The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada

John Graves Simcoe is recognized and remembered as the man who abolished slavery in Canada, and as the first person to cast an official law to abolish slavery anywhere in the British colonies. In 1793, the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, also known as An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude, was passed. This law was created more than 40 years before slavery was abolished across all of the British Empire, and 70 years before slavery was abolished in the United States. [1] While John Graves Simcoe’s work would help in ending slavery, his 1793 Act To Limit Slavery in Upper Canada did not immediately free all Canadian slaves, rather it gradually phased out slavery in Canada. As exhibited through the examination of the creation of the 1793 Act To Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, Simcoe had a more complex and paradoxical relationship with slavery than he is typically commemorated for. 

Coming from England to act as the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Simcoe’s opinions on slavery was likely influenced by the 1772 Somersett v. Stewart case, which resolved that no slave could be forcibly removed from Britain and sold into slavery. [2] Yet the ruling of this case did not apply to British colonies, so slaves throughout the British Empire were still considered to be their owner’s property, and continued to be bought and sold. As a colonel in the Revolutionary War, Simcoe’s opinion on slavery was also likely influenced the contributions Black people had made to the fight. [3] According to Afua Cooper, “Simcoe would have been aware of the sacrifices Blacks, both enslaved and free, made for the British during the late war, and took offence to them being enslaved in his colony.”[4] In order to rid Upper Canada of slavery, Simcoe had to get a slavery-abolishing bill passed himself. 

John Graves Simcoe used an incident regarding the unfair treatment of a slave named Chloe Cooley to introduce the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada. Chloe Cooley was bound, and violently and forcibly removed from Upper Canada to New York by her master, William Vrooman, to which she capably and fiercely resisted.[5] The incident was witnessed by Peter Martin and William Greesley who reported it to Simcoe. He was appalled by Cooley’s experience and decided to use this story to further the chances of getting his bill to abolish slavery passed by legislature.[6]

In order to get this bill passed, though, it needed to be approved by the Legislative Assembly and then the Legislative Council, a legislature that was full of slave owners. [7] One of the paradoxical elements of Simcoe’s relationship with slavery can be seen in his connection with the Legislative Council. John Graves Simcoe chose the members of the Legislative Council, with approximately five of the nine members being slave-owners or coming from a family of slave-owners. [8] So, in selecting a Legislative Council full of slave-owners, Simcoe made it hard for himself to get his abolition bill to pass through the legislature. Simcoe gave a great deal of power to people who believed in slavery, the power to pass or veto life-changing bills, yet also worked to abolish it in Upper Canada, showcasing an aspect of his paradoxical relationship with slavery.

Obviously, being a council consisting of a majority of slave owners, Simcoe’s proposition to completely abolish slavery in Upper Canada was denied. The Lieutenant-Governor and the Upper Canada legislature came to a compromise, enacting The Act to Limit Slavery, also known as An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude, on 9 July 1793. [9] This act did not abolish slavery, but instead placed limits and rules on the slavery practices. Its aim was to gradually phase out slavery in Upper Canada. The 1793 Act enforced regulations on slavery such as not allowing any new slaves to enter Upper Canada, yet forcing the ones already here to remain enslaved until death and the children of those already enslaved would remain enslaved until the age of twenty-five. [10] The Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada also made it extremely difficult for someone to free a slave, requiring them to provide financial security to prove that the freed slave would not be a “drain on the state.” [11]

While John Graves Simcoe is commemorated for his anti-slavery work in Canada, it is also important to acknowledge his complex and paradoxical relationship with slavery in the creation of the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada. Simcoe chose to place slave-owners in powerful legislative positions even though he did not believe in slavery, and the repercussions of this choice are seen in the Act’s regulations, not allowing for the immediate ending of slavery in Upper Canada, and instead allowed slavery to continue with restrictions and to slowly come to a halt. It is also important to note that another paradoxical aspect of Simcoe’s relation to slavery, as further explored in the previous entry, is his connection to the Haitian Revolution. After working to create a law to abolish slavery in Upper Canada, Simcoe fought in the Haitian Revolution to help Britain take ownership of the slaves from the French. This happened while he was still acting as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Roots of systemic racism in Canada can be seen through the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, showcasing how one act of freedom, like limiting slavery in Upper Canada, leads to other forms of oppression, and the continued policing of Black bodies. The Act to Limit Slavery was a commendable step in ending slavery in Upper Canada, but it is crucial to recognize John Graves Simcoe’s faults that led to continued slavery in Canada until the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, ending slavery across much of the British Empire. [12]

This project analyzed the legacy of Sir John Graves Simcoe and questioned whether his actions justify his commemoration as a heroic historical figure. By examining his Eurocentric biographies, memorials, and holidays, this heroic perception of Simcoe is depicted and shown to be prevalent in Canada, Ontario, and Huron University College. Simcoe’s narrative is complicated by evaluating his role as a soldier for the British and their involvement in the American War of Independence and the Haitian Revolution, where Simcoe led armies to fight against the slave uprising. Despite Simcoe believing his actions were immoral, he still contributed to the oppression of Black people. It was not until he was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada that Simcoe was able to act on his beliefs for racial equality. During his time in power, John Graves Simcoe fought among the Black population for their justice; he listened to their stories and used his political power to try to create laws to help them. By doing this project, we understand that John Graves Simcoe is a complex character in history, which ultimately means that there is no right answer to the question of whether Simcoe’s commemoration as a heroical historical figure in Canada is justified. However, creating a well-informed argument by evaluating Simcoe’s actions objectively, instead of from the conventional Eurocentric perspective, is a way to begin the conversation.

[1] Adam Bunch, “John Graves Simcoe’s weird relationship with slavery,” Spacing Toronto, 5 September 2017, http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/09/05/john-graves-simcoes-weird-relationship-slavery/

[2] “Slave or Free,” Black Presence Exhibition, The National Archives, Retrieved 24 November 2020, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/Blackhistory/rights/slave_free.htm

[3] Afua Cooper, “Acts of Resistance: Black Men and Women Engage Slavery in Upper Canada,” Ontario History 99, no. 1: 5-17, 11.

[4] Cooper, “Acts of Resistance,” 11.

[5] Cooper, “Acts of Resistance,” 9.

[6]  Natasha Henry, “Chloe Cooley and the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 5 January 2016, https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chloe-cooley-and-the-act-to-limit-slavery-in-upper-canada

[7] Bunch, “John Graves Simcoe’s weird relationship with slavery.”

[8] Bunch, “John Graves Simcoe’s weird relationship with slavery.”; Nina Reid-Maroney, “Benezet’s Ghost: Revisiting the Antislavery Culture of Benjamin Rush’s Philadelphia,” in The Atlantic World of Anthony Benezet (1713-1784): From French Reformation to North American Quaker Antislavery Activism, ed. Marie-Jeanne Rossignol and Bertrand Van Ruymbeke, (Boston: Brill, 2016): 199-220, 218.

[9] Henry, “Chloe Cooley and the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada.”

[10] “John Graves Simcoe’s weird relationship with slavery.”

[11] “John Graves Simcoe’s weird relationship with slavery.”

[12] Stanley Meeling and Jeff Scott, “John Graves Simcoe,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 1 February 2017, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-graves-simcoe