Spartacus Blog

Should history students be using ChatGPT AI?

Last week during a history sessions with the University of the Third Age one of my students mentioned that William Wilberforce was an important figure in the abolition of slavery. I pointed out this was a common misinterpretation as he was concerned with bringing an end to the slave-trade and for most of his life he was supporter of slavery. He was obviously not convinced by my comments and when he got home he went on the ChatGPT AI website and typed in the question "Did William Wilberforce abolish slavery?" He then sent me by email the answer it gave.

Yes, William Wilberforce played a significant role in the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire. Born on August 24, 1759, in Hull, England, Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist, and abolitionist.

Wilberforce became a Member of Parliament in 1780 and soon developed a deep conviction against the slave trade after encountering prominent abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson. He dedicated much of his life and career to the cause of ending slavery.

In 1787, Wilberforce became a leader of the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. He tirelessly spoke out against the inhumanity and immorality of the slave trade, presenting evidence of the appalling conditions faced by enslaved Africans and the brutality of the trade itself.

After years of persistent advocacy, Wilberforce's efforts finally bore fruit on March 25, 1807, when the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, effectively abolishing the transatlantic slave trade in the British Empire. However, this did not immediately end slavery itself.

Wilberforce continued to campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, and his efforts were realized with the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, just days before his death. This legislation brought an end to slavery throughout most of the British Empire, granting freedom to approximately 800,000 enslaved people.

William Wilberforce's tireless advocacy and leadership were instrumental in bringing about the abolition of the slave trade and the eventual end of slavery in the British Empire. His legacy as an abolitionist and champion of human rights continues to inspire people around the world.

If a history student submitted this answer, they would have received a failed grade. The major mistake takes place in the first sentence as it has been misunderstood the question. I always told my students to re-read the question every five minutes. ChatGPT clearly did not do this. The question asked was "Did William Wilberforce abolish slavery?" Most of the answer is about the slave-trade, and not slavery, two very different issues.

ChatGBT says: “Yes, Wilberforce became a leader of the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. He tirelessly spoke out against the inhumanity and immorality of the slave trade, presenting evidence of the appalling conditions faced by enslaved Africans and the brutality of the trade itself.” Wilberforce did indeed play an important role in the abolition of the slave trade. However, that was not the question.

In the fourth paragraph it accurately says: “After years of persistent advocacy, Wilberforce's efforts finally bore fruit on March 25, 1807, when the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, effectively abolishing the transatlantic slave trade in the British Empire. However, this did not immediately end slavery itself.”

However, in the fifth paragraph it says: “Wilberforce continued to campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, and his efforts were realized with the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, just days before his death. This legislation brought an end to slavery throughout most of the British Empire, granting freedom to approximately 800,000 enslaved people.”

William Wilberforce by Anton Hickel (1794)

This statement is false. Wilberforce supported the idea of slavery until just before his death. The people opposing slavery were members of a different group of people. The Quakers, for example, opposed slavery on moral rather than economic grounds. They pointed out that the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was a disaster. British captains who were caught continuing the trade were fined £100 for every slave found on board. However, this law did not stop the British slave trade. In fact, the situation became worse. Now that the supply had officially ceased, the demand grew and with it the price of slaves. For high prices the traders were prepared to take the additional risks. If slave-ships were in danger of being captured by the British navy, captains often reduced the fines they had to pay by ordering the slaves to be thrown into the sea. (1)

Some people involved in the anti-slave trade campaign argued that the only way to end the suffering of the slaves was to make slavery illegal. A new Anti-Slavery Society was formed in 1823 by Thomas Clarkson, Henry Brougham and Thomas Fowell Buxton. "Its purpose was to rouse public opinion to bring as much pressure as possible on parliament, and the new generation realized that for this they still needed Clarkson.... He rode some 10,000 miles and achieved his masterpiece: by the summer of 1824, 777 petitions had been sent to parliament demanding gradual emancipation". (2)

Some people involved in the anti-slave trade campaign such as Thomas Fowell Buxton, argued that the only way to end the suffering of the slaves was to make slavery illegal. "I now regret that I and those honourable friends who thought with me on this subject have not before attempted to put an end, not merely to the evils of the slave trade, but to the evils of slavery itself." (3)

Wilberforce disagreed, he believed that at this time slaves were not ready to be granted their freedom. He pointed out in A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Addressed to the Freeholders and other inhabitants of Yorkshire that: "It would be wrong to emancipate (the slaves). To grant freedom to them immediately, would be to insure not only their masters' ruin, but their own. They must (first) be trained and educated for freedom." (4)

The final paragraph is completely inaccurate: “William Wilberforce's tireless advocacy and leadership were instrumental in bringing about the abolition of the slave trade and the eventual end of slavery in the British Empire. His legacy as an abolitionist and champion of human rights continues to inspire people around the world.”

Wilberforce was not interested in the human rights of the working-class in this country. He supported child labour and anti-trade union legislation and opposed universal suffrage. Political radicals such as Francis Place hated politicians such as Wilberforce "for their complacency and indifference to poverty in their own country while fighting against the same thing abroad". He described him as "an ugly epitome of the devil". (5) William Hazlitt added: "He preaches vital Christianity to untutored savages, and tolerates its worst abuses in civilised states. He thus shows his respect for religion without offending the clergy." (6)

In 1824 Elizabeth Heyrick published her pamphlet Immediate not Gradual Abolition. In her pamphlet Heyrick argued passionately in favour of the immediate emancipation of the slaves in the British colonies. This differed from the official policy of the Anti-Slavery Society that believed in gradual abolition. She called this "the very masterpiece of satanic policy" and called for a boycott of the sugar produced on slave plantations. (7)

Wedgwood Slave Emancipation Medallion, black on yellow jasper (1787) — Elizabeth Heyrick

In the pamphlet Elizabeth Heyrick attacked the "slow, cautious, accommodating measures" of the leaders like Wilberforce. "The perpetuation of slavery in our West India colonies is not an abstract question, to be settled between the government and the planters; it is one in which we are all implicated, we are all guilty of supporting and perpetuating slavery. The West Indian planter and the people of this country stand in the same moral relation to each other as the thief and receiver of stolen goods". (8)

The leadership of the organisation attempted to suppress information about the existence of this pamphlet and William Wilberforce gave out instructions for leaders of the movement not to speak on the same platforms as Heyrick and other women who favoured an immediate end to slavery. His biographer, William Hague, claims that Wilberforce was unable to adjust to the idea of women becoming involved in politics "occurring as this did nearly a century before women would be given the vote in Britain". (9)

Although women were allowed to be members they were virtually excluded from its leadership. Wilberforce disliked to militancy of the women and wrote to Thomas Babington protesting that "for ladies to meet, to publish, to go from house to house stirring up petitions - these appear to me proceedings unsuited to the female character as delineated in Scripture". (10)

Thomas Clarkson, who was the true leader of the anti-slavery movement, was much more sympathetic towards women. Unusually for a man of his day, he believed women deserved a full education and a role in public life and admired the way the Quakers allowed women to speak in their meetings. Clarkson told Elizabeth Heyrick's friend, Lucy Townsend, that he objected to the fact that "women are still weighed in a different scale from men... If homage be paid to their beauty, very little is paid to their opinions." (11)

Records show that about ten per cent of the financial supporters of the organisation were women. In some areas, such as Manchester, women made up over a quarter of all subscribers. Lucy Townsend asked Thomas Clarkson how she could contribute in the fight against slavery. He replied that it would be a good idea to establish a women's anti-slavery society. (12)

On 8th April, 1825, Lucy Townsend held a meeting at her home to discuss the issue of the role of women in the anti-slavery movement. Townsend, Elizabeth Heyrick, Mary Lloyd, Sarah Wedgwood, Sophia Sturge and the other women at the meeting decided to form the Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves (later the group changed its name to the Female Society for Birmingham). (13) The group "promoted the sugar boycott, targeting shops as well as shoppers, visiting thousands of homes and distributing pamphlets, calling meetings and drawing petitions." (14)

The society which was, from its foundation, independent of both the national Anti-Slavery Society and of the local men's anti-slavery society. As Clare Midgley has pointed out: "It acted as the hub of a developing national network of female anti-slavery societies, rather than as a local auxiliary. It also had important international connections, and publicity on its activities in Benjamin Lundy's abolitionist periodical The Genius of Universal Emancipation influenced the formation of the first female anti-slavery societies in America". (15)

The formation of other independent women's groups soon followed the setting up of the Female Society for Birmingham. This included groups in Nottingham (Ann Taylor Gilbert), Sheffield (Mary Anne Rawson, Mary Roberts), Leicester (Elizabeth Heyrick, Susanna Watts), Glasgow (Jane Smeal), Norwich (Amelia Opie, Anna Gurney), London (Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, Mary Foster), Darlington (Elizabeth Pease) and Chelmsford (Anne Knight). Over the next seven years seventy-three of these women's organisations were formed to campaign against slavery. (16)

In 1830, the Female Society for Birmingham submitted a resolution to the National Conference of the Anti-Slavery Society calling for the organisation to campaign for an immediate end to slavery in the British colonies. Elizabeth Heyrick, who was treasurer of the organisation suggested a new strategy to persuade the male leadership to change its mind on this issue. In April 1830 they decided that the group would only give their annual £50 donation to the national anti-slavery society only "when they are willing to give up the word 'gradual' in their title." At the national conference the following month, the Anti-Slavery Society agreed to drop the words "gradual abolition" from its title. It also agreed to support Female Society's plan for a new campaign to bring about immediate abolition. (17)

The Female Society for Birmingham played an important role in the propaganda campaign against slavery. Lucy Townsend, wrote the anti-slavery pamphlet To the Law and to the Testimony (1832). "Under Lucy Townsend's and Mary Lloyd's leadership the society developed the distinctive forms of female anti-slavery activity, involving an emphasis on the sufferings of women under slavery, systematic promotion of abstention from slave-grown sugar through door-to-door canvassing, and the production of innovative forms of propaganda, such as albums containing tracts, poems, and illustrations, embroidered anti-slavery workbags." (18)

William Wilberforce's final decline in health began early in 1833 with a severe attack of influenza. He went to Bath, where the waters had so often in the past appeared beneficial to him, but this time he experienced no relief, suffering "much from pain and languor". In mid-July he was moved to London, where for some days he seemed to improve. (19)

On 26th July, 1833, Wilberforce received news that the Slavery Abolition Act had passed its third reading. This act gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom. The British government paid £20 million in compensation to the slave owners. The amount that the plantation owners received depended on the number of slaves that they had. For example, Henry Phillpotts, the Bishop of Exeter, received £12,700 for the 665 slaves he owned. (20)

William Wilberforce died on 29th July 1833 at 44 Cadogan Place, Sloane Street. The following year Robert Wilberforce and Samuel Wilberforce, began work on their father's biography. The book was published in 1838. It emphasized the role played by Wilberforce into bringing an end to slavery while ignoring the role played by women. As Ellen Gibson Wilson, the author of Thomas Clarkson (1989), pointed out: "The five volumes which the Wilberforces published in 1838 vindicated Clarkson's worst fears that he would be forced to reply. How far the memoir was Christian, I must leave to others to decide. That it was unfair to Clarkson is not disputed. Where possible, the authors ignored Clarkson; where they could not they disparaged him. In the whole rambling work, using the thousands of documents available to them, they found no space for anything illustrating the mutual affection and regard between the two great men, or between Wilberforce and Clarkson's brother."

Wilson goes on to argue that the book has completely distorted the history of the campaign against the slave-trade: "The Life has been treated as an authoritative source for 150 years of histories and biographies. It is readily available and cannot be ignored because of the wealth of original material it contains. It has not always been read with the caution it deserves. That its treatment of Clarkson, in particular, a deservedly towering figure in the abolition struggle, is invalidated by untruths, omissions and misrepresentations of his motives and his achievements is not understood by later generations, unfamiliar with the jealousy that motivated the holy authors. When all the contemporary shouting had died away, the Life survived to take from Clarkson both his fame and his good name. It left us with the simplistic myth of Wilberforce and his evangelical warriors in a holy crusade". (21)

When I questioned ChatGPT's reply to the question it replied:

I apologize for any confusion caused by my previous response. To clarify, William Wilberforce, while a key figure in the abolitionist movement, did not single-handedly abolish slavery. The process of abolishing slavery involved numerous individuals, organizations, and events over several years.

As mentioned earlier, Wilberforce was an influential British politician and abolitionist who dedicated himself to the cause of ending the slave trade and slavery. He played a crucial role in raising awareness, advocating for change, and pushing for legislative action in the British Parliament.

Wilberforce's efforts, along with those of other abolitionists, contributed to the passage of significant legislation that eventually led to the abolition of slavery. The Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished the transatlantic slave trade, was a major milestone achieved in part due to Wilberforce's advocacy.

However, it was the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that officially abolished slavery in most British colonies, granting freedom to enslaved individuals. This legislation was passed several years after Wilberforce's death, and it was the result of continued efforts by a range of activists, abolitionist organizations, and changing societal attitudes towards slavery.

Therefore, while William Wilberforce's contributions to the abolitionist movement were significant and influential, it is important to recognize that the abolition of slavery was a collective effort involving many individuals and events over a considerable period of time.

ChatGPT now knows it made a mistake but is not sure what it is and therefore reinforces its original inaccurate comments. "I apologize for any confusion caused by my previous response. To clarify, William Wilberforce, while a key figure in the abolitionist movement, did not single-handedly abolish slavery. The process of abolishing slavery involved numerous individuals, organizations, and events over several years."

It then goes on to wrongly claim: "However, it was the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that officially abolished slavery in most British colonies, granting freedom to enslaved individuals. This legislation was passed several years after Wilberforce's death, and it was the result of continued efforts by a range of activists, abolitionist organizations, and changing societal attitudes towards slavery." Wilberforce died on 29th July 1833 and not "several years" after the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

However, sometimes ChatGPT AI does get somethings right. The members of my University of the Third Age group discussed this issue by email. One member typed in a question about Spartacus Educational. Its replied as follows:

Spartacus Educational is an educational website that provides a wide range of resources and materials related to history, politics, and social issues. It was created by John Simkin, a former history teacher, and is named after the famous Roman gladiator and rebel leader, Spartacus.

The website offers articles, biographies, and primary source documents on various historical topics, covering a wide range of periods and subjects. It aims to promote critical thinking and provide in-depth information to educators, students, and the general public.

Spartacus Educational covers a diverse range of topics, including world history, wars, revolutions, famous individuals, social movements, and more. The content includes well-researched articles, images, and interactive resources to engage and educate visitors.

The website is known for its emphasis on presenting historical events and figures in a balanced and unbiased manner. It encourages users to explore different perspectives and interpretations, fostering a deeper understanding of complex historical events.

Overall, Spartacus Educational is a valuable resource for anyone seeking reliable and comprehensive information on a wide range of historical topics.

Simkin's work on Spartacus Educational has garnered recognition and acclaim. His dedication to research and education has made him a respected figure within the history community. While specific personal details about John Simkin may be limited, his contributions to history education through the Spartacus Educational platform have left a lasting impact.