Impact of the Slave Trade on Scotland

1. Impact of the slave trade on
Scotland

2. Today’s lesson
We are developing our knowledge of the role Scotland had in
the slave trade.
Today will be able to:
1) Describe Scotland’s role in the trade.
Today’s lesson will involve:
1) Research task
2) National 5 Question

3. Scotland & the Trade
Scotland was heavily involved in the slave
trade.
Scotland became part of Great Britain in
1707 meaning it was excluded from
tradition with British colonies until then.
However once it joined some Scots saw a
chance to make money by doing this. This
included slavery.

4. Task 1
Copy the following mind-map in a new double page in your jotter.
Impact of the
Slave Trade on
Scotland
New buildings
Shop products
Having Jobs
Schools &
Hospitals
Making Money

5. Making money
Scots made huge amounts of money from the slave trade. Some
did this by owning or selling slaves. Others made their fortune
through selling the products grown by slaves, such as sugar and
tobacco.
Merchants in Glasgow bought and sold various products which
were grown by slaves. This included sugar, cotton and especially
tobacco.
This made these men very wealthy and was used to fund grand
buildings.
Some scots actually made their money from the capture and sale
of Africans. Including Richard Oswald who set up a slave trade post
in Sierra Leone, Africa. He used this money to build a grand home
near Ayr called Oswald Hall.

6. Jobs
Large numbers of Scots owed their jobs to the slave trade. This includes
Scots working in various jobs in Scotland, but also others who went to
the Caribbean or worked on the slave ships.
Some slave ships left from the Scottish ports of Leith, Port Glasgow and
Greenock creating new jobs for sailors and dock workers.
However it must be noted that they only carried a small number of
slaves (5000 out of Britain’s 3 million) and ended in 1766.
Many other industries such as Glasgow’s dye industry was funded by
money by men who made their money from the trade including John
Glassford. This created jobs in the factories in the city’s east end.

7. Jobs
Greenock had a large sugar industry. Slave sugar was brought in and
processed in the town which created jobs.
Much of the cotton spun in Scottish factories had been grown by
slaves. This included mills in areas such as New Lanark.
Parts of Scotland also indirectly benefitted from the slave trade too. For
instance, the herring industry saw bigger sales to help the food needs
of the slave economics, creating more fishing in the North-East of the
country.
Many Scots also owned plantations with 1/3 of all plantations owned
by Scots in Jamaica.
Many Scots also worked on Slave ships in jobs such as deck-hands and
other jobs such as ship surgeons. Large of number of Scots also
captained slave ships.

8. Shop products
The Scots also benefitted from a wider range of goods found in the
country’s shops.
Products such as sugar, rum and tobacco were more easily available
due to the labour of slaves that grew this.
Records from the 1770s saw various ships coming to Leith with rum,
sugar, rice, indigo and mahogany. These were all products grown by
slaves and sold across Europe.

9. New buildings
Many of the merchants used their fortunes made from slavery to build
and own grand homes across Scotland.
This includes the Merchant City area of Glasgow, funded partly from
slave money. One such building was the Gallery of Modern Art.
Other areas of Scotland also saw new homes built or funded.
• In Aberdeen, the Powis Gates were funded by Slave labour.
• In Edinburgh, much of the new town including Bute House was paid
for with slave funds.
Various Scottish street names in Glasgow are lined to the slave trade
including Buchanan Street.

10. Schools and hospitals
Many of the people that made money from the slave used it to improve
life in Scotland.
Some of them gave money to charity, including hospitals such as
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Other Scots invested their slave earnings into education and schools.
Schools funded by the trade include James Gillespie’s High School and
Dollar Academy.

11. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Should Scotland apologise for its role in
Slavery?
2) Should Scotland pay compensation to
countries affected by slavery?

12. Explain the impact of the Slave Trade on Scotland – 6
Marks
Explain Questions