---
title: "History's lesson: regulation entrenches an evil; abolition removes it (the Wilberforce case)"
description: "The British slave-trade abolitionists learned that regulating an evil is the chief obstacle to abolishing it. The 1788 Dolben's Act regulated conditions on slave ships rather than ending the trade; Wilberforce himself feared it would entrench the idea that the trade was 'not fundamentally unjust,…"
type: "argument"
id: "arg-wilberforce-regulation"
category: "Historical"
mode: "Offensive"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/arguments/arg-wilberforce-regulation.html"
---

# History's lesson: regulation entrenches an evil; abolition removes it (the Wilberforce case)

**Category:** Historical · **Mode:** Offensive · the positive case

## The argument

The British slave-trade abolitionists learned that regulating an evil is the chief obstacle to abolishing it. The 1788 Dolben's Act regulated conditions on slave ships rather than ending the trade; Wilberforce himself feared it would entrench the idea that the trade was 'not fundamentally unjust, but merely an activity that needed further regulation.' For roughly two decades he filed bills for total abolition, and in his 1807 Letter he condemned 'gradual instead of immediate abolition' as having proved, in effect, 'the most efficient supporters of the slave trade' by giving zeal time to cool. Abolitionists apply the lesson directly: incremental abortion bills that regulate rather than abolish entrench the practice they claim to oppose.

## Supporting points

- The 1788 Dolben Act regulated (did not abolish) the slave trade — the first British law of its kind.
- Wilberforce feared regulation would establish that the trade merely needed adjusting, not ending.
- Wilberforce filed total-abolition bills repeatedly; the Slave Trade Act passed the Commons 283–16 in 1807.
- In his 1807 Letter, Wilberforce blamed gradualism, not the pro-slavers, for prolonging the trade.

## Discussion questions

1. Why did Wilberforce fear the 1788 regulation act more than open opposition?
2. If regulation entrenched the slave trade, what does that predict about bills that regulate abortion?

## Source transcript

Drawn from William Wilberforce against the 'Gradual Abolitionists' — The core of the Wilberforce talk: regulationism, not pro-slavery, was the chief enemy of abolition..

## References

- [Slave Trade Act 1788 (Dolben's Act) — first British law to regulate (not abolish) slave shipping; 'Wilberforce feared the act would establish the idea that the slave trade was not fundamentally unjust, but merely an activity that needed further regulation.'](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_Trade_Act_1788) _(history)_
  (encyclopedic) · Wikipedia
  **Supports:** Dolben's Act regulated the trade; Wilberforce feared it entrenched regulation over abolition
- [1788 Slave Trade Act (Dolben's Act): a temporary measure that 'regulated conditions to a certain extent' rather than abolishing the trade](https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/religion/case-study-charles-stanhope-and-freedom-of-religion/life-and-career/childhood-and-early-life5/) _(history/primary institution)_
  UK Parliament · parliament.uk
  **Supports:** UK Parliament: the 1788 act 'regulated conditions to a certain extent' rather than abolishing
- [Wilberforce, 'A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade' (1807), a 300+ page book making the full abolition case to his constituents](https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/wilberforce) _(history/primary intro)_
  Dan Graves, ed. · Christian History Institute
  **Supports:** Wilberforce's 1807 Letter making the full abolition case
- [William Wilberforce, A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1807), full public-domain text](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63974) _(primary source)_
  William Wilberforce · Project Gutenberg
  **Supports:** primary-source full text of the Letter (public domain)
- [Slave Trade Act 1807 passed the Commons 283–16 after ~20 years of Wilberforce's abolition bills](https://libertascouncil.org/william-wilberforce-celebrating-the-incremental-wins/) _(history)_
  Libertas Council · Libertas Council
  **Supports:** 1807 Slave Trade Act passed the Commons 283–16 after ~20 years of abolition bills

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Deuteronomy 16:20](../scripture/deuteronomy-16-20.md)
- [Leviticus 20:1-5](../scripture/leviticus-20-1-5.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [“William Wilberforce is the model incrementalist: he took ~20 years and accepted partial…”](def-wilberforce-gradualist.md)
- [Reframe the debate: it is abolition vs. regulationism, not abolition vs. 'incrementalism'](arg-regulationism-not-incrementalism.md)
- [Immediatism — dealing with sin fully and now — is the biblical pattern; gradual toleration is not](arg-immediatism-biblical.md)