Amazing Grace

One of my most favorite movies is "Amazing Grace."  It is the story of the end of the slave trade in England.  I always watch it with subtitles so that I can soak up every bit.  It always amazes me how courageous some people are.  I wish I were courageous.

There is a book that tells the story of two of the men, William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, in more detail than the movie does.  It is "Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves" by Adam Hochschild.  I am really loving it.

Here is a story from the book.  The blog is a little long, but well worth the read.

In 1783 in England, the Quakers were the only group of people openly opposed to slavery.  But they were on the fringe of society, not the social elite. Their efforts were mostly ignored.  They were conspicuously different.  For instance, in deference to God, Quaker men would uncover their heads when preaching or praying, but would never doff their hats to a mere mortal, even to royalty.

In that year, there was an insurance fraud case that came to trial.  It was brought to court because the insurance company didn't want to pay for the 133 slaves that had been thrown overboard while they were still alive as the ship, the Zong, crossed the Atlantic Ocean.  Slaves were thought of as property, so this was not a case of murder.  The captain had reported that they were low on water and had to dispose of the sick ones so the others would survive.  His first mate testified in court that this was not true.  He was just loosing too much money because of many delays and knew he could make money with the insurance.

Granville Sharp was a prominent man who was fighting slavery, and wrote angry letters about this court case.  Most of these letters were ignored, but directly or indirectly the news reached a prominent Anglican clergyman, Dr. Peter Peckard.  The next year Dr. Peckard became vice-chancellor - the equivalent of an American university president - of Cambridge University.  In 1785 he set as the topic for Cambridge's most prestigious Latin essay contest the question "Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?"

One of those who entered the contest was twenty-five-year-old divinity student, Thomas Clarkson.  He was very ambitious and worked hard to win that essay.  He read all he could, managed to get access to the papers of a slave merchant who had recently died, and sought out several people who had witnessed slavery firsthand.

His essay won first prize. Afterward, he took the prize money and headed to London.  As he rode he thought on that essay and at one point, he got off his horse, and "sat down disconsolate on the turf by the roadside and held my horse. Here a thought came into my mind, that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end."

Only gradually did it dawn on him that he was that person.

After arriving in London, the Quakers sought him out.  They were aware of his essay, and were happy to have another person join in the antislavery fight. In May 1787, a dozen men started a planning committee.  Nine Quakers and three Anglicans, including Clarkson and Granville Sharp.

They decided to try and stop the slave trade first (the buying and selling of slaves) and fight for emancipation later.

Clarkson spent sixty years in the struggle for freedom.  At both his funeral procession and the overflowing church where the service was held, the mourners included many Quakers, and the men among them made an almost unprecedented departure from long-sacred custom.

They removed their hats.

Now you have heard something interesting.