The story of the Manchester Guardian began in 1821, in the aftermath of the Peterloo massacre<\/a>, when working people rallying for political reform were killed by the troops sent to disperse them. It was founded with the financial backing of a group of middle-class radicals who shared founding editor John Edward Taylor\u2019s commitment to enlightenment values, liberty, and justice.<\/p>\n That is a true story. But it is also an incomplete one. Yesterday, the Scott Trust \u2013 which owns the Guardian today \u2013 published a report<\/a> which excavates a far darker aspect of the newspaper\u2019s history.<\/p>\n The report sets out the evidence that, even as Taylor led a newspaper which favoured the abolition of slavery, he profited from the labour of enslaved people through the cotton trade. It also reveals that at least nine of his 11 backers had similar ties \u2013 and one of them co-owned an estate in Jamaica where more than 100 people were enslaved. Now the Scott Trust has apologised<\/a> \u201cfor the part the Guardian and its founders had in this crime against humanity\u201d, and allocated more than \u00a310m to a decade-long restorative justice programme.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Guardian has published the first part of Cotton Capital<\/a>, a series that traces the story from its origins in 19th-century Manchester to its consequences today.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Thos video is well worth watching:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/3D36FEFF-9B66-49AE-BBE7-C2AEA49DB789-550x530.jpeg\")
\nIn it, Prof David Olusoga, who is a Scott Trustee, and therefore one of those with responsibility for publishing the Guardian, admits his own previous blindness to its history.<\/p>\n