Chloe cooley biography
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Chloe Cooley
Enslaved Canadian whose sale spurred abolitionist sentiment
Chloe Cooley was a young black woman held as a slave in Fort Erie and Queenston, Upper Canada in the late 1700s, as the area was being settled by Loyalists from the United States. Her owner forced her into a boat to sell her in 1793 across the Niagara River in the United States.
This incident was observed by several witnesses, who petitioned the Executive Council of Upper Canada. Although charges were dropped against Cooley's owner, the incident is believed to have led to passage of the Act Against Slavery, 1793, in Upper Canada. It prevented slaves from being imported into the province and provided for gradual abolition of slavery within a generation among those held there.
History
[edit]In 1793, Cooley was held by Loyalist Adam Vrooman, a white farmer and former sergeant with Butler's Rangers who fled to Canada from New York after the American Revolution.[1] He had purchased her several
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Chloe Cooley was an enslaved Black woman in Upper Canada in the late 18th century. Under the watchful eye of estate owner Adam Vrooman, Chloe engaged in acts of resistance however she could: by refusing to work or temporarily leaving the property without permission. With rumours of abolition circulating, Vrooman and his men kidnapped Chloe on March 14, 1793, and violently forced her on a boat across the Niagara River to the United States. There, he believed he could still profit from what he considered his investment. Witnesses, including the free man Peter Martin, later testified to Chloe’s resistance in the face of her violent removal, leading to Canada’s first legislation limiting slavery. Despite this, slavery in Canada was not abolished until 1834.
For more information about Chloe Cooley, please visit The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- Chloe Cooley - Olivia Barrett
- Peter Martin - Troy Crossfield
- Adam Vrooman - Peter Valdron
- End Narration - The Hon. Jean Augustine
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Chloe Cooley and the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada
On March 14, 1793 Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Queenston, was bound, thrown in a boat and sold across the river to a new owner in the United States. Her screams and violent resistance were witnessed by a neighbour, William Grisley, who informed Peter Martin, a free Black and former soldier in Butler's Rangers. They brought the incident to the attention of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe who immediately moved to abolish slavery in the new province. He was met with motstånd in the House of Assembly, some of whose members owned slaves. A compromise was reached and on July 9, 1793 an Act was passed that prevented the further introduction of slaves into Upper Canada and allowed for the gradual abolition of slavery although no slaves already residing in the province were freed outright. It was the first del av helhet of legislation in the British Empire to limit slavery and set the stage for the great freedom mov