The island of Gorée off the coast of Senegal housed the largest slave-trading post on the African west coast. Today the buildings serve as a reminder of human exploitation and as a sanctuary for reconciliation and forgiveness. The statue depicts the symbolic breaking of the chains of slavery. (Photo source: Wikipedia & Unesco)
On 1 December 1834 slavery was officially abolished in the British Empire. Because the Cape Colony (today the Western Cape Province) formed part of the British Empire this decision also applied to all Cape slaves and their mostly white slave owners. As a result, people who were kept as slaves were no longer required to perform compulsory labour without compensation and, importantly, they were no longer considered possessions of their former masters. In order to commemorate the formal abolition of slavery at the Cape and the slaves’ concomitant emancipation, the first day of December is celebrated annually as Emancipation Day.
It is important that Emancipation Day should be seen against the backdrop of the wider international history of slavery, especially the transatlantic slave trade which took place from the 16th to the 19th centuries. During this time between 12 and 17 million Africans crossed the Atlantic Ocean as part of the so-called “triangular trade” which involved Europe, Africa and the Americas. The triangular trade began in Europe with the shipping of weapons and other commodities to Africa where the goods were exchanged for Africans who, in turn, were forcibly sold into slavery. The slaves were then loaded onto slave ships which took them to the Americas where they were exchanged for sugar, tobacco, coffee and cotton bound for the European market. Many slaves ended up working on cotton, tobacco and sugar plantations in, among others, the American South, Brazil and the Caribbean.
Due to moral considerations and the influence of abolitionists, notably the English politician and philantropist William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the transatlantic slave trade was brought to an end in the mid 1800s. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire was an important turning point. The last slave expedition took place in 1867. Today the tangible and intangible heritage of slaves and their descendants are visible all over the world. The new cultural forms that were created by the fusion of African cultures with those of their destination countries should be preserved as part of the tragic history of slavery.
Comments are closed.