Amazing Grace

 
Last night we saw a screening of the film Amazing Grace in a small cozy theater. At the end of the movie there was a fascinating talk by one of the producers Ken Wales. We learned a lot about how the film was made.

The film follows the efforts of William Wilberforce to abolish slavery in the British Empire at the end of the eighteenth century. Wilberforce and his close friend William Pitt the Younger, who became Prime Minister in 1783, finally succeeded in eliminating slavery by 1807.

There's mention of the fact that Wilberforce was a Christian and some of his allies were preachers but this isn't an important theme. The movie makes it clear that Pitt, who was a prime mover in social change, did not share Wilberforce's beliefs. During the discussion afterward it was clear that the religious motivation was important to some people.

The title of the movie comes from the song Amazing Grace whose words were composed by John Newton, an ex-slave trader who converted to Christianity. Newton, who has a significant part in the movie, influenced Wilberforce and served as his mentor.

One interesting scene depicts a debate in the House of Commons in 1778. The newly elected Wilberforce is advocating the withdrawal of British forces from America, thus abandoning the attempt to put down the rebellion. Wilberforce is attacked and challenged to distinguish between appeasement and surrender. "It's merely a question of timing," he says.

This scene, and many others, reveal that Great Britain was a functioning democracy at the time of the American Revolution. It contrasts markedly with the general impression of Americans who tend to think that this sort of representative democracy was invented by them in 1776.

William Wilberforce's third son was Samuel Wilberforce ("Soapy Sam") who became the Bishop of Oxford and debated evolution with Thomas Huxley in 1860.