History 1120 – Kyron Smith
In this course the question “what is history and how do we do it?” was prompted. Throughout the course I learned about pre-Confederation Canada and the events that led to the formation of our sovereign nation. From the first permanent colony on Ile Saint Croix in the Bay of Fundy in 1604 to the British North America Act in 1867. From sea to sea, through the adventures of the fur traders to the gold rush of the Fraser River. I learned of the strives my ancestors made towards equality in regards to indigenous peoples and Afro-Canadians.
In the course my main research focus was on slavery in pre-Confederation Canada. My main focus was on the individual life of slaves, their acts of resistance, and how these actions led to the eventual abolishment of slavery in British North America in 1807. The topic of slavery through every country, religion, and culture is existent in history. Slavery has been a defining and scarring part of many great nations and empires legacies. As such it is important to acknowledge past mistakes. Canada, post-Confederations, may not have been tainted with the same black brush however, pre-Confederation Canada as a colony of the British Empire was a part of the Atlantic slave trade until 1807. In any case, the abolishment movement in Upper Canada spearheaded by John Graves Simcoe, through the actions of brave individuals such as Henry Lewis, Chloe Cooley, and other forgotten heroes whose sacrifice wasn’t in vain. The lesson in which must be learned from this, the topic of slavery in Upper Canada, is that the acts of an individual can lead not only to greater collective actions, but also proves that the needs of the many has always been enough of a cause for courageous people to self sacrifice for a better tomorrow. History may remember John Graves Simcoe whose Anti-Slavery Act of 1793 as the initiator to the end of slavery but it started with those oppressed and their actions of resistance.