"Bury the Chains" Chapter 6 summary

Chapter 6 of Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild is about a twenty-five year old man, Thomas Clarkson, who, in 1785, decided to submit an essay in Cambridge University's Latin essay contest. The topic for this essay contest was "Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?" Clarkson had won a lesser known essay contest the previous year. He researched and wrote his essay in two months. His essay came in first place. He decided to publish his essay, with some additions, in English. After turning down one publishing company, he ran into a friend of his who introduced him to James Phillips, who owned a printing shop in George Yard. Together, they published his essay, which was now as long as a book, in June, 1786. After spending some time with James Ramsay, he boarded a slave ship to witness first hand the things that happened on a slave ship. After this, he decided that something had to be done to abolish slavery, and he was just the man to do it. He met with 11 others, including James Phillips, William Dillwyn, Granville Sharp, 7 other Quakers and another Anglican. It was here, at 2 George Yard, on May 22, 1787, that these 12 men meeting in a printing shop would begin the movement to abolish British slavery.