How do you erase a figure from the past and rewrite British history? The supposed victim of historical erasure last week was Hans Sloane, the wealthy physician and naturalist whose collection of artefacts formed the nucleus of what became the British Museum. This new display made it possible for the museum to explain the links between Sloane, his collection and slavery. Rather, Britain is gradually coming to the end of a very different and highly effective process of historical erasure that has endured for centuries. As a nation, we still have only a dim understanding of the slave system that funded Sloane’s collecting.

Source: The Guardian August 30, 2020 07:30 UTC