When Britain’s railways are placed within the context of the empire they helped to maintain, they are framed as one of the only ‘good’ legacies of imperialism. In this episode, we focus on the original Great Western Railway and how it's linked to history within the British slave trade.



Featuring Dr. Oli Betts, research lead at the National Railway Museum in York.



The full episode transcript can be found here.



CREDIT



Written by Moya Lothian-McLean

Editor and Producer Renay Richardson

Researchers are Dr. Alison Bennett and Arisa Loomba

Production Assistant is Rory Boyle

Sound Design by Ben Yellowitz and the Smiley Sound Collective

Social Assets by /Forward Slash.



This is a Broccoli Production
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All Aboard

Exploring the true story of British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and how it touches every part of the nation. Hosted by Moya Lothian-McLean, a journalist and descendent of both Black African Slaves and White slave owners or overseers.

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Moya and Kris Manjapra discuss his book Black Ghost of Empire, a revelatory historical indictment of the long afterlife of slavery in the Atlantic world.
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In Conversation with Kris Manjapra

As abolitionist campaigns gained traction in the late 1700s, the population of formerly enslaved people grew. Those who had been enslaved in the British colonies were ‘freed’ - at first in dribs and drabs, then all at once via two landmark pieces of legislation in 1807 and 1834.

But a new question arose: what would the formerly enslaved do with their freedom?



Featuring historian and researcher, Melissa Bennett and Iyamide Thomas, NHS Engagement Lead, Sickle Cell Society, together they curated ‘The Krios of Sierra Leone’ exhibitions at the Museum of London.
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A Free Town

At the height of the British slave trade, there were no cameras to capture the experiences of the children who found themselves forced into enslavement. There are not even exact numbers for how many youths were sucked into the system - estimates suggest a quarter of the roughly 12 million Black Africans enslaved between the 16th and 19th centuries would be categorised as children. Their stories are some of the hardest to dig up - but people are persisting anyway.



Featuring Christine Whyte, lecturer in global history at the University of Glasgow.
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Think of the Children

In the last episode, ‘Abolition, Now part 1’,  I was talking with Historian Diana Patton about the real timeline of Aboliton and what Abolition really meant for those previously enslaved. Towards the end of the episode we began speaking about Apprenticeships and how those previously enslaved were then forced to work for the people who formerly owned them. Should they not want to work, the punishments were fast and brutal.
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Abolition, Now part 2

Most people know the basics of this moment. Josiah Wedgewood made some pottery, William Wilberforce made some speeches, John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, and boom! Britain’s narrative arc of national moral redemption was complete and slavery was abolished. Or at least – that’s what we’re told.



Featuring Historian of the Caribbean, Diana Paton.
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All Aboard

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