Books : Bury the Chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery

Rating: - Very engaging retelling about the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire
This is a very engaging history about the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. As author Adam Hochschild retells it, the realization about the evil of slavery came surprisingly quickly in Great Britain in the closing years of the eighteenth century. By the early months of 1787, most inhabitants of Britain (with the exception of the Quakers and very few other people) would have seen the slave trade as something natural, that had occurred in every civilization in human history. By the closing months of that same year, hundred of thousands of Britons had joined a boycott of sugar made in the West Indies plantations. It would take however until 1807 (mainly because of the French revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic wars) to outlaw the slave trade in the British Empire and until the 1830s to outlaw slavery itself (it would take even longer to end slavery in other countries like the Unites States and Brazil, of course) Why this turn of mind happened? Hochschild throws around some hypothesis (the inhabitants of Britain suddenly saw a similarity between slavery and the hated forced enlistments of British subjects into the British navy, he claims) but none of them is entirely convincing. The book is very interesting throughout, focusing on a few characters who become the protagonists of the struggle (like William Wilberforce, a very conservative man in other issues, but a commited if cautious fighter against the slave trade), the radical activist Thomas Clarkson (a man surprisingly modern in some of his beliefs but who could also be very naive), the former slave Olaudah Equiano, the repentant former captain of a slave ship John Newton, the defender of slavery Banastre Tarleton and prime minister William Pitt (a timid opponent of slavery). And there are also very interesting chapters dealing with the Haitian revolution, the first succesful slave revolt in history.

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Rating: - A truly outstanding work of history & indispensible for anyone remotely interested in the subject.
The abolitionist movement was, Hochschild says, "first sustained mass campaign anywhere on behalf of someone else's rights." in history, as such he considers it to be the ancestor of all modern mass campaigns. The story of the abolition campaign takes in the leading lights of the movement whose personalities and eccentricities are brought to life vividly, as well as the supporters throughout the country who individually had little influence ( most of them could not vote ) but whose mass boycotts of slave produced sugar sent a powerful signal as did the petitions on a scale that parliament had never witnessed before. The role of women was remarkable for the era.

The other side of the debate, the pro slavery forces, are also heard although thankfully not caricatured although some of the propaganda they put forward were so preposterous that it is hard for a 21st century man not to laugh out loud, such as the idea of rebranding slaves as 'assistant planters'.

Before any of this though 'Bury the Chains' begins by discussing the conditions of slaves themselves so as to avoid the danger of viewing the horrors involved in the abstract as well as to put in context the importance of slavery in late 18th century Britain's economy and how readily it was taken for granted. It was unthinkable to outlaw the practice. Towards then end of the book the major slave revolts are also covered.

The key abolitionists were William Wilberforce, James Stephen, Granville Sharp, Olaudah Equiano and John Newton all of whom merit longer treatment than I can provide here, however if one man is seen in this book as indispensible to the cause it was Thomas Clarkson.

Clarkson was recruited to the cause when as a young man he entered and won an essay competition set up by Sharp. Whilst he initially just wanted to win the competition once he began to think about slavery, wiping it from the face of the Earth became his driving force for the rest of his life. As the organiser of the campaign he travelled up and down the country for years on end to mobilise support and gather evidence against the trade. On more than one occasion this put him in tremedous physical danger from thugs hired by the slaver interests. It was Clarkson who more than anyone can claim credit for transforming the movement from a small clique into an irresistable force, simple items such as diagrams of the condition of a packed slave ship or the tools of the trade such as thumb screws and leg irons horrified people across the land. The mass campaign pioneered many of the techniques that are still used by campaigns today, badges, leaflets, posters, petitions, letter writing campaigns and public rallies.

Hochschild was by profession a radical left wing journalist, the founder editor of American political magazine Mother Jones, and it is of little surprise when allusions or comparisons to modern left wing causes are made. Or that he so obviously admires the radical elements within the campaign rather than the more conservative or evangelical christian elements. Yet it is a sign of the quality and integrity of his writing that although he makes his points he doesn't shy from providing enough information for someone to draw their own conclusions.

If there is a better account of the abolitionist movement in 18th century Britain then I have not seen it. This is both an accessible book but richly informative giving both the grand narrative of abolition with countless stories within that.

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Rating: - Superb history - but unfair to Wilberforce
Bury the Chains is great history, colourful, passionate and informative. But in its efforts to rehabilitate Clarkson at the expense of Wilberforce, it's actually rather unfair to Wilberforce.

For example, for 12 years of the 20-year abolition campaign, Clarkson had nothing to do with it, having had a breakdown, while Wilberforce carried on relentlessly. Hochschild brushes past that whole period in five pages (of a 467-page book), sidelining Wilberforce's essential contribution to the campaign.

If you take that bias into account, however, its a great read, and absolutely inspiring.

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Rating: - Great story, brilliantly written
This is history as it should be written. Meticulously researched and written like a novel. The book not only sketches the British campaign to abolish slavery but also gives a great insight into the slave trade in the British empire at its peak. It offers a re-assessment of the role of Wilberforce - traditionally the hero of the anti slavery campaign - who the author sees as a conservative religious zealot. I would have liked to know more about the slave trade in other countries - France, Spain and Portugal - but there is more than enough here to entertain, inform and inspire.

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Rating: - Remarkable book
Beautifully written. A shocking tale, but not one without hope, in that it reveals how a small band of individuals managed to help change the course of history.