Trans-Atlantic slavery was just one aspect of the process of European colonialism, and a new book by Indian MP Shashi Tharoor has been described as a "blistering critique of our colonialist past". The themes of 'Inglorious Empire: What the British did to India' are said to have echoes today. In this interview with Channel 4 News and in this article Tharoor speaks of the legacy of empire as a British problem because of "historical amnesia about what the empire really entailed". Colonial history is not taught in schools and there is "no real awareness of the atrocities, the fact that Britain financed its Industrial Revolution and its prosperity from the depredations of empire."
Three architects have created a comprehensive online map of properties in Edinburgh connected with the Atlantic slave trade in an effort to connect the horror of the voyage to the prosperity of Scotland's development. They designed it as an attempt to record Scotland's physical legacy of slave ownership, mapping all the addresses of slave owners, as well as records of compensation claims, following the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. More...
One of our dreams for MJR is to acquire a sailing ship that can be fitted out as a replica slave ship and used as part of an exhibition centre (see Projects). Another exciting possibility for this vessel would be to sail it around some of the ports used in the slave trade. Nigel Pocock of MJR has published a first draft of "A Voyage Around the Slave Ports of Britain", a survey of the many ports of Britain used for the transport of slaves, with statistics and stories. PLEASE NOTE: This document is very much a ‘work-in-progress’, with a number of gaps still to be filled. If anyone reading is able to provide additional information, which would be very helpful, please contact MJR. |
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