Traces of the slave trade
The geography of the British Isles, unlike that of the United States, doesn't at first sight appear to yield any clues to the country's slave trading past. There are no plantations, no plantation houses and seemingly little to suggest any connection between this country and the transatlantic trade in human lives.
Slavery appears as something that happened a long time ago and very far away: out of sight and out of mind. But a closer look at the built environment reveals that links to the slave trade are not only much closer than we realise, but also more numerous.
A square in Plymouth commemorates John Hawkins. A statue of Sir Francis Drake overlooks Plymouth Sound.
'Few know of Hawkins' voyage to West Africa in 1562, in search of human cargo.'
The story of how these mariners repulsed the Spanish Armada of 1588 is seen as a cornerstone of popular British history, yet few know of Hawkins' voyage to West Africa in 1562, in search of human cargo.
His delivery of 300 Africans as slaves to the Spanish Caribbean is generally credited as being the first instance of an Englishman engaging in the transatlantic slave trade. Hawkins' cousin, Francis Drake, would join him on a later slaving voyage to the African coast. Which story is remembered, and why?
Identifying and tracking traces of the slave trade on a local level will do much to illustrate the depth and nature of its impact on our cultural, social and economic history.
Published: 2007-28-02
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