Skip to 0 minutes and 11 seconds PEGGY BRUNACHE: For over 300 years, British people were involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Caribbean and Americas. British ships made over 11,000 journeys that we know of, forcibly transporting almost three million men, women, and children to slavery. I’m Dr. Peggy Brunache, historian and archaeologist of Atlantic slavery. In this course, my colleague, Dr. Christine White, a historian of West Africa, alongside experts from the University of the West Indies and myself will look at the history of slavery in the British Caribbean. Over four weeks, this course will introduce students to the origins of racialised slavery and its legacies that still plague Britain as a society today.
Skip to 0 minutes and 59 seconds On this educational journey, we begin in West Africa and learn just how and why Britain became involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. From there, we head to the Caribbean to find out how island life in places like Jamaica and Barbados gave rise to a Caribbean creole society of white colonials and slave labourers and a class of subjects who were neither of those. During our exploration of colonial life, we’ll explore how the slave-based labour system made many individuals– and by extension, the nation– rich while simultaneously worked to brutalise and dehumanise enslaved Africans.
Skip to 1 minute and 41 seconds As the enslaved Africans made up the vast majority of colonial subjects, we’ll uncover the rich and dynamic culture and the ways they resisted against slaveholders and the system itself. From open rebellion to running away to subtle strategies like breaking farming tools and working slower, the enslaved struggled against the oppression throughout the centuries. Join us for this thought-provoking study, which concludes with slavery, abolition, post-emancipation experiences, and considers the long term effects of slavery on Britain.
