William Wilberforce

Member of Parliament converted at 25; spends the rest of his life pressing for abolition of the slave trade against entrenched commercial interests; loses vote after vote across decades; the abolition act passes Parliament three days before his death. Restoration path: Bring the bill again every year; refuse to be exhausted by the losses; the act passes when you are nearly gone. Markers: converted mid-career; one principal moral object; bills lost annually; decades of patient repetition; victory at the end of life — William Wilberforce, British, 1759-1833 (History)