Scotland, Slavery and Abolition

Unfotunately this course will not be running in summer 2024. This course may run in summer 2025.

This course will introduce students to the processes by which slavery and the slave trade in the British Empire were abolished. Students will learn about the impact of the slave trade to Britain’s economy and the Empire, the work and successes of British abolition societies, the opposition to abolition, and the political efforts to abolish the slave trade and slavery.

This course highlights the importance of New World slavery and enslaved labour to Glasgow’s tobacco lords and the city’s emergence as the “Second city of the empire”. It also examines how the people and profits of the slave trade changed the built landscape, industry, trade, and architecture across central Scotland.

 

 

Key information

Course duration: Two weeks

Credits: 15

 

What you will learn

This course aims to:

  • introduce students to the history of abolition and emancipation in Great Britain including key figures
  • present and contextualise a variety of primary and secondary source materials, including artwork, texts, petitions, and political propaganda
  • introduce students to the major and most recent debates in the historiography of British abolition
  • present students with a broader contextual understanding of the role of New World slavery in the industrialisation of Scotland from approx. 1750 to the mid-19th century
  • introduce students to specific architecture, urban development, and industrial infrastructure sites in central Scotland that arose from the profits and demands of slavery and enslaved labour
  • invite students to discover and review the legacies of slavery still present in the built environment of Scotland today

By the end of the course students will be able to:

  • summarise the origins and characteristics of the popular abolition movement
  • identify the key figures in British abolition in both the abolition societies and in the political sphere, including their actions and influence
  • analyse primary and secondary source material to communicate effectively key ideas and major historiographical arguments on the topics of abolition and emancipation
  • recognise and explain the historical importance of slavery to Scotland, specifically the impact of slavery’s profits on central Scotland’s development and industrialisation
  • locate and be able to discuss the specific architecture, urban development, and industrial infrastructure sites in central Scotland that arose from the profits and demands of slavery and enslaved labour
  • identify and review the legacies of slavery still present in the built environment of Scotland today

Teaching pattern

The course will be a mixture of lectures and seminars. There will be guided independent study and a fieldtrip. 

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

  • GPA of 3.0 (or equivalent)
  • you should be currently enrolled at an international higher education institution.

If your first language is not English, you must meet our minimum proficiency level:

  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training) overall score of 6.0, with no sub test less than 5.5
  • we also accept equivalent scores in other recognised qualifications such as ibTOEFL, CAE, CPE and more.

This is a guide, for further information email internationalsummerschools@glasgow.ac.uk