Private reflections and public pronouncements: Caribbean slavery in the Scottish

In Recovering Scotland's Slavery Past (2015) Professor Sir Tom Devine highlighted the collective amnesia in Scotland with regard to Scottish engagement in the slave trade and the extent to which Scots benefitted from participation in it. This studentship will directly address that amnesia by charting contemporary Scottish attitudes to slavery. The doctoral research project will examine the extent to which Scotland attempted to distance itself from its participation and engagement with Caribbean slavery through the period of enlightenment up to the abolition of slavery in 1834. Research will focus on the National Library of Scotland's extensive archival holdings and printed collections relating to the slave trade, and its peerless collection of Scottish newspapers.

The project will explore three key areas:
1 Distancing strategies in Scottish literature: Much of Scottish literary output (1750-1834) acknowledges the wealth and the opportunities for Scots created by slavery but fails to engage with the practical realities of it. This is a feature in the work of Smollett, Mackenzie, Galt, and Scott. The student will investigate the papers of Scottish authors held at the Library to evaluate the ways in which slavery is obfuscated and evaded in Scottish literary discourse.
2 Private responses to slavery: The Library possesses large collections of estate and family papers, for example: Melville, Chisholme, and the Liston papers, that detail the operational considerations of maintaining plantations. The collections also contain many journals and literary works of those who travelled to the Caribbean that address the institution of slavery. Many of these sources, which often reveal intricate and conflicting familial responses to slavery, remain under-researched and unpublished. The student will investigate these sources to provide analysis on how the families involved in profiting from slavery in Scotland viewed slavery and the extent to which they justified their engagement with it.
3 Public responses to slavery: The Library has the most comprehensive collection of Scottish newspapers in the world, in addition to the printed works of Scots who wrote about their experiences in the Caribbean. Periodicals such as Blackwood's Magazine included articles on slavery, and this is augmented by the Blackwood Papers giving additional context. The student will review these sources, searching for literary works on slavery such as poems and short stories, in addition to articles on the Caribbean to assess public attitudes to slavery as they were transmitted via print culture.