Last Thursday I competed in the Regional Round of The Great Historical debate, which took place at Wills Memorial Building in Bristol University. It is the UK’s historical debating competition for pupils aged 16-19, in which I had five minutes to present a speech on the intriguing question: ‘Should we Judge Historical Figures by the Morals of Today?’
As there is a very controversial debate in Bristol surrounding its association with an exceedingly well-known slave trader, as Mr Davies and I worded it in our meeting sessions, we decided to ‘address the elephant in the room’ and debate about the figure of Edward Colston.
Admittedly I was slightly nervous to deliver a speech on my opinion surrounding whether he should still be commemorated in the form of statues, buildings and roads in Bristol, but after a few thought provoking rehearsals with Mr Davies, I felt ready heading to the debate, (alongside Maia for moral support!) with a convincing speech in my pocket, that was engaging in its colloquial form.
In addition to the debate, I was also questioned about my debate in front of the audience, who asked detailed and analytical questions that I had to think very quickly about before answering! The judges particularly liked my argument comparing the philanthropists of Colston, and the well-known Jimmy Saville, who I don’t think they were really expecting to be brought up, which definitely played to my advantage.
The scores were calculated with your debate, presentation, and question answers all taken into account, and I was thrilled to be Third Place out of 12 of the best debaters from other schools in and surrounding Bristol.
I would like to thank Maia for accompanying me on the trip and supporting me the entire evening, and Mr Davies for all of his help writing my speech and enabling me to widen my historical knowledge in an exceedingly fascinating way.
Scarlett
Lower Sixth
