SCOTLAND will mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery next year with a series of events all over the country. A major programme of events will be staged by the Scottish Executive, the Scottish parliament and various local authorities.
A contemporary message of equality and anti-racism will be a key theme of the events.
The news comes as increasing numbers of academics and historians join calls for Scotland, and in particular Glasgow, to house a permanent memorial to slavery so that future generations remember that much of the wealth that arrived in Scotland during the 18th century was built on African slave labour in the Americas.
Cities such as Bristol and Liverpool, also key ports in the slave trade, have already established museums and civic memorials to their involvement in the trade. Scottish merchants and plantation owners were only able to make their fortunes in the tobacco and sugar trades by using slave labour.
James Robertson, award-winning author of Joseph Knight, the tale of a Jamaican slave's fight for his freedom at the Scottish courts in 1778, said he would back a permanent memorial.
"It is a really good idea. We have tended to forget Scotland's involvement in the trade, which brought a huge amount of wealth to Scotland, as it has been buried in our history."
Dr Alex Murdoch, an expert in 18th century Scottish-American relations at the University of Edinburgh, said:
"You could argue that there really should be something in Glasgow. Certainly the legacy of slavery and Scotland has been largely forgotten.'' Rev Dr Iain Whyte, the former chaplain of the universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen whose book on abolition is out this month, said:
''Scotland's involvement in slavery is not well recognised by the public."
Whyte's book, Scotland And The Abolition Of Black Slavery 1756-1838, details the horrific conditions endured by slaves endentured to Scottish traders, as well as the efforts made to halt the trade.
On Thursday, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that a commemorative GBP2 coin will be issued next year to mark the anniversary of abolition.
Although many Scots were heavily involved in the slave trade, others - such as missionary David Livingstone - campaigned against the practice, and the ideas forwarded by the intelligentsia of the Scottish Enlightenment also helped bring about its end.
NEED TO KNOW BACKGROUND Of around 24 million people who were enslaved in Africa, only 10 million lived long enough to reach the Americas and the Caribbean.
Today, 12 million people today live in slavery.
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