AUGUST 1-1834 EMANCIPATION DAY
Murphy Browne © July 23-2020
On August 1, 1834, enslaved Africans in Canada and other colonies in the British Empire were freed from chattel slavery through the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. While the enslaved Africans in Canada, Antigua and Barbuda were freed on August 1, 1834, enslaved Africans in other British colonized Caribbean islands, British Honduras in Central America and British Guiana in South America were slated to endure up to a further six years (domestic workers 4 years and field workers 6) of semi-slavery before they would finally be free. They were compelled to provide 40 hours a week of unpaid labour on the plantations and in the houses or businesses where they had been enslaved. Any work over 40 hours was supposed to be paid labour. The British government said it was an “apprenticeship system” during which the Africans were to be “trained” for a life of freedom. This “apprenticeship system” continued the abuse and exploitation of the Africans. The Africans were compelled to pay rent for the inadequate housing on the plantations plus feed and clothe themselves and their families from the pittance they were paid for work over 40 hours per week. The Africans resisted and eventually the six years apprenticeship for field workers was reduced to four years and all enslaved Africans were finally freed on August 1, 1838.
In 1837, the British government passed a law to compensate the slaveholders for losing their human “property.” The enslaved Africans were not compensated for their coerced, unpaid labour that enriched the British (English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh) enslavers. In 2020, 182 years after all enslaved Africans in the British Empire were free, their descendants are determinedly demanding Reparations. As the Black Lives Matter movement advances internationally, voices are being raised to confront the historical legacies of anti-Black racism and colonialism. In European countries and across North America, there are calls to remove statues that represent or celebrate the white supremacist culture of the slave trade, the enslavement of Africans for 400 years and the imperialism of Europe. The many memorials, buildings, statues and street names that honour and celebrate white supremacy are being targeted for removal.
In Europe statues of colonialists, slave holders and in the US, statues of Confederate leaders and slave holders have been pulled down. In Canada, the memorials, buildings, statues and street names that honour and celebrate white supremacy remain intact. In Toronto, Dundas Street is named in honour of Henry Dundas, a man who obstructed and delayed the abolition of slavery by several years. The Gladstone Hotel, Gladstone Avenue and the Bloor/Gladstone Library are named in honour of John Gladstone who owned 2,508 slaves in British Guiana and Jamaica and received £106,769 in 1837 (worth £10.2 million in 2020) through the Slave Compensation Act 1837. Gladstone owned "Success" plantation on the East Coast, Demerara where Quamina, the recognized leader of the August 18, 1823 “Demerara Slave Uprising” was enslaved. The uprising was brutally suppressed on August 19, 1823. The “ringleaders” including Quamina, were decapitated and their heads displayed along the East Coast Demerara Road as a warning to other enslaved Africans. Benjamin Vaughan, in whose honour Vaughn township is named, argued in the British Parliament in 1792, that freeing slaves in Jamaica would bring about the end of civilization. Russell Township is named to honour Peter Russell, who was a slaveholder in Toronto; Jarvis Street and Jarvis Collegiate are named to honour slaveholder William Jarvis. Sherbourne Street and Sherbourne Centre are named to honour Baron Sherbourne who owned 464 slaves in Jamaica and received £3,579 compensation for losing his human “property” in 1837 (worth £342,000 in 2020.)
The Black Lives Matter movement began as a movement focusing on police brutality and has expanded its vision to include calls for Reparations and other issues that negatively affect Africans (continental and Diasporic.) White supremacy is woven into the fabric of this country. It is so ingrained that it is considered normal and any attempt to address white skin privilege is resisted and vilified. The recent international protests against anti-Black racism has led to various industries and organizations reflecting (or appearing to do so) on their history of white supremacy and suppression of racialized people. Coincidentally, the Black Lives Matter movement released a list of demands on August 1, 2016. The list includes: ending the war on Black people, economic justice, divest-invest, community control, political power and Reparations. This generation through Black Lives Matter has “come together with renewed energy and purpose to articulate a common vision and agenda.” As we celebrate Emancipation Day on August 1, 2020, we can also celebrate this generation’s achievement in moving us a step closer to gaining Reparations for the blood, sweat and tears shed for more than 400 years.
Black Lives Matter!
Murphy Browne © July 23-2020
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