By rgpederson on January 8, 2009
Over break I finally picked up a book that CGE’s founder, Nathaniel has been trying to get me to read for years. And for good reason. Bury the Chains is an incredibly well-written account of the efforts of a few activists’ relentless and ingenious campaign to end the British slave trade– the first and most successful human rights movement of the early modern era. I have found it personally inspiring and convicting, eager to explore how to apply lessons from this movement to current day issues.
Much of what we now we consider basic advocacy techniques come from the strategies of Thomas Clarkson and the other activists at the core of the movement: petitions, boycotts, informative pamphlets, eye-witness interviews, images and life stories of victims, etc. These techniques both made the horrors of the slave trade real in the eyes of British citizens and legislators, as well as provided simple, practical ways for any person to get involved. For example, women, who couldn’t vote at the time, played a significant role in boycotting slave-produced slavery.
This post gives a short glimpse of the highlights of the book and elaborates on what we have to learn about social entrepreneur Thomas Clarkson. Below is a an excerpt– a list of what today’s social entrepreneurs and human rights activists can learn from Clarkson:
1. He built upon the work of others. The first thing Clarkson did after committing to his mission was to reach out to other, more experienced mentors who could help him determine the best way to undertake the great challenge of changing British society and policy.
2. He helped people find ways to contribute to the cause that reflected the specific types of and limitations of the power they had. Petitions, consumer boycotts, direct government advocacy were all important parts of the abolitionist movement’s strategy, and provided a variety of opportunities for people to get involved, even if they didn’t have the right to vote directly.
3. He found key allies. Clarkson simply could not have done his work without allies, particularly the Quakers who provided a language and a moral force for tackling the issue and William Wilberforce, who’s indefatigable willingness to press for legislation banning the slave trade slowly eroded the British parliaments will.
4. He understood the power of testimony and story. Clarkson was a collector. He brought together testimonies from slaves and slave ship captains with actual visuals – diagrams of slave ships and instruments of captivity – to create emotionally visceral appeals. As scholar Adam Hochschild has put it, “the abolitionists succeeded because they mastered one challenge that still faces anyone who cares about economic and social justice: drawing connections between the near and the distant.”
5. He didn’t give up. In some ways, building public support was easier than changing actual policy. The economic power behind the slave trade was strong, and had powerful access to Members of Parliament. What’s more, the rise of the abolitionist movement coincided with the French revolution, instigating a general Parliamentary fear of mass movements. It would have been easy for Clarkson and his allies to simply cede their efforts, but they persisted. Perhaps most telling, when the slave trade was finally banned in 1807, Clarkson did not retire his organizing. He spent the next three decades advocating for workers rights and mentoring a new generation of abolitionist leaders who would help abolish slavery itself
