There are few who do not find the concept of slavery abhorrent, yet the ways in which we choose to remember and teach the history of enslaved African people can make it seem comfortingly disconnected from the nation we live in today. We dismiss any gnawing sense of shame rooted in our role in the Trans-Atlantic Trade of Enslaved People by focusing on abolition. We tend to glorify abolition as the moment we absolved ourselves of our role in the mass bondage and human trafficking of millions of people whilst side-lining some of its uncomfortable truths and lasting legacies.
Abolition boosted the profits of traders and owners of enslaved people with 20 million pounds worth of compensation payments, approximately £17billion today. Payments which were not fully paid off by British taxpayers until 2015. Just to be clear. Enslaved people received £0.
“In 1833, Britain used 40% of its national budget to buy freedom for all slaves in the Empire. Britain borrowed such a large sum of money for the Slavery Abolition Act that it wasn’t paid off until 2015,” a graphic posted by the political activist Raheem Kassam reads.
“This means that living British citizens helped pay for the end of the slave trade with their taxes,” the graphic continued.
These ‘compensation’ payments have shaped the physical, political and financial makeup of the UK now as much of this money was reinvested into the formation of banks, the railways and countless other British companies and institutions, many influential political figures and families were also recompensed such the Gladstones and even David Cameron’s family and lots and lots of ‘ordinary citizens’ too. It was also used to construct statues, found universities and finance the erection of many of our national landmarks and heritage buildings. In other words, the UK today is permeated with the legacy of enslavement.
In this article we have complied just some of the resources which can be used by teachers to present enslavement, not as a single event in our past, but a phenomenon which has had a lasting legacy and shaped our nation as it exists today.
The Legacies of British Slave Ownership Database
Curated by the University of Central London this is an invaluable resource which users can use to unpick the long-term legacy of slavery in the UK. Legacies are separated under the tabs ‘commercial’, ‘cultural’, ‘historical’, ‘imperial’, ‘physical’ and ‘political’. Under ‘commercial’ users can browse the list of slave owners as well as the exact amount of money which was reinvested into public institutions, companies, railways and banks. Under ‘physical’ users can browse the longlist of country houses and public monuments born out of and financed by slavery, whilst the ‘political’ tab exposes slave owners who had roles as MPs or are linked to government. Interestingly, there are still links with MPs who currently reside in Westminster. We recommend this as a resource for teachers to inform their own understanding, but it is also an excellent resource for older students to navigate independently.
Catherine Hall: Launching the encyclopaedia of British Slave Owners
For more of an insight into The Legacies of British Slave Ownership Database we recommend this 5-minute introduction by curator Catherine Hall. In this short clip she goes into more detail about what the database is, how to use it and the vision behind it.
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David Olusoga: Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners
We also recommend David Olusoga’s documentary Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners as it works to recomplicate our understanding of slavery and emphasises both how much slavery permeated society at the time and how it has impacted the UK today. We’ve included the link for the whole documentary above, but we have also linked some shorter clips from the programme which could be used in lessons to compliment discussion around particular aspects of the legacy of enslavement. These could be used in conjunction with the UCL database or used in its place to engage younger students.
In this clip David Olusoga references and talks through some of the findings of the UCL database and archives in a way accessible to younger students who may not be able to navigate the database independently.
Here David Olusoga briefly explains how wealthy slave owners entered British aristocracy.
Aimed at higher students this BBC Bitesize resource is a great tool to further delve into the individual and societal legacies of the slave trade. This is a great resource to help children understand the larger implications of slavery on the UK such as the financing of the industrial revolution, the expansion of cities such as Bristol and Manchester, as well as the profits of individual slave traders.
The physical legacies of slavery (country houses, statues, buildings) are an accessible way to help students understand how slavery has shaped the UK today and can lead into the discussion of more abstract legacies such as finance. The national trust interim report goes through the links between slavery and colonialism and National Trust property. The report itself can be quite heavy and academic but the section on individual properties and their slavery or colonial links is invaluable. The section which runs from page 62 deals with properties by region and Allan Bank in Grasmere features on page 82. This part of the report would lend itself well to case studies – incorporated into a lesson plan, a subject of an assembly or for students to research as a group or individual task.
This is a very short, quick article introducing Storrs Hall and Neverhall as country houses rooted in slave profits. We recommend this as a short article to spark discussion about the physical and financial legacy of enslavement in Cumbria itself.
Covering local connections such as the Lowthers, Jeffersons and Senhouses; areas like Whitehaven, recipes and ingredients and more you can find more local connections to enslavement right here too.
