The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4 eBook

American Anti-Slavery Society
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,105 pages of information about The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4.

The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4 eBook

American Anti-Slavery Society
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,105 pages of information about The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4.
Possessions.        Date of    Extent.           Population
acquisit.  sq. m.       White Slaves  F. Col. 
Anguilla[B],        1650      . . .        365   2,388    327
Antigua[A],         1632       108       1,980  29,537  3,895
Bahamas[B],         1629     4,400       4,240   9,268  2,991
Barbados[B],        1625       166      14,959  82,807  5,146
Bermudas[A],        1611        22       3,905   4,608    738
Dominica[B],        1783       275         840  15,392  3,606
Grenada[B],         1783       125         801  24,145  3,786
Jamaica[B],         1655     6,400      37,000 311,692 55,000
Montserrat[B],      1632        47         330   6,262    814
Nevis[B],           1628        20         700   9,259  2,000
St. Christophers[B],1632        68       1,612  19,310  3,000
St. Lucia[B],       1803        58         972  13,661  3,718
St. Vincent[B],     1783       130       1,301  23,589  2,824
Tobago[B],          1763       187         322  12,556  1,164
Trinidad[B],        1797     2,460       4,201  24,006 15,956
Tortola, or
Virgin Isles[B],    1666      . . .        800   5,399    607

Total, B.W.I . . . 14,466 74,328 593,879 105,572
Cape of Good Hope, . . . . . . 43,000 35,500 29,000
       Berbice[B] . . . . . . 523 20,645 1,161
Guiana Demarara[B] 1803 . . . 3,006 65,556 6,360
       Essequibo[B], . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
Honduras, 1650 62,750 250 2,100 2,300
Mauritius, . . . . . . 8,000 76,000 15,000
Total. . . . . . . 129,107 793,680 159,393

[Footnote A:  Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1834.]

[Footnote B:  Emancipated entirely on the 1st. of August, 1838, by vote of the local legislatures in the chartered Colonies; and by Governor and Council, in the Crown Colonies.]

The unanimity with which the apprenticeship was given up is a most remarkable and instructive fact.  In the Council and Assembly of Montserrat, there was an unanimous decision in favor of Emancipation as early as February 1838.  In the legislature of Tortola, which passed the bill in April 1838, the opposing party was small.  In that of Barbados the bill was passed on the 15th of May with but one dissenting voice.  In that of Jamaica, the bill seems to have been passed on the 8th of June, and the Jamaica Times remarks:—­“No dissentient voice was heard within the walls of the Assembly, all joined in the wish so often expressed, that the remaining term of the apprenticeship should be cancelled, that the excitement produced by a law which has done inconceivable harm in Jamaica, in alienating the affections of her people, and creating discord and disaffection, should at once cease.  Thank God! it is now nearly at an end, and we trust that Jamaica will enjoy that repose, so eagerly and anxiously sought after, by all who wish the Island well.”

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The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.