Adam Smith’s gravesite and statue in Scotland were included in a list of monuments linked to “slavery and colonialism” by a city council review panel and could be slated for removal.
Smith, known by many as the “Father of Capitalism,” was an 18th-century philosopher and economist who authored the highly influential book, The Wealth of Nations. But now, Smith’s gravestone and statue located in the Canongate Kirkyard on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile could be removed in response to last year’s Black Lives Matter protests in the Scottish city.
A review group created in response to the protests set out to identify statues and monuments in the city with close links to slavery and would “consider all options” with those that are identified, including the “removal of statues.”
Though Smith was not a slave owner, the group justified his inclusion on the list due to the fact that he “argued that slavery was ubiquitous and inevitable but that it was not as profitable as free labour.”
Smith was the first economic philosopher to advocate for a free market system of economics, arguing that people working toward their own self-interest would more efficiently advance the public good.
The city council’s Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group will now determine which identified monuments should be removed, with recommendations expected by December.
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The news follows a trend sweeping across the United States, which has seen a growth in movements to remove statues and monuments with alleged ties to racism and white supremacy.
While Civil War-era shrines to Confederate generals such as Robert E. Lee have received the most attention, many activists have advocated for the removal of monuments to founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and have even targeted former President Abraham Lincoln.
