Chloe Cooley and the Fight for Freedom
2023 marked the 230th anniversary of the passing of the first anti-slavery legislation in the British Empire. And it's all thanks to a strong-willed Black woman named Chloe Cooley.
Advertisement for enslaved Africans taken from "the Windward and Rice Coast" (1760) by UnknownWorld Monuments Fund
Enslavement In Upper Canada
Chattel slavery was practiced here in Canada for over 200 years. It was dehumanizing. It was violent. And it was a system of abuse that treated an entire group of people as inferior.
Enslaved people were the personal property of their owners. They were legally no different from everyday objects like a cellphone or a car, and they were bought, traded, sold, or inherited. This is an example of a document brokering the sale of an Enslaved Person.
Lab Slav Africa Liberation & Anti-Slavery MeetingsLIFE Photo Collection
Enslaved people of African descent were brought into Upper Canada (Ontario) by Loyalists fleeing the United States during and after the American Revolution. They used enslaved people to help build the new British colony and help its settlers grow and prosper.
1790 Imperial Statute allowing Loyalists to enter Upper Canada without paying duty on those they enslaved. This statute was used to encourage white Loyalist settlement.
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves SimcoeNiagara-on-the-Lake Museum
When the first Lieutenant-Governor, John Graves Simcoe, arrived in Niagara in 1792, he was surprised at how many enslaved people were already in the province. Simcoe was a known supporter of abolition and would soon speak out against it in the legislature.
LIFE Photo Collection
Enslaved men cleared land, chopped wood, and built homes. In agriculture, both enslaved men and women planted and harvested crops, and tended to livestock. Enslaved women, like Chloe Cooley, also worked as domestic and cared for their enslavers’ children.
This is an example of a plow that would have been used on farms in Upper Canada. Robert Jupiter was enslaved by the Servos family for many years. Based on the family ledgers he was forced to help the family with their business by delivering hay locally.
Iron Collar and Key
Many enslaved people were bound and determined to resist their enslavement. They would assert their humanity by refusing to work or running away. Items like this were secured on enslaved people as a form of punishment and control.
Canada Post's Chloe Cooley Commemorative StampNiagara-on-the-Lake Museum
Chloe Cooley was enslaved in Queenston by Adam Vrooman. Like many enslaved women, she worked as a domestic caring for the Vrooman children and performing household chores. She was known to protest her bondage by behaving in “an unruly manner,” refusing work and running away.
Rumours began circulating amongst enslavers and enslaved Blacks, as the Lieutenant Governor planned to introduce an abolition law. In case the rumours were true, many enslavers began selling those they enslaved to Americans so that they wouldn’t lose money on their investments.
And that is exactly what Vrooman (pictured) did. On March 14, 1793, he arranged to sell Chloe across the Niagara River in New York. She was violently bound and put in a boat for transportation. She screamed. She struggled. And she fought back against her imminent sale.
Chloe’s struggles were witnessed by Peter Martin, a Black Loyalist, and William Grisley, a white labourer. They reported this incident to Lt. Gov. John Graves Simcoe, who used what happened to Chloe to introduce legislation abolishing slavery in the province.
The legislative assembly passed An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude (also known as the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada). Simcoe gave this bill Royal Assent on July 9, 1793. This was the first piece of legislation in the British colonies that restricted the slave trade in the British Empire. The act didn’t immediately free any enslaved person in the province, instead, it phased the practice out over time.
Chloe’s actions initiated a ripple effect amongst the enslaved community in both Canada and the United States. Freedom-seekers would eventually arrive via the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman (pictured) led many to their freedom in Niagara.
