Emancipation Day - August 1st
Join KOOL FM on Sunday August 1st as we celebrate our country's first official Emancipation Day.
The Slavery Abolition Act
On August 1st 1834 the Slavery Abolition Act came into effect in the British Empire freeing hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Caribbean, Africa, South America and Canada. For most enslaved people in the British Empire, the Act resulted only in partial liberation. It only freed children under the age of six while others were to continue serving their former enslavers for four to six years as unpaid labour or "apprentices". The act also monetarily compensated the slave owners but not those who had been enslaved. The Act did, however, confirm Canada as a free territory for enslaved African Americans. Thousands of African Americans subsequently arrived on Canadian soil between 1834 and the early 1860s.
The Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in Canada
Slavery was a common practice in New France, which was founded in the early 1600s. Between the mid-17th century and 1834, it was recorded that there were 4,185 enslaved people in. Of that number, 2,683 were enslaved Indigenous Peoples. It was not until after 1750 that the number of Indigenous Peoples transported into French Canada started to decline.
Earlier this year, the House of Commons voted unanimously to officially designate August 1 Emancipation Day in Canada.
Join us on Sunday August 1st as we reflect, educate and engage in the ongoing fight against racism and discrimination in Canada. To learn more about Emancipation Day and our history, click here. A message from 107-5 Kool FM.
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