Many people may be familiar with or at least have heard of Juneteenth, but how many Canadians know about Emancipation Day in Canada? On March 24, 2021, Canada’s House of Commons voted unanimously to officially designate August 1, Emancipation Day, the anniversary of when Britain’s Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1834, which freed more than 800,000 people of African descent throughout the British Empire.
The history of slavery in Canada is often forgotten or overshadowed by the enslavement of people of African descent in the Americas, where over 90% of enslaved people were sent to the Caribbean and South America.
Slavery was practiced in the early colonies of what later became Canada, with one historian estimating that 4,200 people were enslaved in New France (the modern-day province of Quebec) and then in Upper and Lower Canada (Quebec and neighbouring Ontario) between 1671 and 1831.
Many Canadians often focus on the Underground Railroad and Canada’s role in harbouring freedom seekers from our southern neighbours. However, did you know that slavery in the United States ended in 1865 States, just 31 years after it was abolished in Canada? Therefore, while Canada played a role in helping over 30,000 freedom seekers escape slavery in the United States, we cannot forget that Canada also benefited greatly from free slave labour.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
