Scotland and Atlantic Slavery module (HU51006)

Recent research stretching over the last twenty years has begun to uncover the extent of Scotland’s participation in Atlantic slavery in areas like the Caribbean and North America. In certain areas in the colonies the Scottish presence was disproportionately large and influential and in return, capital, people and ideologies circulated back to Scotland.

Slavery, and the opposition it generated, became a central concern of capitalist modernity and national development and has had enduring legacies. For this reason, slavery is not simply a historical curiosity, the topic continues to generate sharp debate around global economic inequalities, ideologies of race and racism, hierarchies of gender in relation to empire, and the vexed question of what, if anything, ought to be done to ‘repair’ these historical injuries. 

This module aims to investigate the economic, social and cultural impact of Scottish connections with Atlantic slavery.

What you will learn

In this module you will:

• acquire a solid understanding of the social, economic and cultural impact of Scottish involvement in- and opposition to- Atlantic slavery
• take a broadly interdisciplinary approach to the topic by combination of archival documents, and representation in modern and contemporary cultural and artistic practice
• consider the role of the most up-to-date projects of Digital Humanities

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

• appreciate how slavery is recorded and represented through a variety of historical, cultural and artistic forms
• marshal a comprehensive knowledge of the key issues in the current debate over the place of slavery in Scottish national life

Assignments / assessment

• assessed task 1, short essay of around 1000 words (20%)
• assessed task 2, short essay of around 1000 words (20%)
• 4000 word essay (50%)
• discussion board participation (10%)

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

This is an online module so all material is found on the Blackboard VLE. You access lecture scripts, reading materials, discussion boards and assessments.

This module is divided into 3 units.

• Unit 1: Scottish Involvement in Slave Trade will address the key contours of current knowledge around Scottish involvement in the slave trade and colonial slavery, the Scottish presence in slave societies and the black presence in eighteenth-century Scotland, and the question of how this history was largely ‘forgotten’ in Scotland until around the 1990s.
• Unit 2: Those Who Challenged Atlantic Slaver is structured around those who challenged Atlantic slavery, beginning with enslaved people themselves who launched legal battles from the 1760s through to revolutionaries and abolitionists up to 1807. This includes the case study of Robert Burns & Jamaica.
• Unit 3: Emancipation for the Enslaved and Compensation for Slave Owners explores the period which leads to emancipation for the enslaved and compensation for slave owners in 1833, looking at current calls for ‘reparation’ for slavery and empire and we will finish with two regional case studies on Glasgow and the Highlands.