The lessons in this project concentrated principally on slavery within the British Empire. It is important to remember, though, that the period of Atlantic slavery saw colonisation by – and conflict between – European powers occur across the world. These short video will help to give teachers and students some sense of that broader context.
The Haitian Revolution
The revolt by enslaved people in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) demonstrated the potential for military resistance by enslaved people to threaten imperial control. Its impact is discussed in this clip by Dr Jesus Sanjuro-Ramos from the University of Strathclyde.
Impact of 1807
If the Haitian Revolution confirmed imperial fears about the potential for enslaved people to seize their freedom, the decision by the British Parliament to discontinue the slave trade had a similarly sizable impact both on enslaved people and other slave-trading nations. Dr Sanjuro-Ramos discusses how the withdrawal of the British from the Caribbean slave trade catalysed the Spanish trade.
Indian Expansion and the slave trade
In this clip, Drs Christine Whyte and Jelmer Vos discuss the impact of the British expansion in India on the trade in enslaved people, both in terms of providing a new source of textiles to trade with African nations and in feeding the British appetite for tea (and, by extension, sugar)