The International Day for the Remembrance of
the Slave Trade and its Abolition
The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is marked every year on August 23rd.
On the night of August 22nd 1791, in Santo Domingo (what is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), there began an uprising that would play a crucial part in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
In 1997, UNESCO decided to mark this event with an international day of remembrance. UNESCO’s member states agreed that an international day of commemoration was essential in order to increase knowledge and awareness of this great human tragedy.
August 23rd is an important day in world history and commemorating this day provides the opportunity for us to reflect on the past and to consider the impact that these terrible events continue to play on peoples all over the world.
‘The world watched as President Obama, his wife and children toured the great slaving fortress of Cape Coast Castle in Ghana – a monument to Britain’s prolonged and deep involvement in this inhuman trade… Such images will not be lost on young English audiences where ‘Slavery’ is now a compulsory strand in the National Curriculum and millions of pounds have been spent on permanent exhibitions and educational resources. The same cannot be said of Scottish audiences or its education system. How many of our children know that the governor of that infamous transit prison for ten years was Archibald Dalzel of Kirkliston, West Lothian or that Scottish entrepreneurs ran their own private slaving fort on Bance Island - complete with a golf course - on the Sierra Leone River for decades? On the receiving end of the trade - the sugar plantations in the West Indies – were a prominent group of Scots (one third of the ‘white’ population on Jamaica in 1777). The vast majority of them retired with their ill-gotten wealth (occasionally bringing slave servants with them) back to Scotland to ‘improve’ their estates.’
Eric Graham, Historian.
So, let us use August 23rd 2009 as a day of reflection and commemoration. Let us use this day to discuss this history with our children, and to promote and spread the awareness of the strong and lasting impact that the transatlantic slave trade has had and continues to have on societies and groups all over the world.
the Slave Trade and its Abolition
The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is marked every year on August 23rd.
On the night of August 22nd 1791, in Santo Domingo (what is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), there began an uprising that would play a crucial part in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
In 1997, UNESCO decided to mark this event with an international day of remembrance. UNESCO’s member states agreed that an international day of commemoration was essential in order to increase knowledge and awareness of this great human tragedy.
August 23rd is an important day in world history and commemorating this day provides the opportunity for us to reflect on the past and to consider the impact that these terrible events continue to play on peoples all over the world.
‘The world watched as President Obama, his wife and children toured the great slaving fortress of Cape Coast Castle in Ghana – a monument to Britain’s prolonged and deep involvement in this inhuman trade… Such images will not be lost on young English audiences where ‘Slavery’ is now a compulsory strand in the National Curriculum and millions of pounds have been spent on permanent exhibitions and educational resources. The same cannot be said of Scottish audiences or its education system. How many of our children know that the governor of that infamous transit prison for ten years was Archibald Dalzel of Kirkliston, West Lothian or that Scottish entrepreneurs ran their own private slaving fort on Bance Island - complete with a golf course - on the Sierra Leone River for decades? On the receiving end of the trade - the sugar plantations in the West Indies – were a prominent group of Scots (one third of the ‘white’ population on Jamaica in 1777). The vast majority of them retired with their ill-gotten wealth (occasionally bringing slave servants with them) back to Scotland to ‘improve’ their estates.’
Eric Graham, Historian.
So, let us use August 23rd 2009 as a day of reflection and commemoration. Let us use this day to discuss this history with our children, and to promote and spread the awareness of the strong and lasting impact that the transatlantic slave trade has had and continues to have on societies and groups all over the world.
Reports
Download reports, briefing papers and submissions.More...
Download reports, briefing papers and submissions.More...
