Chapter 11 - Summary

Chapter 11 of Bury The Chains by Adam Hochschild begins with Wilberforce introducing an anti-slavery bid to parliament.  There were many debates between the abolitionists and those who were pro-slavery.  Clarkson found many witnesses to testify against slavery, but when looking for a worker on a slave ship, he failed.  Anyone with a job on a ship risked losing work forever by testifying.  Ultimately the abolitionists came into the lead as they found and released diagrams of slave ships filled to maximum capacity.  Marquis de Lafayette started an abolitionist group in France, which greatly aided the efforts in London.  If slavery was outlawed, people would move to Paris to continue the trade, but with this in Paris, their option was gone.  Wilberforce made his first presentation to parliament and strategically used words to explain that no one group in particular is to blame. He explained that the slave trade was not necessary for people to survive and that there were other ways to make money.  The chapter concludes with Ramsay's martyr, the bill postponed, and Lafayette appointed as Mayor of Paris.