The Melville Monument Naval Memorial is a large column in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, constructed between 1821 and 1827 as a memorial to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.
The Proprietors of St Andrew Square renegotiated the contract (January 1821) for the monument and gifted the site free of charge.
Executive Summary
A false narrative has taken hold regarding the legacy of Henry Dundas, and his stance on the abolition of the slave trade. Activists have accused him of seeking to delay the abolition of the slave trade, and have ignored massive amount of evidence, produced over his entire political career, that he abhorred slavery and the slave trade.
As a young lawyer, Dundas represented Joseph Knight, an African brought to Scotland as a child from Jamaica who later decided to fight for his freedom. Dundas led his legal team and achieved a declaration from Scotland’s highest court that no man could be a slave on Scottish soil.
When the abolition movement emerged in Britain a decade later, Dundas frequently declared his support for the cause. He also argued, however, that abolitionists needed to go farther. Their sole focus was on the slave trade, and he urged them also to seek the abolition of slavery itself. Dundas argued that “justice and humanity” required that both slavery and the slave trade be abolished together.
Henry Dundas was the first parliamentarian in Britain to speak publicly in favour of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade.
Dundas also warned, however, that seeking “immediate and complete” abolition was too ambitious. Such a policy would simply drive the slave trade into the hands of foreign powers. He recommended a strategic and cautious approach. In 1792, William Wilberforce tabled a motion in support of immediate abolition. The motion was heading for certain defeat until Dundas proposed an amendment. Dundas proposed “gradual” abolition, rather than immediate. His amendment carried the day, and resulted in a decisive victory for abolition. For the first time in British history, Parliament voted in favour of abolition, and did so with a decisive majority of 230 votes to 85. It was a partial but irreversible step towards the ultimate goal of complete abolition of the slave trade.
Dundas was also the first and only MP in the 1790’s to advocate for the eradication of hereditary slavery – the practice of slave owners claiming ownership of the children born to their slaves. In addition, he proposed mandatory education for these children to equip them to become free and contributing members of society in the West Indies.
Abolitionists, however, refused to cooperate with any plan for gradual abolition. Thirty years later they came to regret their resistance and admitted that Dundas was right – gradual abolition, and abolition of both slavery and the slave trade together, would have been a better strategy for them to adopt.
Henry Dundas also deployed policies in Canada that supported equity and fairness to minorities:
· As Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Dundas ordered the governors of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to honour Britain’s commitments for land grants to former slaves who had fought for the British during the American Revolution. He also offered these veterans and their families passage son Royal Navy ships for repatriation to Africa. More than 1200 accepted this offer and travelled to Sierra Leone in early 1793.
· Dundas commissioned an avowed abolitionist, John Graves Simcoe, to be Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor, and oversaw his successful campaign to legislate the end of slavery in what is now Ontario. By the time Britain got around to outlawing slavery throughout the British empire, slavery was virtually non-existent in Ontario.
· Dundas also gave instructions to Simcoe to ensure that the hunting grounds of indigenous nations were protected when the Americans were making military forays into Upper Canada.
· He told the governor with oversight of Lower Canada, now Quebec, to allow French-speaking parliamentarians to pass laws in French – a bitter point of dispute in the newly formed legislative assembly in Quebec City. Dundas thus became the first senior official to endorse a policy of bilingualism in Canada.
Dundas thus consistently supported recognition of human rights, and sought to protect oppressed minorities, at a time when the term “human rights” was not even known.
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“Wilberforce’s original 1792 motion to abolish the slave trade was defeated 230 to 85 in the House of Commons. But, as amended by Dundas to include the word “gradual,” it passed 193 to 125 — the first time an abolitionist bill had passed the Commons. Today there is sharp disagreement between those who condemn Dundas for his pragmatism and those who support his gradual approach. What is completely clear, however, is that an abrupt change would not have received a majority in the Parliament of the day.” – Joe Martin, Former Director of Business History, University of Toronto
“The Lords opposed abolition in any shape or form and so did the king. Within a year Britain was at war with France, the French Terror had commenced, a counter-revolution was unleased in Britain silencing radical critics of the existing regime, and slave insurrection in future Haiti intensified as white and mixed-race planters failed to reconcile their differences. The conditions for abolition evaporated and so, too, did the abolition movement, for over a decade. This broad narrative is endorsed by many historians of slavery who have addressed the issue, including, from quite different political perspectives, Robin Blackburn and Adam Hochschild. In the light of this narrative, it is incorrect to scapegoat Dundas for the half a million Africans who were sent into slavery until 1807.” – Nicholas Rogers, Emeritus Professor of History, York University
“What is particularly troubling about the historical submission to the Toronto council is the passing, marginal reference to a 1778 case in which Henry Dundas defended Joseph Knight, a slave who had tried to run away from his master to marry his lover, a chambermaid who was pregnant. The lawyers for the slave-owner argued that natural liberties did not apply to slaves, but Knight’s counsel, including Dundas, argued that the circumstances of African slavery and the slave trade contradicted this argument. Knight had been denied his natural rights and coerced into slavery. The result was a landmark decision in Scotland’s Court of Session declaring that any slave entering Scotland became free. […] Dundas’ participation in this case completely repudiates the argument that he was a slave sympathiser, a moral monster” – Nicholas Rogers, Emeritus Professor of History, York University
“When you examine the career of Henry Dundas, you see a leader who won the respect and trust of his peers and his country and who appears to be socially progressive. He represented Joseph Knight — a slave — and his remarks during Knight’s trial, and consistently over his career, indicate his strong personal opposition to slavery. The effect of winning that landmark case was the freeing of all slaves domiciled in Scotland and to end native serfdom in Scotland. Given the general acceptance of and support for slavery in 1776, lending his support to that case showed a level of personal political courage that is rare in any time period.” – Don Mitchell, Mayor of Whitby
“I see Dundas as a realist who understood how to build consensus and advance important objectives that always require time and education. Politics is the art of the possible. In the result, the House of Lords did not adopt the bill until 1807 — so the addition of the word “gradual” in 1792 did not, in fact, add any delay. I would compare this to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. It freed slaves only in rebellious states. It did not free any slaves in Union states where it would have had immediate effect. It was largely symbolic but it was all that was politically possible at that time. It laid the foundation for the 13th Amendment the following year which abolished slavery.” – Don Mitchell, Mayor of Whitby
The staff report [City of Toronto] omitted context for Dundas’ motion: that is, the previous, resounding failures by the British Parliament to legislate abolition, which led to his moderate approach. It ignores evidence that Henry Dundas demonstrated values of equity and inclusion. It ignores the fact that Dundas’ plan was not to delay the introduction of abolition, it was to introduce significant measures immediately, and see it [ slavery] completely abolished by 1800. The first year would have banned all British persons and ships from engaging in human trafficking with foreign territories. This report does not meet the standard of proof. – Denzil Minnan Wong, City of Toronto, Ward Councillor.
