Calls for pupils to be taught more about slave trade role
Historians praise Dutch comic book on Scots plantation owner
MORE should be done to teach pupils about Scotland’s role in the slave trade, say historians.
David Alston, a Highland historian, and Professor Sir Tom Devine of Edinburgh University spoke out after it emerged schoolchildren in the Netherlands were being taught about slavery using Scottish examples.
A comic book used in the Netherlands tells the true story of a nine year old African boy taken across the Atlantic to a sugar plantation run by a Scotsman.
The book is the work of Dutch cartoonist Eric Heuvel, best known for his comic strip series January Jones about a woman pilot in the 1930s. He, along with researcher Ineke Mok, produced an account of life of a young slave Quaco, in the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America (once known as Dutch Guiana) in the 1770s.
Quaco, whose name gives the book its title, came from either Ghana or the neighbouring Ivory Coast. He was abducted and sold to the captain of a slave ship. With a girl called Afua he manages to endure the hardships of the journey to Paramaribo in Suriname. They go to the wealthy planter and manager Walter Kennedy.
Mr Alston contributed to a recent major book on the subject, Recovering Scotland’s Slavery Past: The Caribbean Connection, which was edited by Professor Devine. Dr Alston shares his research on his website, Slaves and Highlanders.
He has established that Walter Kennedy’s father was Presbyterian minister of the Scots Kirk in Rotterdam, and his brother was Professor of Greek at Aberdeen University.
But he says the Scottish impact on Quaco’s life didn’t end there.
“Quaco becomes Kennedy’s personal servant. But Kennedy lends him to the Army captain John Gabriel Stedman, a Scot who served in the Scots Brigade of the Dutch armed forces and who spent five years in Suriname, fighting against the Maroons [‘runaway’ slaves] led by a man called Boni.
“Quaco’s life is portrayed brilliantly by Eric Heuvel and Ineke Mok. Their comic was published last summer. Sadly it is in advance of anything available here. It would be ideal for upper primary, lower secondary years.” Professor Devine said that over the past few decades there had been much scholarly research on Scotland’s past.
He said: “Traditionally regarded as peripheral, the Scottish factor has now been shown to be absolutely central to the narrative of Britain’s dominant role in the northern Atlantic slave trade and the slave economies of the Americas.
“It is not easy, however, to disseminate new knowledge hot from the research oven, to schools or the public. This is why an initiative based on Dutch practice would be warmly welcomed. But more generally, other high-quality teaching materials on slavery and Scotland should be urgently prepared to educate the current generation to understand our history, warts and all, both light and shade.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said Scotland’s role in the slave trade was recognised as important and “is currently taught at National 4/5 level and is included in the Higher History curriculum”.
She said Education Scotland was updating materials and creating a new resource on the slave trade in Scotland and modern day human trafficking which would be launched in the spring.
Scotland was happy to learn from what other countries do, she said and reference to David Alston’s work would be included in new materials.