SLAVERY IN CANADA ABOLISHED ON AUGUST 1-1834

Murphy Browne © July 30-2018

SLAVERY IN CANADA ABOLISHED ON AUGUST 1-1834

August 1^st is recognized as Emancipation Day by the descendants of Africans who were enslaved by the British (English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh.) Africans were enslaved by White men and women from every European tribe but at one time the inhabitants of the British Isles dominated the “slave trade.” The enslavement of Africans in Canada ended on August 1-1834 when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. The documented enslavement of Africans in Canada began in 1628 with the sale of a six-year-old boy who was kidnapped from the African continent and sold in "New France." The child was renamed Olivier LeJeune by the French who bought him from the British pirate David Kirke. Slavery in Canada lasted approximately 206 years and was abolished 184 years ago. In 2018 the descendants of enslaved Africans in Canada have been free 22 years less than slavery lasted!

The enslavement of Africans in Canada began in Quebec when the French in “New France/Lower Canada” enslaved a 6-year-old African child. In 1685 France’s Louis XIV documented in his “Code Noir” (Black Code) the rules that the French enslavers were bound to follow including: “The children who will be born of marriage between slaves will be slaves and will belong to the master of the women slaves, and not to those of their husband, if the husband and the wife have different masters. The slave who will have struck his master or the wife of his master, his mistress or their children to bring blood, or in the face, will be punished with death.” The enslavement of Africans was legitimized by the French monarchy. The British brought enslaved Africans with them (1760) and continued and expanded the enslavement of Africans in Canada.

The narrative of enslaved Africans fleeing slavery in America to “freedom” in Canada dominates any discussion of slavery. The stories of enslaved Africans in Canada fleeing to “freedom” in Vermont, USA, beginning in 1777 when Vermont abolished slavery, is not as well known. Admittedly there was an unsuccessful attempt by John Graves Simcoe in 1793 to abolish slavery in “Upper Canada.” Simcoe’s attempt to abolish slavery in “Upper Canada” (Ontario) in 1793 was unsuccessful because many influential residents of the province were slave holders. Simcoe’s attempt to abolish slavery was made after he was told of the brutal beating and sale of enslaved African woman Chloe Cooley on March 14-1793. The resulting "Act to Limit Slavery" did not free any enslaved African in Canada; only prevented the importing of enslaved Africans. Influential slave holders like William Jarvis ensured that enslaved Africans living in Canada remained in bondage.

Peter Russell (born in Cork, Ireland) who became the administrator of Upper Canada (July 1796) after Simcoe left, was another of the infamous slaveholders who ensured that Africans remained enslaved. In a February 10, 1806 “Upper Canada” publication Russell advertised for sale a 40-year-old enslaved African woman Peggy Pompadour and her 15-year-old son Jupiter. Russell and his sister Elizabeth Russell “owned” Peggy, her son Jupiter and her two younger daughters Amy and Milly. The Russells seem to have only the Pompadour family enslaved but others enslaved large numbers of Africans. Matthew Elliot (born in Donegal County, Ireland) had 60 enslaved Africans working on his 4,000 acres of land in Upper Canada (Amherstburg.)

During the 206 years between 1628 and August 1-1834, enslaved Africans were owned by White people from all levels of society in Canada, including bishops, blacksmiths, carpenters, merchants, military officers, priests, surgeons, tailors and nuns. Africans were enslaved across Canada, including New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario. In 1960 when White Canadian historian, Marcel Trudel, published “L’esclavage au Canada Français histoire et conditions de l’esclavage/Canada's Forgotten Slaves: Two Hundred Years of Bondage” it was considered so controversial that Trudel was forced to leave Quebec’s Laval University and move to the University of Ottawa. In her 2010 published “Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada,” African Canadian author Natasha Henry has researched and written about the history of August 1^st celebrations throughout Canada.

Since the abolition of slavery in Canada on August 1-1834 the descendants of enslaved Africans have celebrated August 1^st as Emancipation Day. On Tuesday, July 31-2018 participants in the annual “Underground Freedom Train Ride/Emancipation Day Celebration” will gather at 11:30 p.m. at Union Station. The 6^th annual “Freedom Train Ride” hosted by A Different Booklist bookstore leaves Union Station at 11:45 p.m. to arrive at Sheppard West subway station at 12:10 a.m. on August 1-2018. The celebration begins at Union Station on July 31^st and concludes on August 1^st at Sheppard West subway station. August 1^st is Emancipation Day in Canada.

Murphy Browne © July 30-2018