The Slave Trade

Sophie and Ellie ask about the Black Lives Matter protests. So we tell the story about the Slave Trade and the legacy it leaves. We learn about the transatlantic slave triangle of Europe, West Africa and the Americas. Sophie tells us about the brutality of slavery. Both children are astonished to hear of their own slave ancestry from the West Indies. But then they look on aghast as they discover their own family history includes not just slaves but also a slaver.

 

They reflect on how so many people got rich from slavery. They discuss how they feel about people like Edward Colston, the rich Bristol slaver, who got rich from slavery but spent the money on schools and hospitals. Finally we reflect on the words of Martin Luther King and how we should all strive to judge people by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin.

• Black Lives Matter protests
• The history of slavery in the ancient and medieval world
• The economics of the slave trade – the Triangle
• The involvement of Africans nations in slavery
• Why African nations got involved in selling slaves
• The Europeans build forts and trading posts in Africa
• The infamous “middle passage” and the horrors of slavery
• The slave markets and practice of slavery in the Americas
• Family history in which Sophie and Ellie learn there are slaves and slavers in their family
• Understanding how countries like Britain got rich from slavery
• Discussing how we feel about the fact that the wealth from slavery built so many good things but off the misery of so many
• Learning about Edward Colston and his involvement in the slave trade and the life of Bristol.
• Reflecting on the wise words of Martin Luther King on race.

 

If you like this episode then you might also like our Columbus episode which instigates the Transatlantic slave trade era.

https://www.historystorytime.com/e/columbus-and-the-discovery-of-the-new-world/

 

Or you might like our episode on the Roman Empire in which we learn about another slave society.

https://www.historystorytime.com/e/roman-empire-people-and-society/