My 7th great grandfather was Lawrence Dinwiddie (Lord Provost of Glasgow 1742-1744) and my 7th great uncle was Gov Robert Dinwiddie. Thank you so much for going over this!! Adding more knowledge for my ancestors.

Great video. As an exiled Glaswegian I love hearing of our history. You do these very well. Good luck from Oz.👍

Good job. I loved hearing about this part of Scottish history that frankly, not many people actually hear nor even talk about.

i liked what you said at the end of this explaining about how times have changed but back then we were all doing things we wouldnt do now

I was born and brought up in Glasgow and have learned a lot from your video. Thanks very much.

As A Glaswegian I am PROUD of my City and what the Tobacco Lords built, the Architecture in Glasgow is out of this world. We can’t be sorry for slavery etc why should we apologise? It was another time In History. It is a shame as our once Powerhouse of a City has been ruined with Beautiful buildings bulldozed to make room for cheap student accommodation and Horrible Hotel buildings. I am proud of the Legacy that these Tobacco Lords have left us our Buildings are stunning, you will never see the likes of these buildings again so we must preserve them.

Nicely made! There is a petition taking off to have street names in Glasgow changed to remove the legacy of the Tobacco Lords. Because their impact on the Glasgow we see today was so deep and far-ranging as you describe, I wonder what good it will do to have the street names changed... We ought to come to terms with our nation's encounters with slavery and the Scots' administration of Empire.

That was brilliant,thank you so much for posting.Love ma glesga for aww it’s amazing buildings & rich history!More please!❤️❤️❤️

It's depressing that some folk can't get over something that happened hundreds of years ago that they weren't involved with, but have been told what to think about by even more ignorant people that have somehow insinuated themselves into positions of influence who weren't affected by it (slavery) either. Madness.

Very interesting. The details of how quickly Glasgow grew and the power that the Tobacco Barons wielded is a lot more intense than I previously realised. There were people at the time who were opposed to slavery (hence why Abolition happened), so it wasn't universally accepted, even as a 'necessary evil'. As with all economic systems, there are both good and bad outcomes for different people and classes - hence why we continually need to critically assess them. Slavery has existed for centuries (and still does today), so I think our energy is best spent on fixing today's problems and educating people on why they need to change - and as part of that, knowledge of history is vital.

Nice one....

Very informative. Thanks for posting. Cheers 👍

Enjoyed this and found it informative. Well done😊

I agree, the history of Glasgow is still shaping it today. Those men were in a totally different time, and they were products of that time as much as we are of ours. Times have changed and society is not what it was three hundred years ago. We should take the lessons that the past has to offer and learn from them.

Very informative, thanks for posting 👍🙂

Can you make a similar video on shipbuilers of Scotland and England.

Well written.

Can I remaster your audio to extinguish that infernal smoke alarm?

A fascinating video. I agree with everything you say about not judging the tobacco Lords by modern day standards.

Love this documentary, the maps and the opinion. We have come a long way in social justice.

I can’t agree that they were a “force for good”. I don’t think any person who was heavily involved in the slave trade whether European, Barbary, or any other, can be called that. I do agree with a balanced approach when examining history. Slavery is present all throughout history going as far back as before it was written down. Nearly every ancient Empire we read about engaged in the horror of slavery. It’s only recently we find it abhorrent enough to outlaw in every country on Earth. Nevertheless plenty of people are still enslaved in modern times.

They were heavily involved in the slave trade. Glasgow wouldn’t be Glasgow without them but they do have a very dark side that can’t be revered.

Very informative, but change the battery in your smoke detector please!

I agree re today’s views of history to some extent. There’s certainly an element of being told what to think with many things and points of view ..or else today. That isn’t right either.

You forgot to mention that "Once upon a time a wee fanny said...."

Excellent wee history lesson. I loved your defence of the tobacco barons at the end. Scotland became a force to be reckoned with as soon as we joined the Union.

I did genealogy and my family was Tobacco farmers. We are “Glasscock”

Why the complete and seemingly deliberate avoidance of the crucial part the slave trade played in this, until the mealy-mouthed addendum?

Great info, thanks! 👍😊

Why were they given a monopoly to French colonial trade? Was this decided by the French or by the British? How and what was the process for a city or group of traders to attain a trade monopoly legally at the time.

Put a battery in that smoke detector

Have.gibem it up

'MAZIN! Aye, ah LOVE a wee puff!! 😉

Great video, really well presented, however i disagree entirely with your assessment that slavery was justifiable back then simply because everyone else was at it. Also, the idea that the tobaco lords were "Good men" and not greedy, power-hungry colonialists doesnt quite ring true when you consider the lavish properties they built for themselves within a city of overwhelming poverty and squalor of the time

Can't imagine these wiggy vastards selling golden Virginia at the barras! 😂

Just because tremendous wealth and development occurred due to slavery does not and should not become some kind of defence of slavery. It was an awful period in the history of the world and we should never defend or try and make arguments as to why is was okay at that time. It wasn't okay then and it never will be. Glasgow is a marvellous city with much to be proud of but Slavery is a massive blot on that copy book as it is for other city's such as Bristol and Liverpool! ps. Good and Interesting video though which I enjoyed apart from the justification towards the end which wasn't needed imo.

Maybe that's why Glaswegians smoke so much.

I would rename the streets in the city centre of Glasgow. This is Glasgow shame, They made profit on the back of slaves, Many of them died. Scotland own working class was treated horrible. As a Glaswegian I'm not proud of this.

Different values or not, defending the loading of human beings onto ships by force shoulder to toe chained together and unable to move is completely outrageous. A force for good? You are deranged. They were incredibly wealthy and could have paid workers a fair wage yet yet chose to line their own pockets with more money instead and abuse people simply because they had the "wrong" skin colour.

Thanks for the video. Scotland wasn't an imperialist country, then it was absorbed into England with the so called Union which used Scots as the troops to be buffer for an empire. The union has only benefitted the greedy of society, that's what the union is all about. The vast majority of Scots at this time were living in extreme poverty, facing starvation and being evicted from their land during the Highland, and Lowland clearances, while their men were being used to fight all over the world. Some counties, like Sutherland, lost so many men that the county couldn't continue to function as a populated farming area. As the plague at the Strathnaver hall says, the Lords will now need to use the sheep to defend themselves. You are right to present this video, because it is a part of 'Scottish' history, but really it shows what the union was, and still is. Though all the wealth has reverted back to the London oligarchs

Why no mention of the slaves?

Slavery ya dafty.

Let's not judge people of the past as been evil, we were all at it.... And say things like it was never that bad... A nice bit of softly sounding whitewashing I feel there, sad fact is 2-7 years expectancy on a Scottish owned farmed as a slave back then!

The UK appears to be the only country that keeps getting badgered into saying sorry for slavery every year.