Введение
Закон против рабства был принят 9 июля 1793 года во второй законодательной сессии Верхней Канады, колониального подразделения Британской Северной Америки, которое впоследствии стало Онтарио. Он запрещал ввоз рабов и устанавливал, что дети, рожденные от рабынь после принятия закона, будут освобождены по достижении 25-летнего возраста. Краткий обзор.
The Act Against Slavery was an anti slavery law passed on July 9, 1793, in the second legislative session of Upper Canada, the colonial division of British North America that would eventually become Ontario. It banned the importation of slaves and mandated that children born henceforth to female slaves would be freed upon reaching the age of 25. Synopsis
John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant Governor of the colony, had been a supporter of abolition before coming to Upper Canada; as a British Member of Parliament, he had described slavery as an offence against Christianity. By 1792 the slave population in Upper Canada was not large. However, when compared with the number of free settlers, the number was not insignificant. In York (the present day city of Toronto) there were 15 African Canadians living, while in Quebec some 1000 slaves could be found. Furthermore, by the time the Act Against Slavery would be ratified, the number of slaves residing in Upper Canada had been significantly increased by the arrival of Loyalist refugees from the south who brought with them servants and slaves. At the inaugural meeting of the Executive Council of Upper Canada in March 1793, Simcoe heard from a witness the story of Chloe Cooley, a female slave who had been violently removed from Canada for sale in the United States. Simcoe's desire to abolish slavery in Upper Canada was resisted by members of the Legislative Assembly who owned slaves, and therefore the resulting act was a compromise. The bulk of the text is due to John White, the Attorney General of the day. Of the 16 members of the assembly, at least six owned slaves. The law, titled An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province, stated that while all slaves in the province would remain enslaved until death, no new slaves could be brought into Upper Canada, and children born to female slaves after passage of the act would be freed at the age of 25. This law made Upper Canada "the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to pass a law freeing slaves". The Act remained in force until 1833 when the British Parliament's Slavery Abolition Act'' abolished slavery in most parts of the British Empire.
Джон Грейвс Симко, вице-губернатор колонии, был сторонником отмены рабства еще до приезда в Верхнюю Канаду; будучи членом британского парламента, он назвал рабство преступлением против христианства. К 1792 году количество рабов в Верхней Канаде не было большим, однако по сравнению с числом свободных поселенцев оно было заметным. В Йорке (современный Торонто) проживало 15 афро-канадцев, а в Квебеке – около 1000 рабов. Более того, к моменту ратификации Закона против рабства число рабов в Верхней Канаде значительно возросло из-за прибытия лоялистских беженцев с юга, которые привезли с собой слуг и рабов. На первом заседании Исполнительного совета Верхней Канады в марте 1793 года Симко услышал от свидетеля историю Хлои Кули, рабыни, которую насильственно вывезли из Канады для продажи в Соединенных Штатах. Стремление Симко отменить рабство в Верхней Канаде встретило сопротивление членов Законодательного собрания, владевших рабами, поэтому принятый закон стал компромиссом. Основной текст принадлежит Джону Уайту, генеральному прокурору того времени. Из 16 членов собрания, по крайней мере, шестеро владели рабами. Закон, озаглавленный «Акт о предотвращении дальнейшего ввоза рабов и ограничении срока договоров о подневольном труде в пределах этой провинции», гласил, что, хотя все рабы в провинции останутся в рабстве до самой смерти, в Верхнюю Канаду нельзя будет ввозить новых рабов, а дети, рожденные от рабынь после принятия закона, будут освобождены в возрасте 25 лет. Этот закон сделал Верхнюю Канаду «первой юрисдикцией в Британской империи, принявшей закон об освобождении рабов». Закон действовал до 1833 года, когда Закон об отмене рабства, принятый британским парламентом, отменил рабство в большей части Британской империи.
The Act Against Slavery was an anti slavery law passed on July 9, 1793, in the second legislative session of Upper Canada, the colonial division of British North America that would eventually become Ontario. It banned the importation of slaves and mandated that children born henceforth to female slaves would be freed upon reaching the age of 25. Synopsis
John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant Governor of the colony, had been a supporter of abolition before coming to Upper Canada; as a British Member of Parliament, he had described slavery as an offence against Christianity. By 1792 the slave population in Upper Canada was not large. However, when compared with the number of free settlers, the number was not insignificant. In York (the present day city of Toronto) there were 15 African Canadians living, while in Quebec some 1000 slaves could be found. Furthermore, by the time the Act Against Slavery would be ratified, the number of slaves residing in Upper Canada had been significantly increased by the arrival of Loyalist refugees from the south who brought with them servants and slaves. At the inaugural meeting of the Executive Council of Upper Canada in March 1793, Simcoe heard from a witness the story of Chloe Cooley, a female slave who had been violently removed from Canada for sale in the United States. Simcoe's desire to abolish slavery in Upper Canada was resisted by members of the Legislative Assembly who owned slaves, and therefore the resulting act was a compromise. The bulk of the text is due to John White, the Attorney General of the day. Of the 16 members of the assembly, at least six owned slaves. The law, titled An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province, stated that while all slaves in the province would remain enslaved until death, no new slaves could be brought into Upper Canada, and children born to female slaves after passage of the act would be freed at the age of 25. This law made Upper Canada "the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to pass a law freeing slaves". The Act remained in force until 1833 when the British Parliament's Slavery Abolition Act'' abolished slavery in most parts of the British Empire.
Последствия
В 1798 году Кристофер Робинсон внес законопроект в Законодательное собрание о разрешении ввоза дополнительных рабов. Законопроект был принят Собранием, но был заблокирован Законодательным советом и не был принят до конца сессии. Тысячи чернокожих канадцев добровольно вступили в ряды армии во время войны 1812 года. В 1819 году генеральный прокурор Джон Робинсон (сын Кристофера) заявил, что проживание в Канаде дарует свободу чернокожим жителям, и что канадские суды будут защищать их свободу.