Glasgow and Slavery

Question 1

slavery in glasgow

4

Answer 1

• 1/3 of slave plantations in the West Indies were owned by Scots. Glaswegians made a huge amount of money from the slave trade due to Glasgow’s position on the river clyde
• Journeys from Glasgow to the Americas were 20 days shorter than from the southern ports of England
• Glaswegian traders specialised in tabacco sales and Glasgow was the commercial centre for tabacco in the 18th century, trading more tabacco than the accumulative sales of every english port, to the extent that glaswegian traders became known as the ‘tabacco lords’
• though enslaved people were not managed directly by Scottish plantation owners (they employed people to manage plantations for them) it was common that an african enslaved person would live with a family as a footman, in scotland.

Question 2

Abolition of the Slave Trade Act

Answer 2

in 1807 britain passes the abolition of the slave trade act outlawing the british - atlantic slave trade.
- Glasgow was regarded as one of the staunchest abolitionist cities in Britain and the Glasgow Anti Slavery Socitey was established in 1822.

Question 3

City Chambers

Answer 3

When the city chambers opened in 1841 it was a space for abolitionist meetings and many formerly enslaved people were invited to speak there. by this point the Glaswegian slave trade had attempted to detach itself from the realities of slavery, however this was impossible when traders are permanently memorialised in the street names of the city.

Question 4

Buchanan

Answer 4

Remember that next time you’re shopping on Buchanan Street - Andrew Buchanan, the street’s namesake, was a tobacco merchant.