"Bury the Chains" Ch 21 summary

Chapter 21 of Adam Hochschild's book, Bury the Chains, is mainly about the British Parliament. In 1806, Britain had been at war with France for a decade, so there was no chance to debate the abolition movement in Parliament. Finally, Clarkson and some of his colleagues were trying to get the movement back up and running, so Clarkson took a month long trip in Britain and Scotland, to revitalize people's feelings about slavery. This trip proved that people were still opposed to slavery, but the war with France had made the movement diminish in importance. Early in 1806, Wilberforce was contacted by James Stephen, who had thought of a bill that should be proposed to Parliament. The bill was to make it illegal for British subjects, shipyards, outfitters and insurers to take part in the slave trade to France's colonies and its allies colonies. Later that year, the bill passed. The next year, in 1807, abolitionists proposed to bill abolishing the slave trade in Britain; but the slaves were not set free. The bill was passed in both houses of Parliament and not soon after, King George III made the bill a law. And so, on May 1, 1807, the slave trade in Britian was now abolished.