6 March, 2008

I have learned some things about my writing through this course such as how to contextualize quotes into essays more cleanly. I have also learned about the idea of an analysis paragraph as a way to put points together and establish something new by combining them into one explanatory paragraph for analysis and synthesis. I also have generally learned how to write more effective research papers by finding better sources and by really analyzing the sources I find.

I’ve learned the importance of rhetorical analysis with regards to writing, meaning that I know more to look for in sources such as the audience, possible bias, and other things that might change how the writing should be taken.

I would say learning about the many avenues of finding sources from examining bibliographies to using focused search engines to access sources I might not have found normally.

In Class

One important thing discussed was that the topic should involve something that is genuinely at stake. There needs to be a reason and purpose for the paper or no one will have interest in reading. The argument pursued should have a reason why it is pursued.

Another important topic was pushing beyond pros and cons in your argument. It is important because usually topics are not in black and white, there is a grey area to them to them that should be explored. Neither side in a debate is usually completely correct or completely wrong. This is a necessary factor to take into account when making an argument

In Class Discussion

How have other, less horrific, images served to desensitize us as a society?
Do Images only capture our attention when they are provocative? Think of advertisements, do we remember the scandalous ones over the tame ads?

I think being exposed daily, through TV, movies, the internet, etc. to strong imagery has certainly contributed to our society becoming desensitized to the effects of the most provocative imagery over time. The level of indignity needed to stimulate people to act has certainly increased over time. As striking as the Brookes diagram is, the image of the Vietnam Girl running is a photo, rather then a drawing, and is more graphic then the Brookes diagram I believe.

Compare the diagram of Abu Ghraib with the diagram from the Brookes and examine the graphic nature of each, the effect of each on the psyche of the citizens exposed to it, and other possible comparisons to see how the effects of images on our psyche has changed over time.

Critical Review

The review of Bury the Chains, done by Brookhiser, seems strongly accurate. The book is shown to be very anti-religion, and being prejudiced towards a group of people in a book striking down the mistreatment of a group of people seems hypocritical. I think at times it did indeed get in the way of the flow, as well, when he took any opportunity to bash a Christian. It made the tale come across as catty at points and Hochschild should have relied more upon his ability to establish striking imagery moreso then his bias against religion.

In the review of Bury the Chains by Robinson of the New York Times, the sentiment that Hochschild's method of inquiry seemed more indicative of a novel then a historical account is a point well taken. The way that he always presents the abolitionists as against all odds makes it feel more like he's trying to make it a page turner then give a true discussion to what really did cause the end of slavery in Great Britain. If the movement was so unlikely to succeed then, like Robinson says, it seems likely that other factors must have contributed to it that Hochschild does not delve deeply enough into.

Chapter 18 Summary

Chapter 18 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains begins by discussing that a time of revolt was occuring throughout Europe in the 1790s. The chapter then moves into discussing a major slave revolt that took place on the island of St. Dominique. This revolt shocked the world, not only because of the scope and violence, but because St. Dominque was seen as the "crown jewel" of European colonies at the time. The successes and horrors of the revolt in St. Domique brought fear to the forefront throughout the rest of Europe. Not only was the vast scale of the revolt something new, but it was also the first revolt where mulattos rose up alongside the slaves as they too were mistreated. In addition to that, some whites were in support of the anti-slavery cause. The chapter then moves into the war between Britain and France in 1793. The British headed to Dominque and achieved many early victories and assumed victory but they were fought tooth and nail by Touissant L'Ouverture and his army of illiterate rebel slaves. Eventually the British realized that even if they attained victory it would be a hollow one. Their bravado got the better of them and they continued to send fresh troops and continued to be turned back. Eventually St. Dominque attained victory and it marked the first time that "the soldiers of the world's greatest slave-trading nation had given way before an army of ex-slaves."

Essay Lead

One of the most powerful weapons that British Abolitionists had at their disposal during their quest to end slavery was a diagram that exposed the conditions on slave ships, with slaves packed together like sardines. More recently, in 1972, the American people were exposed to a horrific photo of a young girl running naked, her flesh burning as she ran down a dirt road. The photo turned American opinions even more against a war they already were certainly not enamored with and it was a major catalyst that provoked the end of the war. In 2004 Americans were exposed to similarly graphic and disturbing photos from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq but America did not get the same momentum towards ending the war in Iraq after seeing the atrocities, and three years later as the war rages on, the photos are largely forgotten. Were Americans as greatly scarred by those horrific photos as people were in the past, but would prefer to wait on the world to change? Or have we become so desensitized to everything due to the more graphic things people are exposed to every day that images like that lose their chilling effect that brings about change?

Chapter 15 Summary

Chapter 15 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains begins by giving a rundown of what has happened so far and how far they'd come in their efforts to end slavery in Britain. The chapter then moves into describing some of the methodology used by the abolitionists in an effort to plead their case. One reason he cites is that due to the smaller, more densely populated geography of Great Britain they were able to spread their anti-slavery message throughout the country more efficiently then most and were able to get the message to more people in a shorter period of time. Their effort to make people aware of the ills of slavery was also strongly aided by the British Postal Service which was the most advanced in the world at the time. The thing I found most interesting about the chapter though was the short poem "Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves". The idea of shock and horror that Britons had for seeing their countrymen enslaved might have led to the national opinion on slavery beginning to change once Britons were made aware of the humanity of those that they had enslaved.

Preliminary Topic

One topic that interested me when reading through is the question of whether capitalism is the root cause of slavery and whether or not a Marxist or socialist government is less likely to enact slavery. I find this to be an interesting topic because I can currently go either way on it. On one hand, obviously slavery equals money for those involved, but on the other side of the coin it seems that in practice communism inevitably leads to a ruling class where most people basically become serfs, which isn't all that far from slavery itself.

Pages Summary

The first section of pages in Hochschild's Bury the Chains deals with Equiano's book tour after completing his slavery narrative. The book appeared as the hearings were winding down, giving parliament another argument against slavery. After completing the book he began what is known as the world's first major political book tour. Equiano, shortly after marrying his interracial wife, headed out city to city, nation to nation advertising his book. Through his travels he managed to give the book wide circulation and this served a very important purpose. The book made white people aware that their black skin color had no impact on their minds which painted a new picture of Africans for many people through Equiano's intellect and writing style. He also skillfully combined genres of the popular books of the day in an effort to give it wide readability among numerous different types of people.
The next set of pages begins with the failure of the Slave-Act to become law. This leads the abolitionists to move towards a boycott of sugar as another avenue towards raising the consciousness of slavery among people in Britain. Following that, it moves into another book that was being used to spread the anti-slavery message from Clarkson. The book did not rely on theology, or heartwrenching tales but was mainly just a stripped down piece that let the gruesom evidence do the talking itself. It is considered the first great piece of investigative journalism in history.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains returns to King George III who was now recovering from his temporary insanity. Shortly after he recovered, with politics returning to normal, Wilberforce introduced the 1789 Anti-Slavery Bill to the Parliament. A pro-slavery member, Hawkesbury, was the head of the committee on Trade and Plantations, but was shown to be fair to the abolitionists. Both sides go back and forth in a hearing offering testimony to support their sides. The abolitionists receive a major break when they discovered a diagram of a fully loaded slave ship highlighting the terrible conditions slaves endured being packed together like sardines. The abolitionists encountered a problem when many said that if Britain abolished the slave trade, slave traders would move to France where the slave trade was still legal. The abolitionists did gain a boon for their side when Marquis de Lafayette started an abolitionist group of his own in France. If the abolitionists could abolish the slave trade in France they would undercut a major pro-slavery argument in Great Britain. Then James Stephen is re-introduced...for no real reason. Wilberforce attempted to abate fears of the economny tanking without slavery by saying that new slaves would be born without the brutal slave trade, which would in turn increase British prosperity. Even so, he was unable to assuage fears of the competition from France. The chapter comes to a close with one major positive and one major for the movement. The negative is that James Ramsey was a martyr of the movement, passing after a hemorrhage. The positive though was that Lafayette was appointed the mayor of Paris which would certainly give him more clout.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains talks about Clarkson's trip to an elegant London dinner party of Bennet Langton in an effort to talk to a member of the House of Commons by the name of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was a wealthy Anglican who was also close friends with William Pitt, the prime minister and the abolitionists believed he would be a good person to approach to bring their cause to the floor of Parliament. He did help the abolitionists greatly and a few years down the line West Indian planters would burn him in effigy. Wilberforce himself was somewhat of a paradox in that he was such a strong conservative that he even thought of plays as pernicious, but yet was in support of the abolitionists' cause. The chapter then returns to Clarkson who had completed his moral case against the slave trade but now was making an effort to develop a practical case against it. The chapter then moves to a familiar face, John Newton who, 34 years after the fact wrote a forceful pamphlet showing regret for, and speaking out against, the slave trade. Hochschild then uses Newton to prove the point that a strong social movement can awaken the conscience. While, getting the support of Newton was a great boon for the abolitionists they also had more recent and equally disturbing tales from his ally Alexander Falconbridge on the horrors of the slave trade. The chapter then moves to two former slaves Equiano and Cagoano, who spoke against slavery. Cagoano wrote a book that had a small recount of his experiences being enslaved, but mainly about his feelings of the immorality of slavery.
The end of the chapter talks about a bill authored by William Dolben that passed the parliament that served to regulate the slave trade. The regulations included limiting the number of slaves it could carry, and requiring every ship to have a doctor as well as to keep a register of slave and crew deaths. Some among the abolitionists feared that these regulations would make people believe the slave trade was just, just abused. In any event the bill was passed and those such as Equiano felt that some regulation was better then none at all.

Chapter 8

In chapter 8 of Bury the Chains by Hochschild beings by saying that the new committee of abolitionists were pioneers in forging a central tool of modern civil society. He goes on to discuss the role of the Quakers in the progress of the movement during their century long experience as a pressure group. The group decided to start relatively small. Instead of emancipating all of the slaves, they thought, they could just end the slave trade which would have a major effect on the treatment of slaves, especially in the West Indies. If there was no slave trade then those in the West Indies couldn't just work their slaves to death and get no ones whenever they felt like, thus the abolitionists thought at the very least ending the slave trade would force slave owners to give those enslaved much better conditions and they could at least live longer, healthier lives. One abolitionist, Reverend James Ramsey, was mercilessly attacked before the movement had even began. Hochschild then talks about Clarkson's attempt to find witnesses to the atrocities of slavery. He talked to a slave ship doctor Dr. Arnold about the brutal conditions on the ships. After that he gave a sermon in Manchester on the slave trade among people already somewhat sympathetic to the abolitionists' cause. Clarkson's new Manchester friends sent a petition to parliament and the movement was under way.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains begins by talking about the first form of emancipation for slaves, albeit not in a truly altruistic manner. When the colonies began to stir with talks of rebellion in 1775 the British offered freedom to any slave that would join the British military in an effort to harm the colonial economy, as well as bolster their own military. The chapter then moves into the reprecussions that went on after the war. During the peace negotiations in France the newly formed United States "stipulated that British troops should carry off no negroes or other American property." The British troops still occupied New York City and Washington sent a list to the city of runaway slaves to be returned. A British general, Sir Guy Carleton, felt obligated to uphold their agreement with the former slaves and made the decision to evacuate the former slaves to Nova Scotia, a British colony. Nova Scotia then became the largest community of free blacks anywhere in the world.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains begins by discussing how entrenched slavery was in Great Britain and was booming after the Revolutionary War had ended. At the time, there were some abolitionists, but none believed they could break down something so deeply ingrained in British society. To once again relate past events to events happening today, he compares the abolitionist movement to the uphill climb with today's environmental movement. Continuing another trend of Bury the Chains, Hochschild points out the hypocrisy of Voltaire. Voltaire had mocked the idea of slavery in Candide, but had no problem with a slave ship being named after him.

The chapter then moves into the tale of Thomas Clarkson, a man attending Cambridge University. The dean of Cambridge held a Latin essay writing competition with the question being "Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare?", meaning Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will? He wrote an essay that declared slavery to be unlawful, and his essay won the contest. The thoughts of the essay began to sweep through his mind until reaching a crescendo during a horseback ride to Wades Mill. He though to himself that if the contents of his essay were true then "some person should see these calamities to their end." At that moment, many feel that the Anti-Slavery movement had begun. Two years later in May of 1787 the abolitionists had their first meeting in a printing shop which set the movement afoot.

Chapter 4

Chapter four of Hochschild's Bury the Chains tells the tale of the West Indies' Sugar trade principally. To give the reader a comparison to this day and age the author compares the sugar industry to today's oil industry. 60 percent of all slaves brought anywhere in the Americas were brought to the small islands of the Caribbean. This was due to the immense profits and demand for the sugar from European nations. Sugar was considered the principle source of national opulence in the Carribean. The chapter then moves to future abolitionist in James Steven. James Steven at the time before his reinvention is involved in a love triangle with a woman he knew from childhood, Nancy, and her friend, Maria. His best friend Tom, Nancy's brother, was also courting Maria, but he was away in the Navy as this went on. He eventually impregnated Maria but still tried to court Nancy. During this time he was able to once again resume law school and he attained his law degree. The problem was eventually "solved" when Maria found someone else to marry and James and Nancy eventually moved to the Caribbean and adopted the child after James Steven had caused a massive amount of heartache. While he was in the West Indies he saw the first horrific image that would drive him from his life of debauchery towards abolition years later when he attended a trial of four slaves charged with murdering a white doctor. They were most likely innocent, but sentenced to death anyway, but death alone was not what haunted Steven. Steven heard a tale of their execution which involved them being burned alive, a common execution for blacks at the time. This especially horrified Steven as he himself had benefitted from slavery due to his uncle's inheritance enabling him to return to law school that was gained through slavery. Two decades later he would, behind the scenes, strike a major blow against slavery, but this was just the beginning of his retribution.
The rest of the chapter comes from accounts of the Codrington plantation in Barbados. They first described the sugar making process in the sugar mills. It was a brutal crop to harvest for farmhands and millworkers. The farmhands were forced to carry heavy burdens of cane, followed by putting the cane through dangerous vertical rollers. The millworkers then took over and had to work tirelessly with massive deadly vats of scalding sugar that burned many a worker brutally. Both fields resulted in startlingly young deaths for the workers. Codrington's records not only show the horrors of slave labor, but also show who received benefits, including the Church of England. One cleric once said "I have long wondered and lamented that the negroes in our plantations decrease, and new supplies become necessary continually. Surely this proceeds from some defect of humanity and even good policy." But even the clergy themselves weren't going to find out. This further shows the horribly apathetic nature of everyone at the time with regards to slavery. Most saw it as just a fact of life...

Chapter Two

Chapter Two of Hochschild's Bury the Chains is devoted to recounting the story of Olaudah Equiano. The chapter first depicts parts of Equiano's child, largely quoting from his autobiography. We then move into Equiano's capture and entrance into slavery. Hochschild is sure to explain the horrors of the forced march to the coast including using chilling imagery when he describes "the trails to the coast that were littered with skeletons." The chapter then moves into the voyage into bondage and some of Equiano's experiences during his time in slavery. Hochschild then speaks of slave rebellions that were a large part of slave society that brought scared whites and some slaves alike. Equiano using his natural business savvy he began trading as his ship sailed to various locales until eventually through his profits he was able to buy his freedom from bondage and received a note as such from Robert King. One interesting passage that ended the chapter was that Equiano helped Irving select slaves to be field hands and that even though he fought fiercely to get his own freedom slavery was so pervasive at the time that he took for granted that any plantation in the Americas would be cultivated by slaves.

Chapter One

Chapter One of Hochschild's Bury the Chains focuses on giving backstory of John Newton's transition from a slave ship captain to an abolitionist. The chapter beings by establishing John Newton's history as a slave ship captain prior to the beginnings of his religious conversion. We then move onto a the tale of Newton surviving a severe North Atlantic gale on the triangle trade route that begins his conversion to Christianity. Following that it moves to Newton's proposal to Mary Catlett that continued his path to redemption. Following this, Newton returns to his seafaring after his marriage to Catlett and recounts the captain's success in quashing a slave rebellion aboard his ship. Following this he converted to evangelical Christianity but did not denounce slavery until some time later.

Introduction Summary

The main point in the introduction of Hochschild's Bury the Chains is to establish the scene and scope of the subject of the work. The aforementioned subject is the abolitionist movement in Great Britain that began when twelve men met in a printing shop on the twenty second of May in 1787. The introduction serves also to establish basic descriptions of many of the characters that will be featured in the work such as John Newton and Olaudah Equiano. Continuing from there, the author describes the significance of the movement to history and how the movement set the stage for much of the future of social movements in the centuries that followed.