William Wilberforce / 威廉·威伯福斯

William Wilberforce was a famous British politician and philanthropist.

威廉·威伯福斯是个著名的英国政治家和慈善家。

He was born in Hull, a port city on the east coast of England, in 1759.

他于1759年出生在英格兰东海岸的港口城市赫尔。

William went to Cambridge University where he became good friends with William Pitt the Younger and they became members of Parliament together.

威廉去了剑桥大学，在那里他和小威廉·皮特成为了好朋友，他们一起成为了国会议员。

William Pitt the Younger later became Prime Minister of Great Britain.

小威廉·皮特时后来成为了大不列颠的首相。

William Wilberforce was an eloquent speaker and campaigned indefatigably on topics such as parliamentary reform, tariffs on imported grain, fair treatment of the working class and political rights for Roman Catholics.

威廉·威伯福斯是一位口才出众的演讲者，他在议会改革、进口谷物关税、工人阶级的公正待遇和罗马天主教徒的政治权利等话题上不知疲倦地进行宣传。

However, William Wilberforce is most well-known for his fight for the abolition of slavery.

不过，威廉·威伯福斯最出名的就是他为废除奴隶制而奋斗。

His anti-slavery views were derived from his religious convictions.

他的反奴隶制观点源于他的宗教信念。

In particular, he was strongly influenced by the pastor at his local church when he was a child.

特别是，他小时候深受当地教堂牧师的影响。

This pastor had been a former slave trader who had seen the suffering caused by the slave trade and now spoke out against this practice.

这个牧师曾经是一个奴隶贩子，他看到了奴隶贸易造成的痛苦，现在站出来反对这种做法。

Getting the slavery abolition laws through Parliament was not easy.

通过国会颁布废奴法并不容易。

Although the general public and especially the religious community were strongly against slavery, many of the rich members of Parliament would have been benefitting financially from slavery.

尽管公众，尤其是宗教社群，强烈反对奴隶制，但很多富有的国会议员可能在经济上都从奴隶制中获益。

William Wilberforce repeatedly brought motions to Parliament calling for the abolition of slavery but they were all defeated.

威廉·威伯福斯多次在国会提出废除奴隶制的动议，但都被否决了。

However, eventually a compromise was agreed which allowed for the gradual abolition of the slave trade.

不过，最终达成了一个妥协，允许逐步废除奴隶贸易。

For the next 15 years there was little progress, partly due to Great Britain’s war against Napoleon Bonaparte of France.

在接下来的 15 年里，几乎没有取得任何进展，部分原因是英国与法国拿破仑·波拿巴的战争。

In 1807, a bill was passed in Parliament which abolished the slave trade in the British West Indies.

1807年，议会通过了一项法案，废除了英国西印度群岛的奴隶贸易。

This bill however did not affect the status of the slaves already in the West Indies, who remained slaves.

不过这个法案并没有影响已经在西印度的奴隶的身份，他们仍然是奴隶。

William continued to campaign for the abolition of the slave trade in all parts of the British Empire and granting freedom to the slaves.

威廉继续在大英帝国的各个地方开展运动，呼吁废除奴隶贸易并给予奴隶自由。

In 1833, Parliament finally passed the ‘Slavery Abolition Act’.

1833年，议会最终通过了《废除奴隶制法案》。

The ‘Slavery Abolition Act’ abolished slavery in most British colonies and freed more than 800,000 slaves.

废除奴隶制法案》废除了大多数英国殖民地的奴隶制，并释放了超过80多万奴隶。

William Wilberforce died 3 days later and due to his lifetime commitment to abolishing slavery, he was interred at Westminster Abbey in London.

威廉·威伯福斯在三天后去世，由于他一生致力于废除奴隶制，他被安葬在伦敦的威斯敏斯特教堂。