Bury The Chains; Chapter 21

In Chapter 21 of Bury the Chains, author Adam Hochschild takes us step by step through the final efforts of finally passing the bill that ended the British slave trade once and for all. To begin the chapter, there are a number of discouraging factors listed that were delaying the once passionate abolition movement. "Repressive legislation had brought almost all reform-minded political activity to a stop" (300). After describing the reasons for the movement coming to a halt, which notably included the lack of support by many Britons whom had lost brothers and husbands on foreign battlefields, Hochschild introduces James Stephen. Described almost as "a savior to the movement," a combination between his law experience and blatant hatred for slavery motivated him. As described as the "best intellect" of the entire group, he disguised his anti-slavery motivations in designing a bill that ended British subjects, shipyards, outfitters, and insurers from any involvement in slave trade with any French colony. Because of the current situation with France, many Britons jumped at the thought of cutting ties with their enemy however possible. To disagree with the bill was unpatriotic. The Foreign Slave Trade Act soon abolished two-thirds of the entire British slave trade, yet many supporters of the bill itself were blind to Stephen's true motivations. Only after passing through the House of Commons did slave trade supports quickly notice the potential effect of the bill. However, it was too late. Even when Manchester citizens concerned of the effect on their cloth mills petitioned, Clarkson ignited his own allies in formulating a greater supported counter petition. One point of irony in Chapter 21 lied in the fact that Wilberforce opposed a proposition from a Parliament member that would free all infants born to slaves. There was greater support at this time than the 1790's for many reasons listed by Hochschild. One was that for the first time in history, British soldiers had not been able to contain rebellion efforts of slaves in St. Domingue. For the Britons, finally was it noticed that passion and drive was sometimes greater than quantity and size. "The climax of twenty years of effort" (307) came shortly after the bill abolishing the entire British slave trade passed both houses of Parliament in 1807. Shortly after, George III made this bill a law. Even though West Indie planters tried to counteract, faith was finally restored to the millions of enslaved people surrounding the Atlantic. In a typical Hochschild manner, the chapter comes to an end with a ironic actuality. While Britain had made an effort to wash out "this foul stain from the pure ermine of our national character" (308), there still was over half a million blacks still forced into slavery amongst plantations throughout the British Caribbean.