and subjected to
brutal practices.