During the Spring of 2024, Dr. Tom Thorpe, the guide for the Anti Slavery Belfast Tour, is offering an intriguing ten-week course as part of the Queen’s University Belfast Open Learning Programme.
This course delves into Belfast’s historical connection with the international transatlantic slave trade and its pivotal role as a hub of abolitionist activism. The curriculum begins by examining how Belfast’s merchant classes were actively engaged in trade with slave plantations in the West Indies during the mid-18th century. It then shifts focus to the 1790s when the city gained recognition as a center of radical thought and activism dedicated to eradicating the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself. Notably, Belfast played host to influential figures such as Olaudah Equiano in 1791 and “fugitive slaves” like Frederick Douglass and Samuel Ringgold Ward in the mid-19th century. Following the abolition of slavery in the British Empire during the 1830s, Belfast activists redirected their efforts towards advocating against slavery in the southern states of the USA.
If you’re interested in delving deeper into Belfast’s rich yet sometimes shameful history, this ten-week course will commence on Wednesday, 17th January, running from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Queen’s University Belfast site in south Belfast. For further details and enrollment information, please visit the following link: https://ecommerce.apps.qub.ac.uk/osol/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1084).
