James Ramsay (1733-1789): Scottish Abolitionism in the Anglo-Atlantic World

This podcast explores the life and influence of the Rev. James Ramsay, an Anglican priest, ship’s surgeon, and pioneering abolitionist who was educated at King’s College between 1749 and 1753. Ramsay’s anti-slavery convictions were born out of the experience of fifteen years as a preacher and medical attendant to the enslaved population of the island of St Christopher (St. Kitts). His abolitionist tracts of 1784-1787 were the most influential publications in the years leading up to abolitionism becoming an organised movement.