Author

Adam Hochschild

16 key ideas across 2 books, each explained in our own words.

Bury the Chains

IDEA 1
Abolition began in a printing shop
Hochschild describes how, in 1787, twelve men met in a London printing shop to found a committee against the slave trade. At the time, slavery was widely accepted, and few believed it could be ended.
IDEA 2
Clarkson gathered evidence
Hochschild describes Thomas Clarkson, who travelled thousands of miles collecting evidence about the slave trade. He interviewed sailors and gathered objects like chains and shackles. These objects helped make the trade's cruelty real to people who had never seen it.
IDEA 3
Wilberforce led in Parliament
William Wilberforce championed abolition in Parliament for years. Hochschild describes his persistence despite repeated defeats. Hochschild shows that he kept bringing the issue back year after year, until opinion in the country finally moved with him.

IDEA 1
A king owned a colony
Hochschild describes how King Leopold II of Belgium acquired the vast Congo region as his personal property in the 1880s. He presented his project as humanitarian, while really seeking profit.
IDEA 2
Stanley helped build the colony
Hochschild describes how explorer Henry Morton Stanley helped Leopold establish control in the Congo, signing treaties with local chiefs. Many chiefs did not understand what they were signing. Hochschild shows how this kind of trick gave Leopold a legal-looking claim over a huge territory.
IDEA 3
Rubber brought terror
When demand for rubber boomed, Leopold's agents forced Congolese people to collect it under brutal conditions. Hochschild describes widespread violence and hostage-taking. Hochschild shows that villages that failed to meet rubber quotas were often punished harshly.

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