In 1797, William Wilberforce is severely ill and taking a recuperative holiday in
Bath, Somerset, with his cousin,
Henry Thornton. It is here that Wilberforce is introduced to his future wife,
Barbara Spooner. Although he initially resists any romantic overtures, she convinces him to relate the story of his career. The story flashes back 15 years to 1782, and Wilberforce recounts the events that led him to where he is now. Beginning as a young, ambitious, and popular Member of Parliament (MP), he experiences a
religious enlightenment and aligns himself with the
evangelical wing of the
Church of England. Wilberforce contemplates leaving politics to study theology, but is persuaded by his friends
William Pitt,
Thomas Clarkson,
Hannah More, and
Olaudah Equiano that he will be more effective doing the work of God by taking on the unpopular and dangerous issue of the abolition of the British
slave trade. His conviction in the cause deepens following a meeting with his former mentor
John Newton (introduced mopping a church floor dressed in
sackcloth) who is said to live "in the company of 20,000 ghosts… slaves". As a former slave ship captain turned Christian, he deeply regrets his past life and the effects on his fellow man. Newton urges Wilberforce to take up the cause. Pitt becomes Prime Minister and Wilberforce becomes a key supporter and confidant. Pitt gives Wilberforce the opportunity to present a bill before the house outlawing the slave trade. Wilberforce's passionate campaigning leads him to become highly unpopular in the
House of Commons. He is opposed by a coalition of MPs and peers representing vested interests of the slave trade in London,
Bristol,
Glasgow, and
Liverpool led by
Banastre Tarleton and the
Duke of Clarence. Despite popular support and the assistance of an unlikely ally in the form of
Charles James Fox, Wilberforce's bill to abolish the slave trade goes down to defeat. Afterward, the film portrays Pitt as one of his few friends and allies remaining in Parliament, however even their relationship becomes strained. Pitt, now facing the stresses of leading a
shaky coalition during the
French Revolutionary Wars, tells Wilberforce that his cause must now wait for a more stable political climate. Wilberforce keeps up the fight but after years of failure he is left exhausted and frustrated that he was unable to change anything in the government. Believing his life's work has been in vain, he becomes physically ill, suffering from chronic
colitis which causes him to become addicted to
laudanum prescribed for the crippling pain, which brings the story back up to 1797. Having virtually given up hope, Wilberforce considers leaving politics forever. Barbara convinces him to keep fighting because there is no other person who is willing or able to do so. A few days afterward, William Wilberforce and Barbara marry. Several years pass with no further success. Wilberforce's wife and new children provide him with the support and strength needed to carry on the fight. Finally, with a renewed hope for success Wilberforce devises a backdoor method of
slowly weakening the slave trade through seemingly innocuous legislation. Aided by Thornton, Clarkson, and new ally
James Stephen and cheered on by the now terminally ill Pitt, he reintroduces his bill to abolish the slave trade. In time, after the 20-year campaign and many attempts to bring legislation forward, he is eventually responsible for a
bill being passed through Parliament in 1807, which abolishes the slave trade in the
British Empire forever. ==Cast==