An Introduction to Transatlantic Slavery and Canadian Slavery

When: Wednesday, March 19th, 2025: 7:00pm EST

Organization: Historic Northampton, Massachusetts, USA

What: Online Lecture: “An Introduction to Transatlantic Slavery and Canadian Slavery”

Event: Slavery and Freedom in Northampton and in the Colonial North Series

Contact : info@historicnorthampton.org; 413-584-6011

Website: https://www.historicnorthampton.org/slavery–freedom-lecture-series.html

Abstract: What do you know about Canadian Slavery? Nothing? Well, you’re not alone. Most Canadians have never had the opportunity to learn about the 200-year history of Canadian participation in Transatlantic Slavery under the British and the French. Why? Well, scholarship on Canadian Slavery falls far short of the research that has been produced on the US South, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This neglect is due in part to Canada’s national myth of racial tolerance and the Canadian desire to enshrine the Underground Railroad (1834-1865) in national curriculum; a history that positions Canadians as abolitionists and not enslavers. However, it is also because of the equation of slavery with tropical regions where plantation agriculture flourished and the enslaved became the majority population. Although slavery looked different in Canada, it was no less brutal for enslaved Africans who suffered various forms of abuse and were isolated from their cultural, linguistic, and spiritual communities. This talk explores various dimensions of Canadian Slavery within the broader context of transatlantic histories with attention to how scholars conduct research on unfree people using archival and cultural sources. It also connects the dots between histories of slavery and ongoing anti-black racism.