Emancipation Day in Canada

This past week CBC television rebroadcast The Book of Negroes mini-series based on the book by the same name written by Lawrence Hill. I've written about taking the relatively recently published novel with me on a vacation to Nova Scotia years ago with no idea that a portion of the story took place very near the place we were staying. 

Because of what I was reading we searched out the tiny museum in Birchtown which has since been replaced with the excellent and informative Black Loyalist Heritage Centre. While in Shelburne, the place where the Black Loyalists first arrived we chatted with the docents at a small museum who knew little of this history but noted that there were shackles in the basement of the historic building and wondered why they were there. Some of the Blacks who arrived in Shelburne were treated like slaves even though they arrived as free woman and men. 



The United Church of Canada has invited us to acknowledge today, August 1st, as Emancipation Day in what is now Canada. There were slaves here through the early 19th century and throughout the British Empire. When slavery was abolished in the empire in 1834 more than 800,000 people were freed around the world. 

I should note that the anniversary of the death of William Wilberforce, a key campaigner for the end of slavery in the British Parliament was a couple of days ago. Wilberforce didn't live long enough to witness the fruition of his work which was motivated by his Christian faith. 

Here is the United Church link for more information about United Against Racism

https://mailchi.mp/united-church/es200728



https://blackloyalist.novascotia.ca/