Nantes slave trade memorial – level 3
03-03-2025 15:00
Once France’s largest slave-trading port, now, Nantes acknowledges its past with a memorial.
The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery displays 2,000 boards featuring ship names and trade records, reminding visitors of the city’s deep involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. The Château des Ducs de Bretagne museum further documents this history with plantation registers, shipping logs, and personal testimonies.
In the 18th century, Nantes was a leading European hub for slave trade, deporting over 500,000 people. It later became the first French city involved in illegal slavery. A notable exhibit is a 1770 watercolor of the Marie-Séraphique, illustrating the harsh conditions enslaved people endured. Other artifacts include shackles and ceramics.
The memorial also encourages reflection on racism and tolerance. Some residents worry that history is being forgotten. Nantes chooses not to erase its past but to educate people about it. The city now seeks to honor those affected and ensure their stories are remembered.
Difficult words: acknowledge (to accept or recognize something as true), hub (the center of an activity), artifact (a historical object made by humans), shackle (a part of a chain used to fasten a prisoner’s wrist or ankles together).
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How do the 2,000 boards, the detailed records in the museum, and artifacts like the 1770 watercolor, shackles, and ceramics combine to foster reflection on both the brutal history of the transatlantic slave trade and the ongoing conversations about racism and tolerance in Nantes?
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