Black history summary – early modern Britain
This summary resource gives a sweeping overview of the lives and impact of people of African origin in Britain from 1500 to the Industrial Revolution. It gives an insight into the work of historians such as Onyeka Nubia, Miranda Kaufmann and Imtiaz Habib.
Students will also learn more about key individuals from black history, including Cattalena of Almondsbury, Jacques Francis, Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, Olaudah Equiano, Bill Richmond and Mary Prince.
During this time, people of African descent came to the British Isles as servants and musicians to the royal family, traders, seamstresses, sailors and diplomats. Some were rich and some poor but, most importantly, they were all free members of British society. Some of these black Tudors went on to marry and have families with British men and women.