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Colston Revisited: Debating His Place in History and What His Legacy Means for Us Today

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Colston Revisited: Debating His Place in History and What His Legacy Means for Us Today Colston revisited: debating his place in history and what his legacy means for us today. ▪ Stage One: Research, discussion & debate. ▪ Stage Two: Monday 21st September Period 3: Online Talk from Dr Madge Dresser. ▪ Stage Three: Should the school be renamed? Colston revisited: debating his place in history and what his legacy means for us today. • Dr Madge Dresser is Honorary Professor of History at the University of Bristol. • She has researched and written extensively on issues related to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Bristol’s involvement with it. • Dr Dresser is very keen to help students at Colston’s School to debate and discuss issues associated with the slave trade and Edward Colston. She hopes to pose questions as much as answer them, but also to provide a structure for discussion and thinking on how History should be commemorated. She hopes to help you come to your own judgement on whether Colston’s School should continue to bear his name. Stage 1: Preparation Watch this 4 min. talk (start from 9.30 mins) by Dr Dresser from Dec. 2017. Take notes on Dr Dresser’s arguments ready for discussion. Listen to this 7 min. interview with Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, in Jan 2016 about the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College. Take notes on the arguments ready for discussion. 1. Use your notes to write a short paragraph summing up the key points from the two clips. 2. Research definitions to these terms used in the talks: a) Silo-thinking. Task One b) Cancel Culture. Should we have a c) Civic belonging. 3. Group discussion: statue of Edward i. What arguments were made regarding statues and history? Colston in Bristol? ii. What do you think of those arguments? iii. Why are statues erected? iv. What do you think of the manner in which Colston’s statue came down? Task Two: Should places be renamed? • Read this article about renaming Colston Hall. As you read, highlight in green comments you agree with and highlight in red comments you disagree with. • Class discussion: Was Colston Hall right to change its name? Task Three Should statues be taken down? • Read this article about Guy’s Hospital in London. • Class Discussion: Was it right to take down the statue of Thomas Guy from outside the hospital he founded? Should the hospital be renamed? Read Preparation ▪ Bristol and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by Madge Dresser. Between now and the talk on ▪ A Short History of Slavery by James Walvin. Monday 21st September, ▪ Edward Colston in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by complete at least 3 of these tasks Ken Morgan AND Research Paper #2 by Roger Ball. (the more the better): ▪ Colston Revisited by Madge Dresser. 3 - 4: Moderate preparation ▪ Research Paper #1: Statistics on Slavery by Roger Ball. 5 – 7: Good preparation ▪ Don’t Hide History article on BBC website, 11th June 2020. 8 – 9: Excellent preparation 10-12: Outstanding preparation Watch ▪ The Gold, Silver and Slaves documentary. ▪ David Olusoga’s Black and British series on BBC iPlayer. ▪ Alice Roberts’ Georgian Bristol on Channel 4 documentaries. Having completed this ▪ Shawn Sober’s Under the Bridge documentary. research, be ready to express Listen to your thoughts in your next session about what you’ve ▪ Revere or Remove: The Battle over Statues learned and what you think. ▪ The 5 minute BristolHistoryPodcast entitled Colston Falls. • Dr Dresser is keen to respond to Stage 2: The Talk questions from students as part of her Period 3 on talk on Monday 21st September. st • Please email all questions to EJB by Monday 21 Saturday 19th September: September [email protected] Stage 3: Follow-Up Discussion ▪ Class discussion ▪ Discuss points made by Dr Dresser in her talk on Monday 21st September. ▪ What points did you agree with? ▪ What points did you disagree with? ▪ Give feedback on your preparation tasks – what have you learned? ▪ Should Colston’s School be renamed? ▪ Colston’s was founded by Edward Colston in 1710. ▪ Some of Edward Colston’s wealth came from the slave trade and the slave economy (e.g. sugar). He was involved in the transportation of about 84 500 slaves from the West African coast to slave plantations in the Americas. It is estimated that 19 300 of these slaves died during the journeys. The survivors worked in often brutal conditions on farms growing cotton, tobacco and sugar, much of it for the British market. The Slave Trade was abolished in Britain in 1807. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833. Slavery was abolished in the US in 1865. ▪ Colston was considered a “wise and virtuous son” of Bristol in his lifetime. His business was legal and supported by the church and government. He was elected MP in Bristol and served as Deputy Governor of the Royal African Company. The Governor was the King. He donated much of his wealth to schools, hospitals, churches and charities in Bristol that shared his political and religious views. He died in 1721. Some questions to consider 1. If you feel the school should be renamed, why do you think that? 2. Would renaming the school be airbrushing history? 3. Does it matter that the school was named by Colston, not after him? 4. Is there a good educational balance to be had by retaining the name and ensuring thorough education of the slave trade? Would this be similar to adding an information plaque to a statue? 5. Does the school’s name affect how well it welcomes and educates all members of the community? 6. Can and should a black pupil feel proud wearing a uniform bearing a slave trader’s name? 7. Should Bristol be proud of Edward Colston’s philanthropic work? 8. Colston’s slavery was legal in the 1700s and supported by church and government. Does that matter? 9. Bristol’s history, society and economy since the 1600s has been dominated by the slave trade. It is full of landmarks and names linked to the slave trade. What would renaming a school in 2020 achieve? 10.Should we remove statues of Churchill, Nelson, Gladstone and other British historical figures owing to their involvement in the slave trade or views on race? Should we remove statues of Mandela because his apartheid government accused him of terrorism, or Gandhi for his racist comments?.
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