Emancipation Day

ebony_goddess · (#1 (**permalink**))

Happy Emancipation Day Jamaica and all countries that celebrate this day

Facts On Emancipation Day

Emancipation Day is celebrated on August 1, in all the former British colonies in the West Indies.

The Emancipation Bill was presented in Parliament by Thomas Buxton in 1833 andthe Act came into effect on August 1, 1834. On that day it seemed as if history had been created for slaves throughout the West Indies. They would no longer be slaves, but emancipated - free to do as they pleased. However, that was not to be, as amidst the joy and celebration came the news that full freedom would not be granted immediately, but that ex-slaves would be apprenticed to their former master for a minimum of four (4) years. Thus a period of 'apprenticeship' was put in place to bridge the gap between slavery and complete freedom.

However, the apprenticeship did not achieve what its creators had intended. The spirit of reconciliation and compromise upon which the success of the system depended was not forthcoming. On August 1, 1838 apprenticeship was prematurely abolished, and apprentices in Jamaica and other islands became "full free".

Emancipation, means freedom from slavery. "Rejoice I am slave no more."

Breadfruit · (#2 (**permalink**))

yes indeed this is a landmark day in the history of the diaspora

yes, they gave the slaveowners compensation for the loss of their slaves

and gave us those great words "get over it"

the lessons of this profound era in our history i do think, is lost on africans who are more concerned about BIG BROTHER 6

than the history behind why white men today treat them as 2nd/3rd class citizens in the nations of their birth

and now control the economies within their historical homeland

i guess many of us now thinkthatbeing a 21st century slave

is better than a being an 18th century one

i can hear their argument:

"they didn't have flatscreens on the plantations did they?"