 Newton and others counseled Wilberforce to use his silver tongue, his famous wit, and incredible passion on behalf of the slaves. Slaves were native Africans captured on that continent and shipped out like cargo by traders, many of whom were British at Wilberforce's time. The slave trade was an unspeakably evil but notoriously wealthy industry built on the blood, sweat, and suffering of innocent Africans, men, women, and children stolen from their native land.