Glasgow City Council has allocated £200,000 from its 'City Stories' fund to establish a walking trail designed to illustrate the "lasting impact of its role in the transatlantic slave trade." The initiative seeks to provide residents and visitors with a deeper understanding of the city's past and its enduring legacies.
The project, which includes a linked website and interpretive plaques at historically significant locations, was launched concurrently with the Commonwealth Games. The trail aims to highlight the connections between Glasgow's historical wealth and the institution of slavery and colonialism. Locations featured include the City Chambers, Merchant City, Trongate, and the Gallery of Modern Art. The council asserts that wealth generated through slavery significantly shaped Glasgow's development, institutions, and economic growth during the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period, Glasgow merchants accumulated fortunes from the tobacco, sugar, and cotton trades, industries heavily reliant on enslaved labor.
The trail's development was informed by research from Dr. Stephen Mullen, a lecturer in History (Legacies of Atlantic Slavery) at the University of Glasgow, and builds upon awareness-raising efforts by the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER). Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, acknowledged the city's history as "rich, complex and, at times, deeply uncomfortable," stating that "many of Glasgow’s glories were built on a legacy of slavery and colonialism." She also noted the continuing consequences of this legacy for descendants of enslaved and colonized people.
Specific sites along the trail include Glasgow City Chambers, where records indicate that 40 Lord Provosts between 1636 and 1834 had connections to slavery. Cochrane Street, originally Cotton Street, was named after a tobacco lord, Andrew Cochrane. Ramshorn Kirk served as the burial site for several prominent tobacco lords. The Gallery of Modern Art, originally the mansion of William Cunninghame whose wealth derived from the tobacco and sugar trades, later became a meeting place for the Glasgow West India Association, a significant pro-slavery lobbying group.
However, the initiative has drawn critical commentary. Professor Emeritus Sir Tom Devine, a historian at the University of Edinburgh, suggested the trail omits the role of Glasgow intellectuals like Adam Smith and John Millar in efforts to undermine slavery. He clarified that Glasgow's primary involvement was not in the direct African slave trade but rather in plantation ownership, working of plantations, and the transportation of slave-produced commodities like sugar, raw cotton, and rum. Sir Tom also posited that the economic impact of slave economies had waned by the 1850s and had minimal effect on Glasgow's major Victorian industries.
Professor Gordon Graham, a philosopher, expressed concern that the trail might frame enslaved people as mere "passive subjects of contemporary lament and breast-beating." He argued that while acknowledging the horrors of slavery, it is also important to recognize the agency and contributions of those who endured it.
Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative culture spokesman, called for a balanced and factual presentation of history, emphasizing the need to prominently feature the role of Scots in abolishing slavery and the actions of the Royal Navy in disrupting the slave trade. He also questioned the council's spending priorities, suggesting that with rising council tax and cuts to frontline services, resources should be directed towards more pressing local issues such as road maintenance and waste management before investing in projects of this nature.