Abolition of the Slave Trade

4. Discussion

Required Resources

• Video: Abolition of slavery - Royal Navy's role

Delivery

• Initiate a group discussion asking the students:
  • How the abolitionist movement might have influenced some of the defining features of modern British society (the primacy of personal freedom, multi-nationalism, and universal suffrage irrespective of race).
  • Whether they think it is right for big companies to use sweatshops in poorer countries to produce their clothes.
  • If they disagree with the practice ask students to discuss how they could register their disagreement with this practice?
• Explain that slavery still exists in the form of people trafficking and that the Royal Navy still plays an important part in suppressing this amoral trade.
• Video: Abolition of slavery - Royal Navy's role, which gives a brief explanation of the Royal Navy's role in curtailing slavery today.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

Students may need more support in the group discussion; more time should be allowed to ensure students grasp the link to slavery and can engage fully with the topic.

Higher Ability:

Students could be asked to think about products or campaigns which they have seen that address issues such as people trafficking or exploitation of labour and to state how affective they think they are. They could visit websites such as http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/ or www.oxfam.org to conduct some research.