Today Emancipation Day is being observed in Dominica. Emancipation Day is observed in many parts of the world, on different dates, to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African origin.
Below is the declaration which was read out to a crowd gathered around the House of Assembly and Court House on what is today Victoria Street, by the British Lieutenant Governor John Longley on 28 July 1838.
Copies of the declaration in English and French were also read out by Justices of the Peace at points around Dominica and were printed in the local papers.
My Good Friends.
The Queen has sent me here to be your Lieutenant Governor, – I have been here but a few weeks, but I came at a time that you will always remember – I landed here three days after your Masters – the Legislators of this Island, had made a law, to give you the same Freedom as themselves, and as all others of the Queen of England’s Subjects.
This law, made by the Gentlemen, with whom you have lived, and for whom you have worked with all give great pleasure to the Queen of England: – And on the 1st of August – Wednesday next, we must all go to Church and Chapel, and thank God who rules and disposes of every thing on earth – that it hath pleased Him, that this law, should be made in Dominica,
Now let me tell you, my friends in a few words what this law is to do. -It is to make you free but not to make you idle – It is to make you free but not to make you vagrants; – that is Men wandering about with no regular faxed home.
All Free men are governed by laws: – And these laws are made for the punishment of wicked men, for the encouragement of good men – and for the protection of the lives and properties of us all.
The very same laws govern every person now in Dominica; there is no difference, the Wicked man will be punished, and the Good man will be protected, and it is the duty of all of us to find out the Wicked man, and bring him to Justice.
Now let me tell you what the law has ordered for you; now you are to be free men, – You may remain in the Houses, and on the Estates where you are until the 1st of October, if you wish to do so:- The Houses in which you live and the Grounds which you have planted, are not yours; but if you continue to work by agreements with your Master, and work as the Labourers work in England, and all other free Countries cheerfully and diligently for your Employer he will let you live in his House, – and plant your Provisions on his Ground. This is what I advise you to do; – what I know the Queen, would wish you to do.
Now, let me tell you, there is another law, which regulates all the Contracts, and Agreements, between the Master and the Servant.
Your will make Agreement’s with your Masters- some agreements will be for Money – some agreements for Work – some for Clothes – some for Food, – some for Work with part Produce, & c. – If there are any disputes about these agreement’s the Justices of the Peace, will settle them; – they will know the law – hear the disputes, and determine justly and fairly between the two Free Men – the Master and the Servant; and that is the way all the disputes will be settled. – Remember, that by keeping your agreement – serving your Master faithfully, and diligently, you will get a good character – and if you change your Master when your agreement is over, you will have a good character to take away with you.
There is an other law- which orders, that no man can go and Plant, – or Build, – upon ground, which does not belong to him; – if he does, he will be taken up a Vagrant and punished by the law.
If the Queen chooses to have some of the Ground which belongs to her in Dominica cultivated, and Houses built upon it, she will give me, her Lieutenant Governor, orders, how it is to be done, and I shall see it done, according to her commands.
Now, to take care that all these law are attended to, and not broken by any persons; it is necessary to have Constables, to find out the law-breakers, and to bring them – whether They be thieves, or Squatters and to bring them – whether they be Idle fellows – before the Justice of the Peace – And these Constables, who will be called the Rural Constables. And will wear a mark of distinction, to show they have authority, – will be selected by me, from the best and most orderly men amongst you, – And the Justices will be at certain fix times at the different Police Stations . In many parts of the Island, and to these Police Stations, the Rural Constables will bring all the persons they know have been breaking the laws.
Let me advise you not to think of going away from Dominica, there is plenty of Employment for every body in this island: – and whatever your engagement with your Masters may be – keep them faithfully by working diligently.
And also if you wish to be quite happy in this new state of Freedom, – let me tell you that the only way to be so, is to be Religious and grateful to God for all his blessings, to be Honest, to be Orderly, and to be Sober; to send your Children to the Schools your Legislators have been so kind as to desire to be built for you; and if you attend to what I have said you will become HAPPY MEN as well as FREE MEN.
Remember the 1st of August will be the day on which your Masters, the Legislators of Dominica, have by a Law made you, (Two Years sooner thou was expected). As FREE as themselves. Every Church and every Chapel in the Island will be open, – go there on that day, with grateful Feelings to your Masters – Humbly to thanks GOD for the Blessings be has granted to you: – And to all of us.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN !!!
AMEN.
JOHN LONGLEY,
Lieut Governor.
Government House, Roseau, July 28th, 1838.
Many thanks to Dr. Lennox Honychurch for giving us the permission to publish the preceding statement which was taken from his website lennoxhonychurch.com.
Thanks for sharing this very important document in our history. I will ensure that my son reads it.
Thumbs me down if you want, but Jah knows best,and Jah knows why we were not left in Africa. So I won’t complain bout slavery. Although it is a tragedy that took place and the ends may not justify the means…but I thank God for the ends. God Bless the Caribbean.
You are a sick and twisted.
@ Mouth of Youth
You are so correct. I echo and approve your sentiment, giving you thumbs up which makes good sense in our age be it of yesteryear to today of our grandparents, parents age and ours.
I always state that for good reasons our face and eyes are in front of us and not behind. Therefore we must always look forward and move on/ahead while memories may remain.
By consistently looking back and dwelling on what was, nothing is derived or changed in their minds and serves no useful purpose for our present and future situation. Sadly, some do not have the identical mentality.
The Serenity Prayer
O God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference. Amen!
God bless you!
WHY WAS HIS LETTER NOT MADE PUBLIC LONGTIME AGO!IS THE SUBJECT SLAVERY ON THE SCHOOL PROGRAMS!
MWEN ANVI VOMIT!I FEEL LIKE VOMITTING AFTER I READ THIS TRASH.
I always find it freakish that the most evil people are the most religious ones. He said, “And on the 1st of August – Wednesday next, we must all go to Church and Chapel, and thank God who rules and disposes of every thing on earth.” How do you worship God, when you represented something so evil, and even when you “freed” those innocent human beings, you still found ways to make them feel inferior, and confined? That letter represents evil, and superiority, but great thanks to Dr. Honychurch for making it public!
if money is the root of evil, how can poor people and country be free?tell me.
religion stray us away from being speritual,today we are so confused,we making wrong be right and they say that’s OK.
like thinking aloud;you are free only when you leave this wicked world.
belive in your inner powers.
jah bless;
how free are we last i check the queen is still on our money
YOU are so right!!
thats just from the body but its still in the minds and the big boys at the top is working on the minds of the black people thay know thay are not free
First time I come across that letter I will make a copie of it papa met Queen said she has land in Dominica. My my my we must open our eyes to see the real LIGHT. wHERE ARE WE GOING TO? thats why I want us to work hard to reach our goals so tomorrow our children will take our place that letter is pain in the heart.
I agree. I will make copies for my family as well. Thanks for sharing.
The past and the future only exit in our minds, so free yourself from mental slavery.
OMG I got goose-bumps reading that thing.
after reading this letter i am even more offended than ever. some sentences like this one really pisses me off.
“If the Queen chooses to have some of the Ground which belongs to her in Dominica cultivated, and Houses built upon it, she will give me, her Lieutenant Governor, orders, how it is to be done, and I shall see it done, according to her commands”.
who the hell gave the Queen the right to claim land. that is why i will always burn a fire upon buckingham palace and the thieves that dwell in there.
@ REBEL
It is interesting to note what occurred then. However, let common sense prevail. Ever considered this? You came long after, being born and you had no claim to any land even as you grew up. Those who came before had claim to the land. Those who came after had no choice. They accepted and took whatever they got and had to be satisfied with it until better could be done and they were able to purchase property. Let us not make an issue of this.
It is such a shame what these white people have done to us Black people. All sanctioned by God according to them. That’s why I do not believe that white people can truly be God fearing people.Because their hearts are too hard.And history have shown us exactly that. The whole religious thing is all a game of convenience.Make no mistake, they are directly responsible for the state of Africa and its people today.
No other race has endured 400 years of subjugation and strife as Black people have.
I encourage every Black parent to educate their children on the plight that we have been through. Don’t forget it.
It does not matter where you were born , as long as you are a Black Man you are an African. by Peter Tosh.Yes I
Jews–both as “race” but more as religion–have suffered worse. It is hard to conceive of anyone, really, who has suffered worse through history than the Jews. And why? One of the same reasons we did: Christianity. Christians blamed the Jews for killing Jesus–hence a prejudice that has led, directly or indirectly, to the massacre of hundreds of millions of Jews.
And no god worth worshiping could sit back and watch either African slaves or Jews be torturted and killed. God is NOT worth being thanked for doing NOTHING during slavery or during pogroms. That is sick, servile, and twisted, and unfortunately, most Dominicans are too indoctrinated to see just how sick and twisted it is. Religion is generally, unfortunately, a poison.
@ Freethinker
I feel sorry for you when you die, even as you age and when you meet with your Maker, The Lord, Creator and Ruler of the world for your eternal judgment who said: “By your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.” I need not state anymore. If you possess one bit of common sense you should be able to comprehend it.
Also–stop being such a racist jackass, seriously. You’re just being a disgrace to the human race. Racism in this day and age is only for the ignorant and despicable, and you are currently in my mind a card-carrying member of both.
@ Freethinker
If you love your brother/sister, you will not call him/her a jackass. You have failed in every respect. Do not think you are so much above the person in mannerism.
Some of you write a lot of foolishness on this Website. You are one of those who contribute to lack of peace with your very words.
Let us think of our so-called black people are they kind to us? Think of all the Dominican criminals and murders that are committed in DA. Do they love their own?
Are you aware that Muslims have infiltrated Africa and are now murdering their very own black people, Christians who worship Our Lord Jesus Christ? This is the Jesus Christ who will judge you when you die. You will not get away from it. You better believe it and pay heed.
Until so-called blacks can live in love, peace and harmony and accord their fellow people their due rights and dignity, what you talk about is a lot of garbage and not worthy of credence. People as you are a bunch of hypocrites.
Why did we need the queen and slave masters to free us when we were already a free people on the motherland? The shakles may be removed but mental slavery still exists, which is worse. Once your mind is controlled by the white man’s god, education and religion there is no way that you can rise as a people because you are not connected to your past, which is most importantly your history. We have been made in the white man’s image all over and we deny and refuse to acknowledge that. Only those of us who are on the serach for truth as to who we are will be emancipated from mental slavery.
Here are some books which are suggested to connect us to our history. They Came Before Columbus ( Ivan Van Sertima), Christopher Columbus and the African Holucaust (John Henrik Clarke), God, man and Civilization ( George G.M. James), Christianity, Slavery and Labour (Chapman Cohen), The Historical Origin of Christianity (Walter Williams), Ancient Egypt Light of the World (Gerald Massey), The Willie Lynch Letter, Melanin: What Makes Black People Black Dr. Laila Afrika) and the Making of a Slave (Lushena Books).
Sometimetimes the truth offends but it is time that we find our back to our history and stop letting Christianity, the religion that the oppressors used, to control our minds. The truth must be told.
Peace.
I love the way you put this down. This exactly the same thing that I have been saying
@ out of south city
It is past. Finish. It is behind us for centuries. Why bring all this up which will do us no good and does not help one bit and to be loving towards our fellow people?
how do we know where we are going if we don’t remember the past. it is not past, slavery still exists mentally and physically to many people around the world.
Why did we need the queen and slave masters to free us when we were already a free people on the motherland? The shakles may be removed but mental slavery still exists, which is worse. Once your mind is controlled by the white man’s god, history and religion there is no way that you can rise as a people because you are not connected to your past, which is most importantly your history. We have been made in the white man’s image all over and we deny and refuse to acknowledge that. Only those of us who are on the serach for truth as to who we are will be emancipated from mental slavery.
Here are some books which are suggested to connect us to our history. They Came Before Columbus ( Ivan Van Sertima), Christopher Columbus and the African Holucaust (John Henrik Clarke), God, man and Civilization ( George G.M. James), Christianity, Slavery and Labour (Chapman Cohen), The Historical Origin of Christianity ( Walter Williams),Ancient Egypt Light of the World (Gerald Massey), The Willie Lynch Letter, Melanin: What Makes Black People Black (Dr. Laila Afrika) and the Making of a Slave (Lushena Books). Sometimes the truth offends but it is time that we wake up and face the truth as a race of people. Christianity has so blinded us that we could kill for that religion that was forced on us by our slave masters.
Peace.
England, Motherland of the english language…really
Emancipation… from physical but not mental slavery…
We should never stop working on mental slavery. It takes awareness, knowledge and pride to get rid of that disease.
Thank God for blessings? What, for the blessing of putting my ancestors into slavery? What a crock of feces. It’s crazy how people are silent about God when life is going pretty bad (being enslaved and tortured and all that), but as soon as the slightest good happens, “GOD IS GREAT!” Madness.
My wonderful Lord Xenu, on the other hand, never lets me down. Hail Scientology, and down with slavery.
Oh, there is a new God, Xenu? Another one? Oh my! Scientology? All of them are destined for Hell. Those who do not worship the Living God are destined for Satan’s cauldron of everlasting fire where they will burn and burn forever and ever. It is coming for them.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN !!!
HELL NO!!!
freedom: to me is when i close my eyes and leave this wicked world: fuel by greed and manage by the devil in disguise.
the world is upside down inside out.
you cannot be free in a misarable world.
@ thinking aloud
I would like to know what are you doing to obtain eternal happiness according to God’s Commandments of worship, good works in Jesus Name and as contained in Holy Scripture. Do not deceive yourself. This is the only way to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, as previously mentioned.
Thank you, DNO. Thank you Dr. Honychurch. This news item is rather poignant and educational.
I think that such a declaration must form part of our school curriculum; to be studied and celebrated form all angles. I also believe that the media houses should have it dramatized and played especially at different points in the year…Lest we forget!
emancipation:WHY do i still fell like a slave.
MAybe because you have enslaved yourself…free up your mind
The physical chains have been removed and replaced by mental ones by our own hands. Though we are surrounded by God’s most wonderful creation, that is “Dominica”, we have voluntarily enslaved ourselves to drugs, vanity, violence, imported cultures and perceived values, to name just a few. True emancipation will come when we return to our true values and culture.
Dominica–as Mr.Honychurch himself will tell you in his books–is certainly not the creation of God, no more or less than anywhere else. It, like every other land mass, is entirely natural. Plate tectonics and all that good stuff. Please return to Geography class/talk about Emancipation.
@ Freethinker
Surprising. I would like to take this up with Lennox Honeychurch. Not the creation of God? Who created the world? He must be an atheist to make a statement as that. All those who believe that, continue deceiving themselves and note where they will end up at the end of their life to their eternal detriment where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
GOOD.:lol:
Hope every national reads today.Take some time my people and reflect on our past history.
Are we really free? When we look within and analyze or progress from colonization, slavery, emancipation and recolonization it seems we are not free as we think. Its a time for reflection on the destruction we do to ourselves as a people….
Love and peace to everyone on this day