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Slavery and the Road to Freedom |
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Page 1 of 8 The year 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which linked England, Africa and the West Indies. Africans were acquired from Africa for the purpose of providing an available and efficient labour force in the rapidly expanding plantation economy in the West Indies. Captured Africans automatically became slaves and were placed in chains and marched to the coast for inspection by a slave captain.
The exhibition is divided into three main sections:
1. Plantation Life—which focuses on the daily routine of slaves on the plantation, and the punishment meted out to them for misdemeanours.
2. Abolition Movement—highlights the laws passed between 1816 and 1826 aimed ostensibly at improving the lives of the slaves and ameliorating their conditions. One of the principal laws was the Return of Slaves.
3. Abolition and Emancipation—examines accounts on the evils of Slavery, compensation for the plantocracy and highlights the legislation, which ended slavery. On display are printed copies of the Abolition of Slavery Act and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1838. Most of the documents reproduced for the exhibition are official records from our collection, which were compiled by government officials in both central and local governments at the time and were inherited by the Archives. In addition to these official records are letters and plantation journals donated to the Archives by private individuals who desire to preserve the legacy of our
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