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CANS 200: “Past, Present, and Future” Research Proposal

Template

Student name: Daksh Chawla

Proposed paper title (1):

August 01, 1834- Abolition of Slavery Act

Contrary to the prevailing belief that slavery was primarily associated only with the

United States, this research paper seeks to unveil Canada's significant historical

involvement in the institution of slavery.

On the August 01, 1834 Canadian history changed forever it became a country for all,

as promised. Historically, Canada’s role in slavery can be traced back to the

Transatlantic trade, routes through which slaves were brought into Canada 1. King

Louis XVI’s Official response to publics slavery requests initiated Canada’s exercise in

the subject.

This torment of slavery has been covered up by the existence of Underground

Railroad2, which played an important role in providing the enslaved slaves a passage

of escape, leaving an impact on Canadian History.

1
CMHR. “The Story of Black Slavery in Canadian History | CMHR,” August 22,
2018. https://humanrights.ca/story/story-black-slavery-canadian-history
2
CBC. “Canada’s Slavery Secret: The Whitewashing of 200 Years of Enslavement | CBC Radio,” June
29, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/canada-s-slavery-secret-the-whitewashing-of-200-years-
of-enslavement-1.4726313
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To increase the understanding of the act of slavery in Canada, an important case

study focusing on the life of Marie Joseph Angelique 2, a slave in Canadian history, is

provided in the research paper.

This research paper also elucidates its key turning points.. This includes the resistance

showed by the Slaves through riots, the Abolition of slavery in British North America 1,

and the Bylaws and regulations3 released by officials in Upper Canada. The after

effects of the given dates still persist in the international decade of African descent

people. In Canada(2015-2024) that we are living in such as: The introduction of PSAC

and the FBEC4 which were committees established to provide support to people of

African descent, the Canadian labour movement.

This thesis has proven that while the international community views Canada as a peace

preaching country, their dark satanic history of slavery has been covered by a veil of lies and

2
The Canadian Encyclopedia. “Marie-Joseph Angélique,”
n.d. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marie-joseph-angelique
3
HathiTrust. “Constitution and By-Laws of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada,”
1851. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t1hh7qn17&seq=10

4
**Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). "Report on Slave Trade." PSAC
Union, October 13, 2022. https://psacunion.ca/sites/psac/files/2022-10-13-
slavetradereport_en.pdf .**
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deception. It wasn’t even the Europeans who brought slavery to Canada; slavery already

existed and was omnipresent in the nation. Moreover, Canada’s outright outrageous claim of

using the railways as a medium to transport slaves to their freedom from America was a

show of their hypocrisy; a way to clean their slate’s and consciousness after enslaving

thousands in the past and conflicting horrendous tortures upon them. In the end, my thesis

has the aim of proving that the tormentation of slaves in Canada was so gruesome, that the

ill treatment of slaves in Canada surpassed that of the Slaves in America during the time.

Annotated Bibliography (16):

(You must annotate 6 secondary sources and 2 primary sources that you intend to use in
your final research paper. Sources must be cited using the correct format (Chicago Style
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bibliography) and annotations must explain the context of the source and its usefulness for
your paper; typically, annotations are 2 or 3 sentences in length).

Secondary Sources:

1. CMHR. "The Story of Black Slavery in Canadian History | CMHR." August 22, 2018.
https://humanrights.ca/story/story-black-slavery-canadian-history [Accessed September
21, 2023].
Context- "This article provides insight into the transatlantic trade and its functioning,
the significance of the Code Noir, the resistance displayed by slaves in Canada, and
the process of the abolition of slavery in British North America."

2. CBC. “Canada’s Slavery Secret: The Whitewashing of 200 Years of Enslavement | CBC
Radio,” June 29, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/canada-s-slavery-secret-the-
whitewashing-of-200-years-of-enslavement-1.4726313 . [Accessed September 21, 2023].

Context- Through this article we gained perspective on how the act of slavery was
covered up, slavery carried out by indigenous people, first official legalization of
Slavery, conditions of slaves in Canada, Francois Barbie house, and invisible
cemetery.

3. The Canadian Encyclopedia. “Marie-Joseph Angélique,” February 18, 2014

n.d. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marie-joseph-angelique.
[Accessed September 23, 2023].

Context- through this short story we studied the life of Marie Joseph Angelique and
received a first-hand examples of struggles of Slaves in Canada. We learned about
slaves used as property and violence portrayed against them.

4. Bellefeuille, Jean. "A Short History of Slavery in Canada." Christian Research Centre -
Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation, [Accessed September 25, 2023].
https://www.crc-canada.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/A-Short-History-of-Slavery-
in-Canada-Jean-Bellefeuille-CRC-JPIC.pdf.

Context- This article provides information on the slavery In Canada and how it
changed over the years. It explains about the first Slave in Canada and about the
abolition of the practice. The article also provide statistics on the number of slaves in
Canada.
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5. The Canadian Encyclopedia. “Black Enslavement in Canada,” n.d. [Accessed September

25, 2023]. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-enslavement.

Context- this article presents information on the enslavement in New France and

British North America, slave ownership, treatment of slaves, and resistance displayed

by them.

6 **Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). "Report on Slave Trade." PSAC Union,
October 13, 2022. [Accessed September 28, 2023]. https://psacunion.ca/sites/psac/files/2022-

10-13-slavetradereport_en.pdf .**

Context- This analytical article provides us an overview over the impact of slavery on
women in federal public system and shows what changes came in support of the
people of African descent such as the PSAC and FBEC. It also shows what actions
were taken to protect African descent people.

Primary Sources:

1. HathiTrust. “Constitution and By-Laws of the Anti-Slavery Society of Canada,” 1851.

[Accessed September 22, 2023]. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?
id=aeu.ark:/13960/t1hh7qn17&seq=10.
Context- This document shows the official Constitution and Bylaws of the anti-slavery
society written by the officials of Upper Canada to protect the slaves.

2. Carrington Pub. Co. “The Daily Morning Journal and Courier. [Volume] (New Haven,
Conn.) 1894-1907, December 28, 1899, Part 2, Image 10,” December 28, 1899.
[Accessed September 30,
2023]. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020358/1899-12-28/ed-1/seq-10/
#date1=1770&index=1&rows=20&words=CANADaA+Canada+SLAVERY+slavery&searchT
ype=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=slavery+Canada&y=0&x=0&dat
eFilterType=yearRange&page=1 .
Context-