Bristol: New book marks city's historic links to slavery

The book will be available in time for the Autumn term

Pupils will be able to learn more about the transatlantic traffic in enslaved Africans through a new textbook.

A group of Bristol history teachers have been working to improve teaching materials about Bristol's historic links to slavery.

The group consulted with academics and black teachers along with a Bristol-based network of African and African-Caribbean community organisations.

The book will be available in time for the autumn term.

"Bristol has a unique history and our teaching community wanted to develop some new and engaging resources to teach secondary school pupils about this part of our city's past," said councillor Asher Craig, Bristol's deputy mayor.

"It will be a great way to help tell Bristol's story to those growing up in the city and future generations."

The textbook has been written in consultation with local academics, museum experts and teachers, to make sure that it is accurate and inclusive.

'Quality learning'

The content covers the period from 1440 right up to the events of 2020 as well as the legacies of the traffic in enslaved Africans in the city.

"The Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery textbook is an opportunity to provide a quality learning resource for all students, regardless of their race, heritage, and identity," said Cashan Campbell, assistant vice principal, at Fairfield High School.

"As a black educator that has grown up in the city and who attended the school I now teach and lead in, I truly believe that representation is vital."

The M-Shed museum in Bristol is providing all the images of objects, archive documents and artworks from its collections which will illustrate the textbook, and are funding the design and printing.

The textbook will be available to schools to purchase this summer in time for the next school term starting this autumn.