When is Emancipation Day?
Emancipation Day is a public holiday in Jamaica observed on August 1st each year.
This holiday marks the end of slavery in the British Empire on this day in 1834.
History of the holiday
Emancipation Day officially became a public holiday in Jamaica in 1893. Following independence in 1962, Emancipation Day was replaced by Independence Day, which was observed on the first Monday in August.
In 1998, Emancipation Day was reinstated by Prime Minister PJ Patterson as a public holiday on 1 August 1st, follow a six-year campaign led by the late Professor Rex Nettleford.
Independence Day is now celebrated on August 6th.
The British like other colonial powers had allowed the widespread practice of slavery to take place during the time of expansion to the new world. In 1772, the ruling in the case of Somerset v Stewart determined that slavery was unsupported by the common law in England and Wales. While the ruling was not clear on the situation in other parts of the Empire, this case was seen as a key turning point in the change towards emancipation.
Slavery was finally abolished throughout the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which came into effect on 1 August 1834.
