Much of the Caribbean will honour Emancipation Day this Thursday, 1 Aug., with parties, food and music. The day marks two historic milestones for the British West Indies – the end of slavery in 1834 and the end of apprenticeship in 1838, both on 1 Aug.
The path to freedom, however, was a bumpy one and in practice varied from island to island. Caribbean historian and UCCI assistant professor Christopher Williams explains some of the day’s history, its implications in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, and what it means today.