The University of Edinburgh held a public debate exploring Scotland’s role in slavery and the slave trade on Wednesday 14 November. The event, held in the Assembly Hall of the university’s New College, marked the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

Chaired by author and historian Professor Tom Devine, the discussion examined both the direct and indirect involvement of Scots and Scotland in slavery, as well as at the abolition movement in Scotland.

Professor Devine described the 1807 Abolition of Slavery Act as: “unprecedented in history, in that it wasn't done for economic reasons but because of the moral arguments”.

He also proposed that the slave trade had largely contributed to the rapid economic development of Scotland in the eighteenth century as much of the capital for industrialisation came from trade in tobacco, cotton and other plantations that relied on slave labour.

Professor Devine highlighted that there were both “dark and light” elements to Scottish involvement in the slave trade, with Scots deeply implicated in all aspects of the trade, including slave trafficking from Scottish ports and keeping slaves at home and abroad, as well as being at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.

Events marking the bicentenary of the 1807 act have been held in Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere around the UK throughout 2007. Earlier in the year Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, called on the British government to apologise for its part in the trade, and former Prime Minister Tony Blair described his “deep sorrow and regret” for Britain’s role.

The Edinburgh event, which followed on from the Scotland, Slavery and Abolition conference held the previous weekend, also saw discussion about individual slaves traced in Scotland, and about the lack of acknowledgement of Scottish involvement in slavery within the school curriculum.

John Cairns, professor of Legal History at the university's School of Law, argued that Scotland has allowed its involvement in the trade to fade from history, and contrasted this to the 18th century, when owners of slaves showed no shame in advertising in the national press when one of their slaves had escaped.

Maritime specialist Dr Eric Graham attacked the History curriculum, arguing that school students should be taught that many Scots were involved in the trafficking and enslavement trades.

Looking at the Scottish abolition movement, Reverend Dr Iain Whyte told participants how the predominantly Christian activists had both moral and practical reasons for their convictions, believing all human beings equal, as well as religious motives. He also described how the Church of Scotland took a lead in the abolition movement to a greater extent than their English counterparts.

The panel also discussed the relationship between slavery and racism, along with the important role of women in the abolitionist movement and finished by taking questions from the floor.