Woven Histories of Welsh Wool and Slavery calls attention to the colonial history of the Welsh woollen industry. Made in collaboration with Cardiff University and Coleg Menai, this free e-book aims to improve public knowledge of the ways local histories of woollen production in Wales are implicated in broader global histories of Atlantic slavery and empire.
Wool, alongside (and eventually overtaken by) cotton, became the global textile industry of the eighteenth century. British merchants used the cloth to purchase and trade in African captives who were kidnapped to work on plantations in the Americas in the transatlantic slave trade. Plantation owners in the Caribbean and US South used the hand-woven woollen textile to clothe the enslaved labourers.
This publication features original artwork by the students of Coleg Menai, interviews with Marcia Dunkley of Black Heritage Walks Network and Liz Millman of Learning Links International, and an essay by historian Chris Evans.
This is a bilingual publication, with both Welsh and English versions of each chapter translated by Elin Meek.
Designed by Rosie Wainwright.
94 pages, A5, pdf.
Delivery
This publication is a free e-book, generously funded by HEFCW Research Wales Innovation Funding. Upon ordering, no payment will be taken, and the publication will automatically be emailed to you. You will receive a link that enables you to view or download the publication as a pdf. If you experience any technical difficulty accessing the file, please email hello@commonthreadspress.co.uk.