…no Slave shall be admitted an (sic) evidence in any cause, except in cases of plotting among themselves to run away, kill or destroy their Master.
Our reflection on Emancipation Day!
On this Emancipation Day, we celebrate the official end of slavery in Canada and other parts of the British Empire. The occasion also compels us to continue our reflection on the toll of slavery in Canada, and the less glorified stories of freedom fighters who lived on the lands we now revel for the Underground Railroad. As we mark this day in history, we are reminded of how far we have come from the time when Slaves could not give evidence in Court to argue for their own freedom.
The story of one Woman, Nancy, stands out as a story of Black Self-determination that predates Emancipation. Nancy, born a slave in Maryland, made the decision to take freedom into her own hands and ran away with her child in 1786. She managed to escape persecution for about 15 years until she was caught in New Brunswick in 1800.
She proceeded to take her enslaver to court to fight for her freedom in the lands where there was no binding “Custom of tolerating slavery… in this Province”. She got the help of a pro-abolition lawyer who tried to argued that her capture was an unlawful imprisonment as she could not be subjected to slavery in Canada.
By law, should could not give evidence in Court to support her case for freedom unless the evidence was against herself or another slave.
“It is then enacted, that no Slave shall be admitted an evidence in any cause, except in cases of plotting among themselves to run away, kill or destroy their Master Mistress or some other person, or burning of houses Barns, barracks, or stacks of hay or corn, or killing their Master or Mistresses cattle or horses, & that only against one another, in which cases the Evidence of one Slave shall be good against another Slave.”
The Court accepted that, “It was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables of Rome that whenever there was a question between liberty and slavery, the presumption should be on the side of liberty”.
Further, “This excellent principle… our law has adopted in the construction of penal Statutes, wherein the decision must be on the side of lenity and mercy in favour of natural right and liberty”.
Despite the fact there was no official law in New Brunswick reinforcing slavery, the Court found that the principle “does not apply to the present case”.
Canada, as a British Colony, abided by British laws that allowed for the continued enslavement of Black People in settled colonies:
“[The] Act… authorizes the importation into the British Provinces of any Negroes, from any of the territories belonging to the United States… as had adopted and recognized this condition of Slavery, as places into which they might be legally imported.”
Nancy’s fight for freedom is a testament to Black self-determination and the truth that much like Nancy we fight for our rights every day.
For more information about Nancy’s story check out:
https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/black-settlers-york-sunbury_colons-noirs/story/nancys-story/
For the full case:
More info:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story-new-brunswick-slavery-nancy-ludlow-hall-1.5477580
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-enslavement