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
Holdings:
Rare Books and Manuscripts Flat D 9cYale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
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.Brown, L. Catalogue of British historical medals, 1760-1960, 1876Eimer, C. British commemorative medals and their values, 1317The reverse bears a design of an emancipated couple with infant, seated under a palm tree, with text: "Liberty, peace and industry." Inscribed at foot: "Davis, Birm. MDCCCXXXVIII.
Subject Terms:
Antislavery movements -- Great Britain. | Black people in art | Slavery -- West Indies, British. | Enslaved persons -- Emancipation -- West Indies, British.
