In Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth near Grantham, Lincolnshire is a house, Woolsthorpe Manor and within the grounds of this house, an apple tree. The very tree a young Sir Isaac Newton sat under which started his exploration of gravity. We discover how one of England's greatest minds, science, and Lincolnshire is linked to Britain's slaving past.



Featuring Professor Simon Schaffer and Professor Kate Murphy.



A transcript for this episode is available here (shorturl.at/fqwCN).



CREDITS

Written by Moya Lothian-McLean

Produced by Renay Richardson

Researchers are Arisa Loomba and Dr. Alison Bennet

Sound Design and original music by Ben Yellowitz

Violin by J Hope 

Thanks to Sandra Dobrozemsky for additional support and Tony Phillips

This is a Broccoli Production
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Tree of Life

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.

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

History

Society & Culture

True crime

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Tree of Life

Download our free app to listen on your phone