Henry Dundas was the most powerful Scottish politician of his time, serving as Home Secretary from 1791-94 and continuing to hold a Cabinet position until 1801. He promoted Scotland’s trading interests in the British Empire, especially with the slave-based economies of the Caribbean. Conscious of the growing tide of opposition to slavery, he responded by delaying the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade by almost fifteen years. Recently, campaigners have drawn attention to the suffering caused by his actions, leading to the addition of a new plaque to Dundas’s monument in Edinburgh in memory of the 500,000 enslaved Africans who were transported across the Atlantic during his time in power.