Act Against Slavery

The Act Against Slavery was an anti-slavery law passed on July 9, 1793, in the second legislative session of Upper Canada, the colonial division of British North America that would eventually become Ontario.

John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant Governor of the colony, had been a supporter of abolition before coming to Upper Canada; as a British Member of Parliament, he had described slavery as an offence against Christianity.

Simcoe's desire to abolish slavery in Upper Canada was resisted by members of the Legislative Assembly who owned slaves, and therefore the resulting act was a compromise.

In 1798, Christopher Robinson introduced a bill in the Legislative Assembly to allow the importation of additional slaves.

The bill was passed by the Assembly, but was stalled by the Legislative Council and died at the end of the session.