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ОглавлениеExploring the Meaning of Emancipation Day
Let me be a free man — free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I chose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk act for myself.
— Highn’moot Tooyalaket (Chief Joseph) of the Nez Perces, “An Indian’s View of Indian Affairs,” 1879.
With Emancipation Day celebrations in Canada attracting hundreds and thousands of people annually, extensive preparations were required to ensure a smooth-running event. Planning began months in advance. Commemorative events were very large in scale and drew a huge number of people from all facets of society. Attendees were of all ages and from different social groups, many of whom travelled long distances to attend.
Guests of various Emancipation Day events came from across the provinces, including Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and British Columbia. During the nineteenth century, participants from surrounding locales travelled by horse and carriage, ferry, steamboat, train, and later by car, alternating visits to different Emancipation Day celebrations to show support. More visitors came from neighbouring American cities such as Detroit, Michigan, Cincinnati, Ohio, and cities in New York State such as Buffalo, Utica, and Rochester, and generally from across North America, from as far as Louisville, Kentucky, and Chicago, Illinois, as well as the states of Georgia and Alabama. All travelled primarily by steamboat or train. Those from America used this time as an opportunity to visit with family who lived in the host town and other nearby areas while showing solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the north. Generally, the numbers of attendees were quite large, often greater than the total number of the Black population in the host town. While the majority of the attendees were Blacks, celebrations were also supported by a considerable number of Whites.
Local mainstream and Black newspapers provided elaborate coverage of Emancipation Day celebrations from their inception throughout the early twentieth century. The reporters would give in-depth descriptions of the social events, quote the speeches delivered by Black and White luminaries, and highlight how well the gatherers conducted themselves. Advertisements for Emancipation Day events were posted in regional newspapers and letters to editors and commentary from the general public relating to Emancipation Day were published. The African-Canadian press often used the occasion of Emancipation Day to discuss the challenges faced by its community and to bolster support and strength to tackle these issues.
Although Emancipation Day events were celebratory in nature with many social functions, several serious themes were consistently part of the event. First and foremost was the theme of liberation for enslaved Africans in British colonies in the West Indies and North America, including Canada, and the ongoing fight for freedom for those who remained in bondage in the United States and other parts of the Caribbean. Another issue was the change in the status that had been forced upon Blacks for hundreds of years. With the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, people of African descent in British territories were no longer chattel property, but were now officially recognized as persons entitled to the same rights and privileges as White European citizens. A third theme was appreciation and gratitude for Canada’s assistance to Black refugees and other Black colonists. Allegiance was pledged to Britain for the civil rights and privileges bestowed upon Blacks. Remembrance was also a strong theme — not forgetting the past experiences of those who were enslaved and carrying the torch to continue the struggle for equality. An equally important element of emancipation Day observances was the importance of charting a course for the future of Canada’s Black citizens.
The invention of this African-Canadian tradition occurred at the same time that the creation of the Dominion of Canada was in the making. Black men and women were seeking to forge a new individual and collective identity and create a unique sense of heritage within early Canada’s British-influenced society. This vision of a new identity and heritage meshed African, British, Caribbean, and American elements together with their new citizenship. Throughout the years, Emancipation Day celebrations were used to make statements about the African-Canadian collective identity to the Blacks themselves, to the province, and to the nation. In the mid-1800s, issues of equal rights and discrimination quickly surfaced for some of British North America’s Black settlers, causing Emancipation Day traditions to become not only a form of cultural expression but a political demonstration as well.
The celebrations became important to the African-Canadian community for various reasons and served many functions, which changed over time. There was a mix of the traditional celebration components such as historical commemoration, education for all participants, community development, and entertainment. As noted, the most central themes of these events were freedom and change, which in and of themselves would come to mean different things at different times. The “first freedom” celebrated was the emancipation from chattel slavery. Freedom, and its pursuit, was at the core of understanding the historical viewpoint of people of African descent; they had been legally held as property for over 330 years in the Caribbean, over 240 years in the United States, and over 220 years in Canada. The attainment of freedom meant new possibilities. African Canadians believed they could pursue any opportunity they wanted, travel freely within Canada, reunite with their families on free soil, legally marry, vote, and obtain an education for their children. They celebrated the ideas of equality and justice that not only were they entitled to under British law for themselves in the present, but also the same ideals that meant universal rights for all people in the future.
However, African Canadians would soon see that emancipation was just the beginning of the fight for the full rights and privileges that came along with their new-found citizenship. Over the decades, freedom remained a recurring theme and would take many forms and hold different meanings. Each new generation would engage in a liberation struggle because they felt they were still held in bondage by the daily realities of racial discrimination — the lack of job opportunities, the reality of less pay for equal work, the denial of housing and public education, their being banned from public facilities, and other injustices because of their race. Therefore, full emancipation remained a constant pursuit in their ongoing efforts to remove these barriers to equality.
On one hand, Emancipation Day commemorations were a serious time, a moment to reflect on the experience of the enslaved African in the Western world and the triumphs over slavery, and to place the history of Africans in the larger context of Canadian historical narrative. On the other hand, it was also an opportunity to strengthen the growing African-Canadian communities through shaping the social, political, racial, and economical consciousness of African Canadians needed to advance the agenda of civil rights. However, over time entertainment increasingly became a main component partially because Blacks in some areas were barred from visiting certain public attractions. The designated time, a day or weekend, provided the opportunity for leisure-time interaction for a large group of African Canadians who were not often able to socialize freely in a recreational setting. The event also became a time to promote the meaningful cultural rituals, which became key components in all Emancipation Day celebrations.
Church Attendance and Religious Services
The day began with giving thanks to God for deliverance from bondage and to express gratitude for the rights they were always entitled to under the law of the Bible. Many African Canadians held strong Christian beliefs and interpreted their experience with Biblical connections. People of African descent related their plight from enslavement in the New World to the Jews who were brought out of slavery in Egypt, and felt that they were a chosen people selected by God to make the pilgrimage to Canada. Canada was labelled as Canaan, the land promised by God to his children, also known as the land of milk and honey. In another biblical comparison, Harriet Tubman, the famous Underground Railroad conductor, was referred to as Moses because she delivered God’s people out of captivity.
Attendees of Emancipation Day church services also wanted to acknowledge that the persistent appeals to individuals’ morality, pressing the fact that slavery was an evil against Christian teachings, were rewarded with the abolition of slavery. Thanksgiving services provided an opportunity to educate the masses through sermons. Church ministers also played the role of teachers as many members of their congregation could not read or write. Sermons focused mainly on freedom and taught about the atrocities of slavery. Messages also discussed how to approach the future and how to take advantage of their free life in the north. The hymnals sung in church were equally important as a musical expression of the feelings of African Canadians, joy for their freedom from bondage and an enduring perseverance towards the difficulties of this life.
Parades became a significant civic ritual during the Victorian era and members from all facets of society were involved. On August First people took time off work, places of employment closed, and notable members of the community, such as government officials and leaders of social, religious, and political organizations, became engaged participants and observers. Emblems were displayed. Some individuals marched through the streets while others observed. Essentially, Emancipation Day parades were ceremonial processions used to express African-Canadian traditions and cultural beliefs through public demonstration. This grand official ceremony demonstrated unity within the African-Canadian community as well as the appreciation of fugitives towards their adopted country. At times however, the street marches were also used to publicly protest acts of racial discrimination committed against African Canadians.
The participation of the female members of benevolent societies and male members of fraternal orders in Emancipation Day parades showed evidence of Black Canadians helping one another to strengthen their community. These social organizations provided food, clothing, shelter, and employment assistance to escapees who were steadily pouring into the provinces. Many anti-slavery groups, with Black and White members, played an active role in the organization of Emancipation Day events, also using the celebrations to continue the push for abolition in the United States. Processions represented freedom from an array of discriminatory social structures and racism in general, a rejuvenation of the mind, body, and soul, and a moment of social cohesion.
Emancipation Day Parade Symbols
The flags, banners, ribbons, and emblems always on display at Emancipation Day parades were designed to make a strong visual impact on observers. Flags included national flags, military flags, and the flags of fraternal orders. The Union Jack was shown to represent Britain, the former enslaver and now liberator of slaves, and to acknowledge allegiance to Britain. Red, blue, and white streamers used in street marches and other events also symbolized the Union Jack. The American flag was displayed in remembrance of life in bondage and of what was left behind, and to represent the new anti-slavery battleground.
Banners were central to parades as distinctive decorations publicizing the collective identity and historical presence of a particular group, the name of the organization, its location, and particular affiliations being prominently displayed. The presence of the diverse participating groups also publicized the existence of an identifiable African-Canadian community. Additionally, banners were used to reveal relevant themes of a particular year’s celebration. In Windsor in 1852, a banner was displayed where on one side it showed a Black man, kneeling in chains looking up and asking, “Am I not a man and a brother?” On the other side of the banner stood a Black, tall and erect with broken shackles, symbolic of the condition of the slave and liberation. Another banner in Windsor, also on parade in 1852, read, “God, Humanity, the Queen and a free Country.”1 In London in 1896 a banner displays the words, “Sons of England.”2 The emblems of the Masonic lodges that were participating were displayed for similar reasons as the banners and flags.
A depiction of the “Am I not a man?” banner displayed during the Emancipation Day parade in Windsor in 1852. The banner was carried to bring public awareness to the conditions of slaves. On the back was an image of a man breaking free from shackles and chains, symbolizing the thousands of emancipated British slaves.
A depiction of another banner — “God, Humanity, the Queen and a free country” — that was carried in the 1852 parade by members and supporters of the North American League.
The original banner, representing the “Sons of England,” was carried by the Forest City Band during the Emancipation Day parade in London in 1896.
The use of military bands to lead the processions symbolized the long history of service that African Canadians have had in the British, and later Canadian, military. Blacks served in the British and Canadian military during the American Civil War, the War of 1812, the Rebellions of 1837, the First World War, and the Second World War, as well as in numerous other battles overseas. Initially, military service provided hundreds of Black men the chance for a new life with the promise of freedom, free passages to British colonies, income support, and land. While some were employed as soldiers, they also served in various positions such as labourers, boatmen, cooks, and doctors. They served in all-Black militias and in racially mixed regiments. Men of African descent answered the call to take up arms in defence of Britain because it was their ticket to freedom. Once slavery was abolished in British territories, African-Canadian men enlisted in large numbers because any American victory during the 1800s meant the horrors of a possibility of the return to enslavement. Thus, the presence and participation of Black army veterans in the parades made a statement of loyalty, patriotism, and sacrifice for freedom and peace. It also kept the actions of African-Canadian troops in the public memory and paid tribute to those Black heroes. Unfortunately, these men remained on the “battlefront” when they returned home from active duty, this time fighting prejudice and discrimination.
Various forms of communal meals during Emancipation Day festivities included luncheons, picnics, and formal dinners. While fulfilling the basic human need for food, these celebratory meals also served as focal point for social functions marked with symbolic meanings. Obviously, Emancipation Day feasts were a time for fellowship among African Canadians, with some people living considerable distances away from other Blacks or others coming from villages or towns that were scattered over a large territory. Shared meals provided the casual means of strengthening the African-Canadian community. They also signified the abundance and bounty similar to a harvest festival. Furthermore, there was a level of resistance symbolized by the act of eating at these banquets. Sharing meals was another way of freeing themselves from the legacy of slavery as former slaves could now buy and eat a range of foods they wanted instead of receiving small weekly rations and undesirable parts of meats from their slave masters. Feasts that were hosted on August First, like other important group meals, also contained Biblical symbols such as food binding people of faith together in God and the blessings of God being extended through the feeding of His people. These festive dinners were another means in the building of African-Canadian identity and values.
The toasts given and resolutions passed served a number of meaningful purposes. Proposed to demonstrate patriotism towards Britain and the Queen (Victoria), they illustrated how African Canadians embraced their new citizenship and the rights and privileges that came along with it. The salutations also expressed messages to fellow White citizens that they, the African Canadians, were appreciative of the opportunities afforded to them such as free soil, security from slavery, as well as education, and communicated that Blacks in Canadian provinces were good, productive citizens. Homage was always paid to the ancestors who had gone before them through toasts that recognized their sacrifices. Proclamations and resolutions invoked the future and declared new beginnings. Resolutions would be passed to chart the course of political or social action for the year to come, reflecting the issues that were important to Black cultural organizations and to the community.
Oral tradition, which has always been an integral element of African culture, was particularly maintained as part of Emancipation Day. Public addresses were extremely significant because they were used to educate attendees. Speeches were used to educate participants about the atrocities of slavery. The very early events featured storytelling by former slaves who shared their experiences of slavery and escape, and here the memories of older generations were also used to educate the general public. Black speakers stressed the importance of education for future generations of African-Canadian children, deemed as crucial to ensuring personal and community success.
Speeches also served to inspire and motivate members of the crowd to become involved in the fight against slavery, to instill racial pride through education about Black history and Black accomplishments, and to encourage self-determination. During the nineteenth century many of the individuals attending Emancipation Day celebrations could not read and were unable to get information from the newspapers, pamphlets, or other publications. Thus, speeches were very important tools of outreach, mobilization, and communication throughout the Black community. The presence of scholarly, articulate speakers of African descent, such as Henry Bibb, Frederick Douglass, and Josephus O’Banyoun further legitimized African Canadians’ pursuit for equal rights and justice.
While all speakers praised Britain for dismantling the institution of slavery and gave adulation to Canada for being a safe haven, there was a notable divergence of views between Black speakers and White speakers on the status of African Canadians. White speakers noted that Blacks had good, equal opportunities in Canada and that it was up to them to take advantage of their freedom. On the other hand, Black speakers discussed that African Canadians had not yet achieved equality and that more needed to be done for Blacks, such as the eradication of discriminatory practices. This gap in perspective would widen, especially around the 1880s.
The preservation of a collective memory has always been an important value in the communities of people of African ancestry. Emancipation Day celebrations were utilized to memorialize the experiences of slaves in the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to honour the African continent. West India Day,3 or August First events, were also used to determine what should be publicly remembered or collectively forgotten. This was particularly crucial just after Emancipation when those who were once enslaved were in the process of acquiring a new identity and developing a new understanding of what it meant to be African.
Emancipation Day provided the opportunity for African Canadians to establish relationships with others in their new communities and new country. It served as a social gathering, a time to bring different classes, genders, and races together. It was a platform from which to memorialize the ancestors, to address the challenges the African-Canadian community faced, to pass on African heritage, and to set goals and expectations for the future. Many cultural and family traditions have been transmitted through this yearly community celebration. In effect, Emancipation Day celebrations became the premiere social event for African Canadians from all walks of life. In a few areas, Blacks commemorated this historic event at home with family, with simple meetings at local churches or community organizations, private parties, or even at a tavern with friends. On other occasions, however, the observances of Emancipation Day were grand public affairs. These well-organized, huge functions served as political platforms, classrooms, networking arenas, places for family reunions, and a dating scene where couples met or wed.
A couple from Detroit, Forest Nathaniel Shelton Jr. and Earlene Lucy McGhee, were married on the stage at Jackson Park in Windsor in 1954 as part of the August First celebrations. This was Windsor’s first public wedding.
By the 1850s African Canadians had created a very consistent and well-defined practice of commemoration around the international public observances of British Emancipation which continued to evolve over the decades to address the objectives of the time. The organization of Emancipation Day celebrations also became more complex as its size and importance grew, involving the booking of speakers and the various public and private venues, organizing food availability and preparation, setting up overnight accommodations and transportation, and securing event permits.
However, before an appreciation and understanding of Emancipation Day can be developed, it is important to grasp the history and background leading up to these celebrations.
