StaggShire

Why was it so hard to stop the international slave trade?

Well, for one thing, America, the great hypocrite of the time, did not get on board with abolition until well after Great Britain did. But at the time this movie shows Great Britain was the greatest empire in the world, and was built upon the backs of slaves. The slave trade was acceptable to all but few, and of these, even fewer were brave enough to speak against it. This made it really difficult, because people in Parliament, although perhaps they personally they agreed with abolition, didn’t want to end people’s livelihood. Many people had heard about the horrors of slavery but didn’t quite believe them or couldn’t or didn’t want to understand the reality of things, didn’t want to be held accountable. It’s like today with the cruelty to animals thing. The beef and chicken millions of Americans eat every day were animals shoved 20,000 into a few dozen square feet, packed with hormones so they couldn’t even stand, lived in their own waste and pecked each other’s eyes out for lack of space… and people don’t want to believe it. People don’t want to watch FOOD Inc. to find out the truth behind America’s meatpacking industry. Who wants to be accountable for their sins?

I have yet to see FOOD INC., but last summer after reading the China Study I, for health benefits as well as my love for animals, am mostly vegetarian, with the exception of fish. I no longer buy any meat that is not free-range, and then only sparingly. I know that I as one person can make a difference, and I think that’s something a lot of people in those days didn’t believe. Indeed, in the movie in a conversation between William Pitt and Wilbur, before Wilbur’s abolitionist political days, Pitt challenges Wilbur to change the world, and Wilbur says, “I would change myself first.” It is as if he didn’t believe he could change the world, but he did, and more people today and then should have/had confidence in their ability to do and be something greater.
Another major problem was that people simply weren’t informed about slavery and the terrors of it, which again can be compared to the importance of food documentaries and becoming informed about where our food comes from and how it is treated. Knowledge is power, and even then it took years and years and years of knowledge dished out by Wilbur and his supporters to end the British slave trade. People also thought that destroying slavery was destroying England, and by destroying slavery the riches of the Indies would be handed over to the French. An argument that was also brought up in the film was that slaves equaled plantations, and without plantations, how were they supposed to fill the coffers of the king? They were worried that the French would step into their place and reap the rewards of the Indies, and I willing to bet France thought the same thing about the British. When the time of the war between Britain and France came closer, people thought that abolition wasn’t loyal to the king, which was weird. The focus came off of slavery and onto the war. Suddenly those men, women, and child slaves weren’t so important when people were afraid for themselves. They lost their compassion through fear. Also, vicious rumors were spread about those propagating abolition, rumors that irresponsible people gladly seized as an excuse to be passive while God’s children were continually violated. Additionally, people thought that there were other issues; they said that conditions were bad for everyone, people right there in England; in this way people were distracted from the issue. I hate that, hate when people say well yes, that’s bad, but what about this thing? I understand the importance of prioritizing, but just because there are multiple problems at hand in the world doesn’t mean we have to wait and figure out the solutions to all of them before we fix one. Also, people were elitist, and really thought they deserved to wring their bread from the sweat of another man’s brow, as Abraham Lincoln quoted in his second inaugural address. Also, Satan himself was of course behind the international slave trade, and his influence was strong over the hearts of those there. Heavenly Father’s loving gospel hadn’t returned to the earth yet, and men’s hearts were weak and bereft of the gift of the Holy Ghost. I mean, it took 20 years of being a slaver before John had a change of heart, repented from his life as a seller of souls, and wrote the song “Amazing Grace”. I wonder how often throughout those twenty years he felt horror at the things he was doing? I wonder what made him decide to end it?

Either way, God triumphed, and the internationally legal slave trade was abolished.