Bury the Chains : Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves

Rating:
Summary: Great book on latest in long series of abolition activists
Review: In reading this excellent book, it is important to not read more into it than its narrow subject matter, for example, to not conclude that anti-slavery views and activism did not begin anywhere until the late 18th century, and the small number British abolitionists whose activities Hochschild so well narrates. Many were opposing slavery long before, e.g.,

(a) Samuel Sewall, Selling of Joseph: A Memorial (Boston: Green and Allen, 1700);

(b) Ralph Sandiford, A Brief Examination of the Practice of the Times (Philadelphia: Franklin and Meredith, 1729);

(c) Benjamin Lay, All Slave-Keepers That Keep The Innocent in Bondage, Apostates (Philadelphia: Ben Franklin, 1737).

Note also abolitionist writings such as by

(a) Abolitionist Rev. Theodore D. Weld, The Bible Against Slavery (New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1837), tracing condemnations of slavery back to the Bible, the Law of Moses, and Ancient Israel;

(b) Abolitionist Rev. George B. Cheever, God Against Slavery and the Freedom and Duty of the Pulpit To Rebuke It, As a Sin against God (Cincinnati: American Reform Tract and Book Society, 1857), tracing condemnations of slavery back to the Bible, the Law of Moses, Ancient Israel, the prophet Jeremiah, and Ancient Judah;

(c) Abolitionist Rev. John G. Fee, An Anti-Slavery Manual, or, The Wrongs of American Slavery Exposed By the Light of the Bible and of Facts, with A Remedy for the Evil, 2d ed. (New York: William Harned, 1851), showing slavery condemned back at least to the time of the Biblical Patriarch Joseph, indeed, in principle (the "original grant" concept) back to the time of the Garden of Eden;

(d) Alvan Stewart, Legal Argument For the Deliverance of 4,000 Persons from Bondage (New York: Finch & Weed, 1845), tracing anti-slavery activism back to the violent divine intervention in direct opposition to slavery via the Exodus, with ten plagues, fugitive slaves fleeing Egypt, reparations of silver, gold and clothing at the "plundering" level, mass deaths of slavers, including the first-born and the drowning of Egypt's army;

(e) Abolitionist Edward Coit Rogers, Letters on Slavery Addressed to the Pro-slavery Men of America, Showing Its Illegality in All Ages and Nations: Its Destructive War Upon Society and Government, Morals and Religion (Boston: Bela Marsh, 1855), showed slavery condemnation among Ancient Greece and Rome, the early Christians, Medieval European societies, and so on.

So it is vital to understanding, to not conclude that anti-slavery views and activism did not begin anywhere until the persons Hochschild cites began their late in history activism. They were in fact following numerous precedents going back thousands of years.

Rating:
Summary: The Mis-Conscious of a Society
Review: Readers will find the book description of this book adequate. So then the question becomes: why read this book? Around page 46 of Hochschild's book, one finds Mr Granville Sharp, who lived in the late 1700's, throwing his weight against the institution of slavery in Great Britain. Sharp argued forcefully that the law allowed no one to be a slave in Great Britain. However case law on the matter was scanty. Even two centuries earlier King Henry
VIII had had a slave.

So why read this book? This book is about how another society besides our own proclaimed "liberty to all..." and mis-conceived what "all" really meant.

Rating:
Summary: The moment of truth
Review: The curse of slavery had haunted civilization for thousands of years, even the moderate gains of the medieval period seemingly eroded by the rise of the modern economy in the exploitation of Caribbean sugar capitalism, and yet within a generation the rise of abolitionism triggered the final end of the institution. This account of the birth of the abolitionist advocacy, in mysterious synchrony with the American French Revolutions,tells the tale of twelve men who created one of the first effective grassroots movements in history. It is a tale with many episodes, among them many failures, but an outstanding moral: don't give up. Well done, from the author of King Leopolds'Ghost. See also, Though the Heavens May Fall, from Stephen Wise.

Rating:
Summary: An inspiring work...
Review: This book delivered far more than I expected. I was inspired to read that the abolition of slavery was, upon inspection, a long series of partial victories. This work, along with Kevin Belmonte's biography on Wilberforce paint an inspiring canvas of courage. I promptly donated both books to our town library.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: This is a well-written, readable account of the British movement to end the trade in slaves. Hochschild argues, with justification, that this movement was in some ways the template for all future political movements, complete with newsletters, buttons, and boycotts. The main weakness of the book, in my view, is its failure to appreciate the transatlantic nature of the anti-slavery movement in the late 18th and early 19th century. Hochschild mentions only a few American antislavery advocates (curiously including Jefferson in his list); he fails to mention John Jay (who served as first president of the New York Manumussion Society from 1784 onwards) and Alexander Hamilton (another member of the NY Manumussion Society and proponent during the Revolution of a scheme to enlist blacks in the army and "give them their freedom with their muskets.") Anthony Benezet, whose antislavery pamphlets preceded and indeed guided the British, is given a brief mention. Those interested in the US side of the story could consult Ron Chernow's book on Alexander Hamilton or my new biography of John Jay, set to appear in March, as well as more specialized works such as Zilversmit, First Emancipation.