In August 1833, the British Empire abolishes slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act. This was labeled as Emancipation Day. At this time, Canada was part of the British Empire and if there were any slaves in Canada, from that moment on, all slaves were considered free. The act freed about 800,000 enslaved people of African descent across all the British colonies.
Unfortunately for African Americans, the United States had become an independent country from the British Empire on July 4th, 1776, and thus was not subjected to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. The United States decided to continue the grotesque practice of slaving people until the end of the Civil War in 1865.
On January 1, 1863, as the United States approached its third year of bloody civil war, and President Abraham Lincoln declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” But southern states, fought until the bitter end to prolong slavery as long as possible.
Only on December 18, 1865, with the adoption of the 13th Amendment, African Americans were finally free. 32 years after Slaves everywhere else in the world were free. But even after the abolition of slavery in the United States, the southern states did (and still doing) everything within their power to suppress their votes and their rights.
In 2021, African Americans continue to experience systemic anti-Black racism and substantial economic inequalities. Understanding the full history of discrimination provides a critical perspective of the persisting condition of poverty and violence within Black communities.
True emancipation is still in progress.
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