Chapter 1 - Many Golden Dreams in Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild

In Chapter 1 of Adam Hochschild’s novel Bury the Chains the author describes the slave trade of the 18th century as comparative to the billionaires of the dot coms of the 21st century. This chapter follows the journey of a young man, John Newton, who sailed all around the Atlantic Ocean as part of a crew, as part of the army, and as the captain of a slave ship. Though he spent the majority of his time in this chapter at seas, his heart was back in England with his love and eventual wife, Mary Catlett. Newton was drawn to this job because he hoped for profits and more importantly it was seen as a position of power. Some of the most inflectional people of the time were slave traders; and because of stances today towards slavery their reputations are forever tarnished. Newton journeys consisted of sailing a triangle across the Atlantic Ocean; starting in England then to the African coast and then to the Americas. He traded different cargo at each location, much of his success came from his ability to barter with different individuals. At sea Newton became a very religious man after he repented for his life of sin; however, this did not stop him from acting cruelly towards his slaves and lower crew members. Newton accredits all the turning points in his life to divine intervention. Since God had not told him that his current profession is sinful, Newton sees nothing evil about it.