London Sugar and Slavery

The only permament gallery in London to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Britain, London Sugar and Slavery at Museum in Docklands investigates the city's involvement in the slave trade and how it's people madde efforts to have slavery abolished.

Debunking the myth that London was only a minor player in the slave trade, London Sugar and Slavery shows how the transatlantic slave trade funded much of the city's financial successes in the 17th century and how from the nations art collections to the merchant houses of Blackheath, the city benefited from those enchained to labour.

But the exhibtion doesn't just focus on the negative aspects of London's involvement with the slave trade. The Museum in Docklands gallery also illustrates how many more people than just the evangelical parliamentarians who made the difference. Widespread grass roots movements that included people freed from slavery who wrote about their experiences, thousands of ordinary citizens who lobbied collectively and plenty of wealthy and poor women who boycotted the sugar directly produced from the slave labour plantations, all contributed to the abolition of the trade.

One of the most inspiring parts of the exhibition sheds light on the African slaves who themselves played such a vital role in the abolition of slavery. The resistance from many of the slaves who refused to accept a life of misery at the hands of the British establishment forced many to re-think their policies and inspired much of the public to help the campaign.

Including personal accounts, films, music, and different objects relating to the slave trade and those who tirelessly campaigned against it, London Sugar and Slavery is a fascinating showcase of ideas that reveals just how embedded into our culture the effects of African slavery and it's abolition is.

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