'Teaching the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery in British Schools and Universities.'
By Betty Wood, Cambridge University
The Transatlantic slave trade, slavery in the Americas, and a British
multiculturalism dating back to the mid-sixteenth century do not have a
recognized place in the curricula of most British schools. If school leavers do
have a knowledge of these historical themes, then it is one that they have
gathered mainly from popular culture, local places of historical memory, and
visits to such institutions as Liverpool's Maritime Museum and the Wilberforce
Museum in Hull. Several British universities have departments that specialize in
West African, North American, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies and which
offer courses in various aspects of the slave trade and the African diaspora in
the Americas. Depending upon the choices they make, and the requirements
stipulated by their departments, students who opt for a degree course in History
are more likely to encounter fragments of the slave trade and the history of
slavery in the Americas than they are a fully integrated course in these topics.
For example, those studying early modern British history might encounter the
anti-slavery movement of the
late eighteenth century but graduate knowing little if anything about either
West and West Central Africa or the Americas.
In terms of the sources being made available to students, historical images and
the contemporary writings of such Black Atlantic writers as Ukawsaw Gronniosaw,
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, and Olaudah Equiano are increasingly finding a place in
the curricula of British universities. Similarly, more students are now being
encouraged to visit sites of historical memory as part of their course.