Term of Award

Summer 2025

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History (M.A.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of History

Committee Chair

Allison Belzer

Committee Member 1

Kathleen Comerford

Committee Member 2

Carol Herringer

Committee Member 3

Robert Batchelor

Abstract

Late 18th- and early 19th-century England witnessed an evangelical revival that had a far-reaching impact on society. Born out of the First Great Awakening (c. 1730-1760), Evangelicalism was one of the key forces at work in forming the spirit and ethos of the Victorian age. Prominent within the evangelical movement was a circle of friends known as the Clapham Sect. The two most famous members of the sect were its leader William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who is best known as a leading abolitionist and philanthropist, and Hannah More, a celebrated publicist, anti-slavery campaigner, and philanthropist. Wilberforce, More, and members of the Clapham Sect believed that practicing their evangelical faith meant bringing Christian ethics into society. They engaged in a broad array of social and religious causes for the betterment of society. Most importantly, they sought to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself. When the Clapham Sect started its reform efforts, most of British society did not question the morality of slavery, but within twenty years they were able to secure the abolition of the slave trade and after another twenty-six years, the emancipation of all slaves in the British empire. These achievements had an extraordinary impact on Victorian society. Wilberforce and members of his coterie claimed that it was their “vital religion” that drove them to do what they did. They believed that vital religion encompasses the heart, and therefore emotions. Their views on heartfelt Christianity echoed many aspects of the late-Enlightenment culture of sensibility, a social phenomenon that put a new emphasis on human emotions directing our thoughts and behavior. This thesis explores the intersection between the Clapham Sect, Evangelicalism, and the culture of sensibility. The argument is that the Clapham Sect's effectiveness in achieving major cultural and political reforms—especially the abolition of the slave trade—stemmed from a distinctive blend of evangelical Christianity and the Enlightenment culture of sensibility. This synthesis of religious conviction and emotional appeal enabled the group to shape public opinion and institutional power.

OCLC Number

1528852950

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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