Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies
in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to
commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent.
It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of involuntary servitude.
It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of involuntary servitude.
Caribbean
August 1, 1834
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire (with the exceptions "of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company", the "Island of Ceylon" and "the Island of Saint Helena"; the exceptions were eliminated in 1843), came into force the following year, on 1 August 1834.
Only slaves below the age of six were freed. Enslaved people
older than six years of age were redesignated as "apprentices" and
required to work, 40 hours per week without pay, as part of compensation payment to their former owners. Full emancipation was finally achieved at midnight on 31 July 1838.
Barbados
Emancipation Day in Barbados is part of the annual "Season of Emancipation", which began in 2005. The Season runs from April 14 to August 23. Commemorations include:
- the anniversary of Bussa's rebellion, a major slave rebellion in 1816, April 14
- National Heroes Day, April 28;
- Crop Over festival, which includes May, June and the first week of August
- Africa Day, May 25
- Day of National Significance, which commemorates the Labour Rebellion of 1937, July 26
- Emancipation Day, August 1
- birthday of Marcus Garvey, August 17
- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, August 23
Emancipation Day celebrations usually feature a walk from Independence Square in Bridgetown
to the Heritage Village at the Crop Over Bridgetown Market on the
Spring Garden Highway. At the Heritage Village, in addition to a
concert, there is a wreath-laying ceremony as a tribute to the
ancestors. Traditionally, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Culture,
and representatives of the Commission for Pan African Affairs are among
those laying wreaths.
Jamaica
Emancipation Park, Kingston, Jamaica 2004
1 August, Emancipation Day in Jamaica is a public holiday and part of a week-long cultural celebration, during which Jamaicans also celebrate Jamaican Independence Day on August 6, 1962. Both August 1 and August 6 are public holidays.
Emancipation Day had stopped being observed as a nation holiday in 1962 at the time of independence. It was reinstated as a national public holiday under The Holidays (Public General) Act 1998 after a six-year campaign led by Rex Nettleford, among others.
Traditionally people would keep at vigil on July 31 and at
midnight ring church bell and play drums in parks and public squares to
re-enact the first moments of freedom for enslaved Africans. On Emancipation Day there is a reenactment of the reading of the Emancipation Declaration in town centres especially Spanish Town which was the seat of the Jamaican government when the Emancipation Act was passed in 1838.
Emancipation Park,
a public park in Kingston, opened on the eve of Emancipation Day, July
31 in 2002, is named in commemoration of Emancipation Day.
Trinidad and Tobago
On August 1, 1985 Trinidad and Tobago became the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
It replaced Columbus Discovery Day, which commemorated the arrival of Christopher Columbus at Moruga on 31 July 1498, as a national public holiday.
The commemoration begins the night before with an all-night vigil
and includes religious services, cultural events, street processions
past historic landmarks, addresses from dignitaries including an address
from the President of Trinidad and Tobago and ends with an evening of
shows that include a torchlight procession to the national stadium.
Thursday before the first Monday in August
- Bermuda celebrates its Emancipation day on this date, placing it in either July or August.
First Monday in August
Some countries observe the holiday as "August Monday".
- Antigua celebrates carnival on and around the first Monday of August. Since 1834 Antigua and Barbuda have observed the end of slavery. The first Monday and Tuesday in August was observed as a bank holiday so the populace can celebrate Emancipation Day. Monday is J'ouvert, a street party that mimics the early morning emancipation.
- Anguilla: In addition to commemorating emancipation, it is the first day of "August Week", the Anguillian Carnival celebrations. J'ouvert is celebrated August 1, as Carnival commences.
- The Bahamas: Celebrations are mainly concentrated in Fox Hill Village, Nassau, a former slave village whose inhabitants, according to folklore, heard about their freedom a week after everyone else on the island. The celebration known as the Bay Fest, beginning on August 1 and lasting several days, is held in the settlement of Hatchet Bay on the island of Eleuthera, and "Back to the Bay" is held in the settlement of Tarpum Bay, also on Eleuthera.
- British Virgin Islands: The first Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of August are celebrated as "August Festival".
- Saint Kitts and Nevis: The first Monday and Tuesday are celebrated as "Emancipation Day" and also "Culturama" in Nevis.
- Dominica: The first Monday is celebrated as August Monday.
- Grenada: The first Monday in August is celebrated as "Emancipation Day" with Cultural activities.
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
French West Indies
This includes eight territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:
- Martinique commemorates emancipation with a national holiday on May 22, marking the slave resistance on that day in 1848 that forced Governor Claude Rostoland to issue a decree abolishing slavery.
- Guadeloupe commemorates emancipation on May 27.
- Saint Martin has a week-long celebration around May 27, commemorating the abolition of slavery.
Caribbean of Central America
On the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua the emancipation of slavery took place in the month of August 1841 but with different dates.
Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon received their emancipation on August 10, 1841.
Corn Island received its emancipation on August 27, 1841.
Canada
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833
ended slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, and thus also in
Canada. However, the first colony in the British Empire to have
anti-slavery legislation was Upper Canada, now Ontario. John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1791–1796), passed an Act Against Slavery
in 1793, which ended the importation of slaves in Upper Canada and
manumitted the future children of female slaves at age twenty-five.
Unfortunately, it did not free a single slave. It was superseded by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.
While the date of the First August Monday holiday in Canada is
historically linked to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in
1834, not all of provinces commemorate the holiday as such.
Ontario
In 2008, the Province of Ontario dedicated August 1 as "Emancipation Day"
Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, also hosts Caribana, which is held the first Monday in August. Started in 1967, it has become the largest Caribbean festival in North America.
It is a two-week celebration, culminating in the long weekend with the
Kings and Queens Festival, "Caribana" parade and Olympic Island
activities.
Owen Sound has celebrated Emancipation with a picnic for 157 years, and now holds an Emancipation Festival.
Locally, the August Holiday in Toronto has been designated as "Simcoe Day" to commemorate Ontario's first Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, who in 1793 approved legislation to reduce slavery in Upper Canada, now Ontario, the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to do so.
South Africa
Emancipation Day celebrations in Greenmarket Square, Cape Town at midnight, 1 December 2016.
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into full effect in the Cape Colony
on the December 1, 1838 after a four-year period of forced
apprenticeship. About 39,000 enslaved people were freed and £1.2 million (roughly equivalent to £4,175,000,000 as a proportion of GDP in 2016 pounds)
– of £3 million originally set aside by the British government – was
paid out in compensation to 1,300 former slave holding farmers in the
colony.
December 1 is celebrated as Emancipation Day in South Africa most notably in the city of Cape Town.
United States
District of Columbia
Celebrating abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, April 19, 1866
The District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (an act of Compensated emancipation) for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation.
The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the
only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners
of emancipated slaves.
On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District.
Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law when April 16
falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest
weekday. This affects the Internal Revenue Service's due date for tax returns,
which traditionally must be submitted by April 15. As the federal
government observes the holiday, it causes the federal and all state tax
deadlines to be moved to the 18th if Emancipation Day falls on the
weekend and to the 17th if Emancipation Day falls on a Monday.
Each year, activities will be held during the public holiday including
the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of
enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day
celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901.
Florida
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Emancipation Day Parade Lincolnville, Florida, 1920s
The state of Florida observes emancipation in a ceremonial day on May 20. In the capital, Tallahassee, Civil War reenactors playing the part of Major General Edward McCook and other union soldiers act out the speech General McCook gave from the steps of the Knott House on May 20, 1865. This was the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Florida.
Georgia
Thomaston, Georgia
has been the site of an Emancipation Day celebration since May 1866.
Organizers believe it is "the oldest, continuously observed annual
emancipation event in the United States." The annual event is scheduled for the Saturday closest to May 29. William Guilford was an early organizer of the event first held in 1866.
Kentucky
Emancipation Day is celebrated on August 8 in Hopkinsville, Christian
County; Paducah, McCracken County; and Russellville, Logan County
Kentucky, as well as other communities in western Kentucky. According to
the Paducah Sun newspaper, this is the anniversary of the day
slaves in this region learned of their freedom in 1865. According to a
PBS documentary, it celebrates the liberation of the slaves of U.S.
President Andrew Johnson, one of whom started the annual celebration in eastern Tennessee.
Mississippi
In Columbus, Mississippi,
Emancipation Day is celebrated on May 8, known locally as "Eight o'
May". As in other southern states, the local celebration commemorates
the date in 1865 when African Americans in eastern Mississippi learned
of their freedom.
Though the 13th amendment was ratified by the necessary three
quarters vote, Mississippi withheld its ratification document after the
constitutional amendment was submitted to the states. Mississippi
finally submitted the ratification document on February 7, 2013.
Texas
In Texas, Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 19. It commemorates
the announcement in Texas of the abolition of slavery made on that day
in 1865. It is commonly known as Juneteenth.
Since the late 20th century, this date has gained recognition beyond
Texas, and has been proposed for a national Emancipation Day.
Territories
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico celebrates Emancipation Day (Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud), an official holiday, on March 22. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873 while the island was still a colony of Spain.
US Virgin Islands
Statue of Buddhoe at Fort Frederik, St. Croix
The United States Virgin Islands celebrates Emancipation Day as an official holiday on July 3. It commemorates the Danish Governor Peter von Scholten's 1848 proclamation that "all unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today emancipated," following a slave rebellion led by John Gottlieb (General Buddhoe) in Frederiksted,
Saint Croix.
