Chapter 6- BTC

In Chapter 6 of Bury the Chains, Hochschild mentions how so many people living in Britain did not necessarily agree with slavery, but at the same time could not see a way of life without it. Dr. Peckard, who was the vice chancellor at Cambridge University, decided to challenge slavery by presenting an essay contest where contestants had to address Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will? Thomas Clarkson, a former lower-ranking Latin prize writing contest winner, set out to win this essay. While Clarkson researched about slavery, he was astonished by what he was reading. Clarkson could barely fathom that the tales of slavery were actually true. After winning the essay contest, Clarkson decided that it was time for slavery to end. He decided that he wanted to publish his essay, but after finding out that a certain company only wanted to publish his work for a select group of people, Clarkson found help from a fellow Quaker friend who lead him to George Phillip’s printing shop on George Yard. The campaign that Clarkson and the fellow committee members took on was outstanding. The question left was, could this campaign take flight when Britons themselves did not have basic rights, but were fighting for the rights of others?

I really liked Hochschild’s point about how “disapproving of slavery was something very different from the belief that anything could ever be done about it.” This seemed to be the standpoint of many people at the time. Although people disapproved of slavery, they still realized that they were still so reliant on it. Because of their reliance, it would be unlikely to think that it would end. The comparison to a present day problem, in this case, global warming was an excellent analogy. Most people realize that global warming is a problem, but they also think at the same time, “it’s not like we can really do anything to change it because we are so dependent on driving.” There is recognition of the problem, but actions are not as likely to be taken.