The Disturbing History of Tobacco | Empires of Dirt

Tobacco: slaves picked it, Europe smoked it, and the Tobacco Lords of Glasgow grew filthy rich on the profits. Their legacy can be found in the street names across the ‘Merchant City’, but not a single street bears the name of the slaves that made them their fortunes. Cruel Scottish slave traders kidnapped people from West Africa and imprisoned them on Bunce Island off the coast of Sierra Leone, dressed them in tartan and forced them to act as golf caddies. VICE World News Host Zing Tsjeng heads to Scotland to find out who the Tobacco Lords of Glasgow were and learn more about their role at the centre of the transatlantic tobacco trade. Empires of Dirt is a show about Europeans getting rich at the expense of everyone else. VICE World News host Zing Tsjeng uncovers the ugly history of the European colonial empires they don’t teach us in schools. Countries around the world were looted for their treasures, people were oppressed and exploited, and European powers relentlessly profited. The far-reaching repercussions of colonialism are all around us, from our financial institutions to the food we have in our cupboards at home – and it’s about time we took notice. Watch more from this series: How Banks Made Money From Slavery    • How Banks Made Money From Slavery | Empire...   How Britain Got China Hooked on Opium    • How Britain Got China Hooked on Opium I Em...   How Britain Stole $45 Trillion from India with Trains    • How Britain Stole $45 Trillion from India ...   How the British Empire Exported Homophobia    • How the British Empire Exported Homophobia...   Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter:   / vice   Follow us on Instagram:   / vice   The VICE YouTube Network: VICE:    / vice   MUNCHIES:    / munchies   VICE News:    / vicenews   VICELAND:    / vicelandtv   Broadly:    / broadly   Noisey:    / noisey   Motherboard:    / motherboardtv   VICE Sports:    / noc   i-D:    / idmagazine   Waypoint:    / waypointvice