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Neil Oliver: News, Comment, History

65. The Tobacco Lords & the Slave Trade, Merchant City, Glasgow

Neil Oliver: News, Comment, History

Fat Belly Films

News, Neil Oliver, History, Comment

4.71K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode Neil takes us on a very personal journey around his old stomping ground, the Merchant City district in Glasgow. It was built by the mighty Glaswegian Tobacco Lords, men whose trading fortunes made them the Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates of their time. In the late C17th and into the C18th their trading ships ensured great wealth poured into Glasgow and they built huge warehouses, veritable cathedrals to commerce, to store their goods . But these riches came at a deadly human cost, every pound and dollar was made on the backs of African slaves. The Triangular slave trade transported men, women and children from Africa to the American colonies, then tobacco, cotton and other commodities were brought back to Europe on the return trip.

 

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Transcript

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0:00.0

The 15 million pound Lotto Super Saturday jackpot must be won this Saturday.

0:04.5

Or thousands of you will win a share of the prize.

0:06.7

But who will it be?

0:07.7

Maybe Raj, watching the racewalk and thinking I could do that.

0:10.6

Well speed walk down the shop and get yourself a ticket.

0:13.1

Lotto will you be next play in store or on app the national lottery account terms

0:17.6

rules and procedures apply players must be 18 or over.

0:22.4

Hello fellow time travelers I hope you're well. To help support the making of this

0:27.0

podcast sign up to my Patreon.com site where you'll get to see me in person from my home in Sterling.

0:34.0

Each week I post a video about history.

0:37.0

Often where history collides with the present day,

0:40.0

I think it was Mark Twain that said history doesn't repeat but it rhymes.

0:44.4

I've posted videos about billionaires blasting off into space. The Spartans who

0:50.2

inspired the film 300. I've talked about Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and the link to Marie Antoinette.

0:57.5

There's another out there about the Battle of Britain. Anyway, I'm sure you get the picture, it's the history that

1:01.5

inspires me and teaches me things about the world.

1:05.2

To get your hands on these exclusive videos, go to Patreon.com and search for me, Neil Oliver.

1:09.8

It would be great to see you there.

1:11.4

In the meantime, here's the next episode of my love letter to the British Isles.

1:15.2

Q the music. There was profit in tobacco and there was profit in cotton but it was predicated on the fact that you could take human beings and sell them.

1:38.0

In this podcast I'm taking you to meet the all-powerful tobacco lords. Men whose immense profits and huge

1:46.2

wealth made them the Jeff Besos and Bill Gates of their day. Through their

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