Birth of William Knibb

  • Type Awareness days
  • Start 01 Aug 2018 00:00
  • End 01 Aug 2018 23:55

Details


After a long struggle and the passing of the Abolition of Slavery Bill, slavery was to be abolished in British Colonies as from 1 August 1834, with £20 million compensation to be paid to the slave owners, but for six years those over six years old were to be apprenticed to their former masters, so full freedom was still not achieved. The apprentice system was much abused, particularly the price that apprentices had to pay to acquire their freedom. The gross amounts sought hardly supported the planters continually voiced complaints that the negroes were lazy. Nothing infuriated William more than this widespread accusation which he was able to demonstrate time and time again was an unjustified slur on the blacks. As he wrote in a letter to Mr Eustace Carey in February 1835.


Continued pressure by William and others eventually reduced the period of apprenticeship to 4 years. So it was that on 1st August 1838, the 'monster' of slavery was finally dead. "The hour is at hand, the monster is dying" as recited by William Knibb on 31 July 1838 at his Falmouth church, Jamaica moments before midnight, the time set for the final abolition of slavery. Once the church bell had struck, he shouted "The monster is dead; the Negro is free!". A pair of shackles were then buried in a coffin with a sign over the grave. "Colonial Slavery died 31 July 1838, Age 276 years".