Amazing Grace - 865 Words

Amazing Grace â€Å"When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon – men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who’s achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.† Those words are uttered by the character Lord Charles Fox in the British House of Commons towards the end of the 2006 movie Amazing Grace. They sum up the singular accomplishment of William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833), British†¦show more content†¦He was passionate to the point of being obsessive. Yet he also knew when to speak and when to make a tactical retreat. His timing was impeccable as were his patience and commitment. He wasn’t successful with every social justice campaign he took up. First elected to Parliament in 1780, he campaigned unsuccessfully for penal and electoral reform. It was in 1787, at the encouragement of William Pitt the Younger — his long-long friend and Prime Minister — that he took up the cause of abolition at Westminster. But his humanitarian and ethical arguments had to meet the economic interests of those who had made vast fortunes from the slave trade or the use of slave labour. Many of his fellow Parliamentarians had deep vested interests that wanted to see the status quo continue. Others were in the pay of slave traders. It was not until 1807 — full 20 years after Wilberforce first started his campaign — that the Abolition Bill was finally passed. Just before that, Wilberforce wrote his famous ‘Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Addressed to the Freeholders and Other Inhabitants of Yorkshire’, justifying his preoccupation with abolition against claims that he was neglecting their local interests at Westminster, and setting out all his arguments against the slave trade. Then, as now, elected people’s representatives have to perform this difficult balancing act — between their constituency’s immediate, everyday needs and the greater good or national interest.Show MoreRelatedAmazing Grace Essay795 Words   |  4 Pageschildren in Jonathan Kozols Amazing Grace. Who defines them as other? How? What makes them feel like nobodies? What makes them feel like somebodies? What is the role of religion in this daily struggle for human dignity? Drugs, violence, prostitution, pollution, infestation, and sickness of all kinds are present in South Bronx, New York. Unfortunately, children are surrounded and involved in all these problems and more. In Jonathan Kozol’s novel Amazing Grace, an evil reality full of racialRead MoreEssay on Amazing Grace1770 Words   |  8 Pages Jonathan Kozols Amazing Grace is a book about the trials and tribulations of everyday life for a group of children who live in the poorest congressional district of the United States, the South Bronx. Their lives may seem extraordinary to us, but to them, they are just as normal as everyone else. What is normal? For the children of the South Bronx, living with the pollution, the sickness, the drugs, and the violence is the only way of life many of them have ever known. In this book, theRead MoreEssay on The Analysis – Amazing Grace747 Words   |  3 PagesThe Analysis – Amazing Grace Kiel Carino ENG 125 Professor Olabisi Adenekan October 29, 2012 The Analysis – Amazing Grace The poetry â€Å"Amazing Grace† by John Newton is one of the most famous poems ever written and composed. â€Å"Amazing Grace† has been particularly influential and has affected lives since it was written. The reasons why â€Å"Amazing Grace† is influential are for the same reasons why I found this poem very interesting and engagingRead MoreAmazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol690 Words   |  3 PagesAt first glance and after reading through Amazing Grace, it seems that Jonathan Kozol is going to take us on a journey through the lives of the underprivileged, but similar to the ones you read about, or hear in the news. However, this is not the case; the real underlying theme seems to be how the life and society they live in is very alike to a life in a prison, not because it talks explicitly about prison conditions in this area, but also because their lives are portrayed as being a prison. KozolRead MoreJonathan Kozols Amazing Grace Essay852 Words   |  4 Pageso r are glad to be separated from them. Such is the problem in New York City today and in Mott Haven in Jonathan Kozols Amazing Grace. I have lived in New York City all my life and I had no idea that these problems were going on so close to home. If I live about three miles away from Mott Haven and I am not aware of the situation there, then who is? Chapter 1 of Amazing Grace opens with a startling fact. It tells the reader that when one boards the Number 6 train from Manhattan to the South BronxRead MoreAmazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol Essay788 Words   |  4 Pages Jonathan Kozols book, Amazing Grace, analyzes the lives of the people living in the dilapidated district of South Bronx, New York. Kozol spends time touring the streets with children, talking to parents, and discussing the appalling living conditions and safety concerns that plague the residents in the inner cities of New York. In great detail, he describes the harsh lifestyles that the poverty stricken families are forced into; day in and day out. Disease, hunger, crime, and drugs are of theRead MoreView Of Justice Reflected By Amazing Grace Essay1998 Words   |  8 PagesJustice Reflected in Amazing Grace In the Republic, Socrates starts the discussion with the definition of justice. When Thrasymachus angrily interrupts and gives his own definition, he in fact takes an opposite view on justice and argues that injustice is more advantageous and profitable. Glaucon and Adiemantus further develop Thrasymachus’ view with a theory of the nature and the origins of justice and claim that justice is desired only for the sake of rewards. In Amazing Grace, injustice happensRead MoreEssay about Jonathan Kozols Amazing Grace 1553 Words   |  7 PagesJonathan Kozols Amazing Grace  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      While reading Amazing Grace, one is unable to escape the seemingly endless tales of hardship and pain. The setting behind this gripping story is the South Bronx of New York City, with the main focus on the Mott Haven housing project and its surrounding neighborhood. Here black and Hispanic families try to cope with the disparity that surrounds them. Mott Haven is a place where children must place in the hallways of the building, because playing outsideRead MoreWhats so Amazing About Grace Book Report Essay741 Words   |  3 PagesCameron Peterson Mr. Oswald Romans Period 4 11 January 2012 What’s So Amazing about Grace? Book Report What’s So Amazing about Grace? is a book written by Philip Yancey. It begins with a twisted story of a prostitute living on the streets. She is unable to feed her two-year old child and has to find another way to earn money. She could not think of any other alternatives and began selling her child out for prostitution. She could make much more money this way than she could in one night. TheRead MoreEssay on Poverty and Child Development1589 Words   |  7 Pagespeople in between. I’ve always heard of poverty and didn’t know much more about it except for the fact that people existed that were less fortunate, those who lived in this supposed poverty. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Jonathan Kozol’s book â€Å"Amazing Grace† depicts the issues that face families who are living in a world of poverty, homelessness and in a world where less fortunate is an understatement. Kozol writes about his experience in the South Bronx where he comes across some of the most disturbing