Slaves in Upper Canada were active agents in their emancipation. They protested and resisted their enslavement with both long term and short term goals in mind. Slaves in Upper Canada resisted the brutality they experienced by “breaking tools, destruction of livestock and other moveable property, work stoppage, talking back to their owners, malingering”. Of course these actions only had short term effects, but in terms of “long term resistance [slaves protested via] are arson, armed rebellions and revolts, and homicide”.
In terms of ensuring the rights of the slaves in Canada it is simply to say that there were none. The only rights that surrounded slaves were the ones that allowed for their owners to have complete control over their life. In 1793 there was an act implemented to ban new slaves to enter Canada. This was a compromise that would allow slaves to become emancipated over a long period of time. This act did not free the current slaves but it did ban Black people from becoming new slaves. This motivated many slaves from the United States to come to Upper Canada where they could be free.
Chloe Cooley was a young slave who stood up for herself while being sold. Her owner tied her up one night and sold her off while maltreating her. In resistance, she screamed and forcefully fought back which drew attention to the situation at hand. This event inspired a Black man in the community to speak up to the council about the battery and unfair treatment slaves had to go through. Even though everything that happened concerning Cooley was technically legal, this was the first step to the emancipation of Canadian slaves.
Sophia Burthen Pooley was originally born a slave in Fishkill, New york and was sold to a chief in Niagara. Here she spent time with his family hunting deer but was unfortunately abused by his third wife. The chief, Joseph Brant, defended Sophia but at twelve years old she was sold to an Englishman for 100 dollars. Her testimony was recorded in her nineties which was in 1855 where she claims she spent most of her life in slavery. Sophia was a slave to chief Brant but he still defended her and she spent time with his family which is important to note. Even though they were considered slaves they were not completely exiled from their owners lives.
Henry Lewis escaped from his owner and then proceeded to write him to request to buy his own freedom. He considered it the respectful thing to do after fleeing the ownership of William Jarvis. In a letter written from Henry to William he states that William’s wife Hannah simply expected too much for any man to complete. He doesn’t forget to mention that while he lived in William’s house he maintained respectful and proper. The simply fact that Henry wrote his owner to ask to buy himself is such a meaningful reflection of how slavery affected how Black people viewed themselves. Even though Henry was considered and treated as a slave he still went out of his way to oblige by law and respect his owner.
The resistant behaviour of slaves in order to get their own way is shown in the story of Peggy and her children. The diary of Elizabeth Russell describes how their behaviour was insolent, pilfering, and lying. Petter Russell, the Receiver General of Upper Canada at the time, who was the brother of Elizabeth, attempted to sell the slave family in found newspaper adds and letters. From this story it is clear that the assumption that slaves were completely powerless isn’t necessarily true. They practiced bad behaviour and in turn were disregarded by their owners and put up for sale. Slaves in Upper Canada evidently acted upon the small amount of agency they had.
Dorinda Baker and her three children were owned by Robert Gray in the year 1804. Once Dorinda passed away, her children would still be owned by Gray but instead he released them of his ownership. Another fact to be duly noted is that when Robert passed away he left the Baker family money to make them economically secure. The relationship shown between Robert Gray and the Baker family shows that even though there was abuse in slavery, there was fairness as well. Gray did not legally owe anything to Baker family but they clearly established a positive relationship where he felt a certain responsibility for the Dorinda’s children.
To begin with I didn’t realize that slavery existed so prominently in Canadian history and therefore I was surprised to begin with. While reading the article as well as the website it is evident that Canadian history concerning slavery is not a pretty picture. There was abuse and sexual infractions but there was also fairness and generosity. Just like the majority of Canadian history there are positive aspects that are present in dark moments of our past. In the stories of individuals that were described in the website showed that owners respected their slaves and vice versa. Although by law this was not necessary there still was some aspects of slave life that were’t all that bad. Not to mention the fact that Black people were catalyst in their own emancipation by practicing resistance in their day to day lives.