Medal commemorating the abolition of the apprenticeship system in the British West Indies.
Alternate Title(s):
Inscription on obverse: To commemorate the abolition of negro apprenticeship in Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincents, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat & the Virgin Islands, by acts of the respective local legislatures, August 1, 1838
Published / Created:
Birmingham, England : Joseph Davis, 1838.
Physical Description:
1 medal : white metal ; 38 mm in diameter
Collection:
Rare Books and Manuscripts
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Related Content:
View a selection of digital images in the Yale Center for British Art's online catalogue
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:13928299
Classification:
Three-Dimensional Artifacts
Notes:
After the Abolition of Slavery Act had been passed in 1833 a transition system was introduced whereby people formerly enslaved in the British West Indies were required to become "apprentices" laboring on plantations for their former owners (people enslaved in Antigua and Barbados were fully emancipated in 1834). By 1838, the system was abolished by all colonial assemblies.
Subject Terms:
Antislavery movements -- Great Britain. | Black people in art | Slavery -- West Indies, British. | Enslaved persons -- Emancipation -- West Indies, British.