slavery heritage tour in the city . 10 The tour includes a stop at the statue of Joan Güell , who made his fortune in Cuba and led an association founded in 1871 to defend slavery in the Caribbean . ( By that date , slavery had been abolished in European countries but the practice continued in places like Cuba .) In Spanish cities other than Barcelona there seems to be a marked silence on the subject , perhaps because the country is grappling with more recent traumas stemming from the legacy of the Franco dictatorship .
Other countries with a lesser-known history in the slave trade have also been relatively silent . Denmark , which held colonies with slave plantations in what is known today as the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean , has only recently acknowledged its role with a public exhibition . In Copenhagen , on 26 September 2019 , a replica of the ‘ Freedom ’ sculpture , created by Ghanaian artist Bright Bimpong , was permanently put in place at an official ceremony by the Minister of Culture at the Eigtveds Pakhus , a building along the wharf formerly used by the West India Company as a warehouse to store goods brought in from the plantations in the colonies . 11 In front of the Eigtveds Pakus also stands a sculpture depicting a Black woman titled “ I Am Queen Mary ”, a transnational public art project created by La Vaughn Belle of the US Virgin Islands and Jeannette Ehlers of Denmark in 2018 . 12 But do these monuments foster a national dialogue ? In 2020 , students at the Nærum High School in Greater Copenhagen revealed an interest in learning more about their country ’ s involvement in the slave trade . « We have tons about the Second World War or Romanticism », one student said . « And close to nothing about our past on the West Indies .» 13 Erecting monuments is a first step , but whether there will be more public recognition of Denmark ’ s historical legacy with slavery remains to be seen .
The traces and legacies of the slave trade reach far beyond trading ports themselves . The sale and consumption of slave trade-related products bore a social , cultural and economic impact across the continent . The shipping records from the port of Hamburg , a city with no immediately obvious link to the slave trade , suggests its commercial complicity in the triangular slave trade . In 1790 alone , for example , shipping logs indicate the importation of 28,665 barrels of coffee , 23,428 barrels of sugar , 1,559 bales of cotton , and 15,500 tons of rice from French colonies . 14 These products , especially
10
Oriol López-Badell , “ Guided tour ‘ The legacy of slavery in Barcelona ’. Public history as reparation ”, International Journal of Tourism Anthropology ( IJTA ), Vol . 5 , No . 3 / 4 , 2016 : https :// www . inderscience . com / offer . php ? id = 81786
11
The original ‘ Freedom ’ sculpture created by Ghanian artist Bright Bimpong is in the Virgin Islands . In addition , replicas of the busts by Bright Bimpong of two Virgin Islands heroes , rebel leader Moses “ General Buddhoe ” Gottlieb and educator Hamilton Jackson , are also on display respectively at the Holbæk Museum , Northwest Zealand , and the Arbejdermuseet ( Workers ’ Museum ), Copenhagen . See Amy Roberts , “‘ Freedom Statues ’ From V . I . Make History in Denmark ”, St . Thomas Source , 14 November 2020 : https :// stthomassource . com / content / 2016 / 11 / 14 / freedom-statues-from-v-i-make-history-in-denmark /
12
‘ The government approved the request for the statue to remain permanently in 2020 ; See the I Am Queen Mary website : https :// www . iamqueenmary . com /
13
Christian Thaagaard Skov Sørensen , “ Danish Students Want to Learn More About Colonial Past , Teachers Ready to Heed Their Call ”, St . Thomas Source , 30 October 2020 : https :// stthomassource . com / content / 2020 / 10 / 30 / danish-students-want-to-learn-more-about-colonial-past-teachers-ready-to-heed-their-call /
14
Jonas Ludwig von Hess , About the value and importance of the freedom of the Hanseatic cities , JGB Vogel Publisher , 1814 : http :// books . google . com / books ? id = pERVAAAAcAAJ & hl =& source = gbs _ api
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