Once again in Chapter 8 we see the Quakers offering help to the slave cause. "How large a system they planned to take on, yet in how small a space this whole drama seemed to be taking place" (Hochschild 108). I really found this quote intriguing, it is not a little area as Hochschild puts it, rather they are a battle in a war where every fight counts.
Clarkson was fighting the slave trade movement and seemed to think the best way was baby steps, he felt to cut out the rotts straight from the bottom would be too big of a step, he first needed to change minds open eyes.
Clarkson soon set out to find witnesses to help him abolish the slave trade. He was looking for witnesses willing to testify in front of parliament..this was a grueling and dangerous deed. Clarkson teemed up with Ramsey to help the slave cause, Ramsey was a pastor who saw first hand what had been happening to these slaves...Ramsey's fellow countrymen looked at him as a traitor for helping the slave cause.
Clarkson felt the slave trade dehumanized the sailors as well as the slaves, but the profit it brought in seemed to be too big for one man to tackle.
Later on Clarkson met up with Thomar Cooper and Thomas Welker, both notorious slave trade activists also. Cooper and Welker sent in a letter to parliament and some weeks later it contained ten thousand signatures of people against slavery, that means 1 out of every 5 people were anti slavery...a movement was underway.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment