Why do you celebrate emancipation day in Jamaica?

Answer 1

Picture the scene: It is the night of July 31, 1838. Queen Victoria had sent out a royal decree declaring that as of midnight August 1, 1838 all slaves in her kingdom are free people. That declaration also applies to all slaves on vessels at sea. This is their last night as slaves. They all want to experience freedom from the moment it begins. Thousands of slaves have gathered in town centers and in special church meetings. The Emancipation Proclamation is publicly read again at midnight. Tears of joy flow freely, incessantly while shouts of freedom ring out from the mountain tops and the plains, from the men, women and children, who are finally free of the oppressive social and economic system in which they were treated as less than human. Thousands have climbed upon hilltops; many have climbed to the tops of trees to greet the dawn of their first day of freedom. The drumbeats, horn blowing, dancing and revelries carry on until the sun rises upon the dawn of their first day of freedom. Slavery was introduction in the West Indies in 15th Century. It was regarded by many as immoral and brutish, the "innate characteristics of humankind, which are necessary for progress" was destroyed. It was the slave owners, who drew up the slave laws, which were rigid. They had dominated the legislative system. Slaves were forbidding to hold meetings without permission from or under the supervision of a white person. They were banned from beating drums and blowing horns as it was thought to be a signal of rebellion and they were severely beaten for slowing down in the fields. The Quakers, were among the first critics of the system and campaigned for its abolition. Granville Sharpe, an English man was successful in securing the freedom of an abandoned slave, Joseph Strong, in England 1787. They formed the 'Society For Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade' and others joined it. Their argument was that slavery is against the will of God and the denial of civilization; freedom was the true, natural state of man. However, as the sugar industry was booming their arguments fell on deaf ears. Their opposers advanced the view that blacks were unprepared for freedom and would be harmed by it; that not all men were born free and equal and that Africans were different from whites and thus should be treated as animals. In the eighteenth century when the sugar industry began to decline. Then in March of 1807, the Bill for 'The Total and Immediate Abolition of the Slave Trade' was passed in the British Parliament. However, to a large extent, it was the slaves who put themselves on the course to their own freedom. There were many brutal revolts across the island with the help of the Maroons, the slaves who had escaped into the island's mountains. The most famous revolt was the 1831 "Christmas" or "Baptist War". These rebellions, along with the decline in the sugar, caused a drain on the economy and there was the constant danger of a general uprising. The 1838 decree was actually the second proclamation. On August 1, 1834, all slaves were legally declared free, but that was not true freedom. Between 1834 and 1840 there was a so-called System of Apprenticeship to help prepare the slaves for freedom and to help the planters cope with this change. However, it failed so the decision was taken to end the system in 1838, two years earlier than planned. Thus, effective August 1, 1838, slavery was abolished and the former apprentices were declared free citizens. Emancipation did not mean the beginning of good times. According to Sherlock and Bennett in "The Story of the Jamaican People": "Emancipation gave them the right to free movement, the right to choose where and when they wished to work, but without basic education and training many were compelled to remain on the plantation as field hands and tenants-at-will under conditions determined by the landlord, and for wages set by him." But, the forms slaves were just glad to be free. The savagery of the plantations was now behind them, they could now look forward to a better life ahead. Swithin Wilmot in "Freedom in Jamaica" recorded the reaction of a former slave on hearing that he was free. "My dear brodders and sisters, me head quite full of joy to see you all so free and here today. At dis hour in slave time we all go de field to dig cane holes or pick coffee and if we sick, Buckra flog we for true, and no hear when we cry for mercy. But now no overseer can come and drive we off to the field, now we can work when we like and stay at home when we sick. We can buy our own land, build we own house and go to we own church." Emancipation Day was celebrated privately until 1898, when Robert Love introduced the idea of a Convention. Out of that Convention came The People's Convention, which was set up so that the celebrations would continue in the future. 1900, the Convention ended but not the celebrations. They continued as usual until 1962 When Jamaica gained Independence in 1962, the country's leaders decided to merge the two, Emancipation and Independence, into one celebration, but over time, the commemoration of Emancipation steadily declined and the focus was more on Independence. Therefore, in 1997, it was decided that Emancipation Day should be observed as a separate National Holiday and the first official function to mark the restoration of it took place in Spanish Town where the Proclamation of Independence was read. This was done with the intention of re-awakening the spirit of the nation to its rich and colourful history. Emancipation Day is celebrated across the island with all-night vigils being held on the eve of Emancipation Day. These are conducted in churches and town squares throughout the island. At midnight there is drumming, pealing of bells, with celebrations continuing into the dawn of the "First of August." This is an effort to re-create the atmosphere that existed in the early days and in so doing establish a sense of feeling about that "Augus' Mawning". You are all invited to attend. The festivities start on the night of July 31. The Emancipation proclamation will again be read at the stroke of midnight and the drums will sound loud in celebration. The ceremonies in Seville and Sligoville will be on hills and like everywhere else the festivities will continue well into the next morning.