American History Too!

 This first podcast from two tutors at the University of Edinburgh (Mark McLay and Dr Malcolm Craig) looks at the introduction of slavery to the Southern colonies in the seventeenth century. We examine the eternal debate - 'Did slavery lead to racism or did racism lead to slavery?' - and we consider why we even bother trying to answer this question.  In addition, we delve into the key debates that surround this question and give our views on the arguments of leading historical works of this period.  Finally, we opine on the legacy that the introduction of slavery bequeathed the founders of the United States in the late eighteenth century. All this - and yet we still manage to dodge an emergency and wrongly predict the outcome of the Scottish Independence Referendum! We hope you enjoy the podcast and stick around for the next episode - appearing in two weeks time - which will pick apart the debates surrounding the formation of the United States.      Mark