Although much has been written about Scottish involvement in slavery, the contribution of Scots to the abolition of black slavery has not yet been sufficiently recognised. This book starts with a Virginian slave seeking his freedom in Scotland in 1756 and ends with the abolition of the apprenticeship scheme in the West Indian colonies in 1838. Contemporary documents and periodicals reveal a groundswell of revulsion to what was described as "e;the horrible traffik in humans"e;. Petitions to Parliament came from remote islands in Shetland as well as from large public meetings in cities. In a land steeped in religion, ministers and church leaders took the lead in giving theological support to the cause of abolition. The contributions of five London Scots who were pivotal to the campaign throughout Britain are set against opposition to abolition from many Scots with commercial interests in the slave trade and the sugar plantations. Missionaries and miners, trades guilds and lawyers all played their parts in challenging slavery. Many of their struggles and frustrations are detailed for the first time in an assessment of the unique contribution made by Scotland and the Scots to the destruction of an institution whose effects are still with us today.

'Send Back the Money!' is a thorough and gripping examination of a fascinating and forgotten aspect of Scottish and American relations and Church history. A seminal period of Abolition activity is exposed by Iain Whyte through a study of the fiery 'Send back the Money!' campaign named after 'the hue and cry of the day' that encapsulated the argument that divided families, communities, and the Free Church itself. This examination of the Free Church's involvement with American Presbyterianism in the nineteenth century reveals the ethical furore caused by a Church wishing to emancipate itself from the religious and civil domination supported by the established religion of the state. The Free Church therefore found an affinity with those oppressed elsewhere,but subsequently found itself financially supported by the Southern slave states of America. Whyte sensitively handles this inherent contradiction in the political, ecclesiastical, and theological institutions, while informing the reader of the roles of charismatic characters such as Robert Burns, Thomas Chalmers and Frederick Douglass. These key individuals shaped contemporary culture with action, great oratory, and rhetoric. The author adroitly draws parallels from the twentieth century onwards, bringing the reader to a fuller understanding of the historic and topical issues within global Christianity, and the contentious topic of slavery. 'Send back the Money!' throws light upon nineteenth-century culture, British and American Abolitionists, and ecclesiastical politics, and is written in a clear and engaging style.

How did the evil nature of slavery become enshrined in law in Great Britain? What drove the change in public perception? What were the key victories on the journey to abolition and who were the key players? What is to prevent a similar evil gaining acceptance again today? Just as Britain’s industrial development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was built largely on the back of slave labour, so too was the development of new ideas and values, shaped by the moral dilemmas arising from the shameful act of denying people their liberty.The story of the Scottish Enlightenment is entwined with that of slavery and the slave trade. In fifteen stories set between 1720 and 1865 in Britain, Africa, the Caribbean and America, Slavery and the Scottish Enlightenment introduces a diverse cast of characters, both white and black, whose moral viewpoints and active choices between right and wrong helped shape the world in which they lived. As the legacy of slavery continues to infect our lives, we face similar choices today – choices that will determine the ever-evolving values of our society.

A prominent British anti-slavery campaigner, Zachary Macaulay devoted forty years of exhaustive research to combating what he called a “foul stain on the nation,” and his work was instrumental in laying the foundation for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. With a focus on his unswerving commitment to the cause, this biography—the first of its kind—examines Macaulay's life and the people and events that influenced it. Zachary Macaulay 1768–1838 illustrates the man behind the writings—his passions and his prejudices, his shyness and steely resolve, and, above all, his willingness to work unremittingly in the background, generating the power to drive the engine of anti-slavery to victory.

While the literature relating to Scottish contact with America has grown significantly in recent years, the influence of America on Scotland and its early modern history has been neglected in favour of a preoccupation with Scottish influence on the formation of North American national identities. Alexander Murdoch's fascinating new study explores Scottish interactions with North America in a desire to open up fresh perspectives on the subject. Scotland and America, c.1600-c.1800 - Surveys the key centuries of economic, migratory and cultural exchange, including Canada and the Caribbean - Discusses Scottish participation in the Atlantic slave trade and the debate over its abolition - Considers the Scottish experience of British unionism with respect to developing American traditions of unionism in the U.S. and Canada Incorporating the latest research, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the dynamic relationship between Scotland and America during a key period in history.

The first ever book-length attempt to strip away the myths and write the real history of Scotland's slavery past. Written to appeal to a wide audience, it contains many original ,surprising and uncomfortable conclusions.