Journal Entry #6

In Afua Cooper’s article she is arguing that African-American men and women had a sense of agency in their lives throughout the period of their enslavement in Upper Canada. She also wants to show how slavery was abolished in Canada. She does this by showing the key players and their contribution to the abolition of slavery. Cooper focuses in on the different ways that African-American men and women would resist their enslavement through major and minor resistance. Some examples of day to day minor resistance by these men and women were the “breaking of tools”[1] and “destroying of livestock”[2]. Through these simple acts Cooper argues that African-American men and women showed their sense of agency. She furthers this point by showing examples of some larger acts of resistance. Some of these examples are “Arson”[3] and “homicide”[4] which clearly show that these people were not going to stand by and accept the fate that they were subjected to. Furthermore, Cooper gives examples of some of the men and women who stood up to slavery at a time when it was the cultural norm. Men like Peter Martin an African American man who brought the case of Chloe Cooley to the Council of Upper Canadian legislature. In doing this Peter Martin started a process that would eventually would lead to laws that would slowly abolish slavery. To illustrate how most Caucasian men and women viewed African American men as dishonest and untrustworthy Cooper gives us the example of William Grisley. Peter Martin needed Grisley in order to “’to prove the truth of his allegation’”[5] which goes to show how in that time a black man needed a white man’s word to prove his case to be legitimate. This case led to Simcoe lobbying for an act that would abolish slavery altogether. Although the act that he helped to produce eventually nicknamed “Simcoe’s Act”[6] did not completely abolish slavery it did lead to promising steps forward and it slowly began to chisel away at the slave trade. The act stated that children born after 1793 would be free on their “25th birthday”[7] and also that their children would “earn their freedom at birth”[8]. It also allowed for no buying and selling of slaves between the United States and Canada. This act also help to lead to the idea of the Underground Railroad and would eventually lead to Canada being free of slavery. So in conclusion, what Cooper argues is that a small act of resistance as simple as Chloe Cooley yelling for help can lead to a revolution that can change the world. She gives evidence to this by the acts of both Peter Martin and Simcoe who were compelled to make a change after the terrible abuse that befell Chloe Cooley.

 

Bibliography

Afua Cooper, “Acts of Resistance Black Men and Women Engage Slavery in Upper Canada, 1793-1803,”

Ontario History 99 (2007) 1-13.

[1] Afua Cooper, “Acts of Resistance Black Men and Women Engage Slavery in Upper Canada, 1793-1803,” Ontario History 99 (2007) 2.

[2] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 2.

[3] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 2.

[4] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 2.

[5] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 5.

[6] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 8.

[7] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 8.

[8] Cooper “Acts of Resistance,” 8.