Emancipation Day and its relevance to Canada
First Baptist Church was founded in 1826 in Toronto by 12 fugitives from slavery seeking freedom. They arrived on the Underground Railroad a few years shy of Aug. 1, 1834 — the day slavery was abolished across the British Empire, including in Canada.“There people in this country who fail to recognize that Black people had been here since before Confederation,” said Sadlier, the former president of the Ontario Black History Society.
“Initially, it was about perhaps more identity building and celebration, but it also took on an element of advocacy for the end of slavery” — because slavery wasn’t over for everyone.The U.S. would wait 30 more years before ending the practice, during which time tens of thousands fled to Canada to taste emancipation.
“Many of them came up the Bruce Trail and they ended up coming right here to the northern terminus, or the cairn,” said Jeffrey Gordon Smith, an organizer of the Owen Sound Emancipation Day Festival. But despite its long history in Canada, only recently did the country formally recognize the day. In March 2021, the House of Commons voted unanimously to designate Aug. 1 Emancipation Day nationally.
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