Bury the Chains; Introduction

The imagery to start the novel makes it easier to understand the difference in times, and allowed for me to get a feel for what the world was like during "a global economy based on forced labor
" (2). While different countries had different means of enslaving people; nonetheless, it was a massive global trend. Free men were the minority, while the other 75 percent imprisoned in one way or another. It is a phenomenal feat that the anti slavery movement was successful in a little more than one lifetime, while the roots of slavery go as far back as the Romans, Greeks, Incas, and Aztecs. While American schools spend years of education on the importance of the Underground Railroad and the prominent American slavery abolitionists, the actual roots of the anti-slavery philosophy started with the men that met at 2 George Yard in 1787. Thomas Clarkson, the leader of the printing shop group, was one of the greatest contributors to human rights. Stephen Fuller, a plantation owner and pro-slavery advocate, was joined by so many people in fighting the movement. The reason for this is simple; the thought of ending global slavery was such a new and radical concept that had never been conceived before. The influence of these 18th century men is evident in any Democratic ideal held even today. Even though a minority of people in London would have even admitted to slavery being morally wrong in 1787, the idea of abolishing it seemed virtually impossible. Yet, by 1792 the House of Commons had already passed a law banning slave trade. Even though it took years for this to actually affect the masses of enslaved people at the time, once the movement caught on there was "no turning back" (7).