Chloe Cooley

Inspired the passage of anti-slavery legislation in Canada

• Born: unknown
• Birthplace: unknown

Significance: Chloe Cooley was an enslaved woman living in Canada who protested when her enslaver attempted to forcibly sell her across the border into America. Despite her actions, Cooley was still sold and disappeared from the historical record. While her enslaver was charged in relation to the situation, he faced no consequences. However, the incident inspired the passage of legislation that ultimately led to the end of slavery in Canada.

Background

Almost nothing is known about Chloe Cooley beyond the names of her enslavers and the incident that led to her brief appearance in history. In 1793, she was a young, enslaved woman living in Queenston in Upper Canada, which was then a British colony. That area was becoming a refuge for Loyalists, which were the American colonists who did not fight for independence in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1791) and instead sided with the British. When the war ended, many Loyalists moved to Upper Canada, which was under British governance. They were offered land grants and other incentives to do so, one of which was the ability to bring enslaved persons with them without having to pay any duty or taxes for them. It is believed that Cooley was brought from America to Canada as part of this Loyalist migration.

When Cooley first appears in the historical record, she was enslaved to a man named Benjamin Hardison. He was a farmer, miller, and later became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. Hardison was an American soldier who had been taken prisoner and transported to Canada during the war and eventually settled there. Hardison sold Cooley to Loyalist Sergeant Adam Vrooman, possibly in early 1793, though the time is uncertain. In Vrooman’s household, Cooley was most likely a domestic servant, tending to household chores and possibly watching the five Vrooman children. Vrooman would later report that Cooley was rebellious, that she would sometimes refuse to work, took household belongings without asking, and left his property without permission, though she always returned.

Around this time, there was talk in Upper Canada about abolishing slavery. Enslavers like Vrooman began looking for ways to sell those who they had enslaved before they were forced to free them and lost their investment. Vrooman had already sold another enslaved individual named Tom in late 1792. In early 1793, he decided to sell Cooley as well.

Life’s Work

Vrooman arranged to sell Cooley to an unnamed person in America where slavery remained legal. To get her there, he planned to take her by boat across the Niagara River on March 14, 1793. However, Cooley put up a fight. As a result, Vrooman hit her and, with the help of his brother, Isaac Vrooman, and another Loyalist, bound and gagged her and forcibly put her into a small boat. Once on the American side of the Niagara River, Cooley once again struggled and screamed but was unable to escape. What happened to her after she was taken across the Niagara River is unknown.

Cooley’s struggle and screams attracted the attention of Peter Martin, a free Black man who had fought in the American Revolutionary War and was living in Canada. He, along with a White employee of Vrooman’s named William Grisley, witnessed the forced transport. On March 21, 1793, they reported what they had witnessed to Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, who was anti-slavery. Since enslaved people were considered property under English law, and Cooley’s sale did not violate any laws, Vrooman was only charged with disturbing the peace. In his defense, he recounted Cooley’s previous rebellious behavior and ultimately suffered no consequences.

However, Grisley also told Simcoe and the others that he had seen at least one other enslaved person bound and carried across the Niagara River in a similar manner, raising concerns that other enslavers would do the same to the approximately seventy-five enslaved people still living in the area. Simcoe used what happened to Cooley to inspire a movement opposing slavery in Canada. He faced some difficulty, since many of the those whose held he needed to pass the legislation were enslavers. However, Simcoe had considerable influence and an anti-slavery sentiment was growing in Canada, which led to the approval of the “Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to Limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude,” also known as the Act to Limit Slavery, on July 9, 1793.

The act was essentially a compromise; it did not immediately abolish slavery but limited bringing additional enslaved individuals into the area. It also made provision for a gradual reduction of slavery, allowing those who were already enslaved to remain enslaved for life unless voluntarily released by their enslavers but granting freedom to children born to enslaved people when they reached the age of twenty-five. Enslavers also had to help the children of enslaved individuals get a start in life once freed. Many became employed by their former enslavers. Children born to free Black people remained free. In this way, slavery ended gradually in Upper Canada. It also led to Canada becoming a destination for the Underground Railroad and a haven for people escaping slavery in the United States.

Impact

Cooley’s unwillingness to accept her enslavement and determination to fight for freedom drew attention to her plight. This inspired the passage of legislation that eventually ended slavery in Canada without the bloody fighting that was required in America. Her contribution to this historic action has been recognized in several ways. These include recognition as a National Historic Person in Canada and placement of a historic plaque telling her story at Niagara-on-the-Lake, near where her struggle took place. Other honors for her brief but meaningful appearance in Canadian history include the 2016 documentary The Echoes of Chloe Cooley, a 2022 Heritage Minute that aired on Canadian television, and the portrayal of Cooley on a 2023 Canadian postage stamp.

Bibliography

Chandler, Justin. “Enslavement Is Part of Our History’: Understanding Chloe Cooley’s Act of Resistance.” TVO Today, 8 Feb. 2023, www.tvo.org/article/enslavement-is-part-of-our-history-understanding-chloe-cooleys-act-of-resistance. Accessed 24 June 2023.

“Chloe Cooley and the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake.” Ontario Heritage Trust, www.heritagetrust.on.ca/myontario/stories/chloe-cooley-and-the-1793-act-to-limit-slavery-in-upper-canada. Accessed 24 June 2023.

“Chloe Cooley National Historic Person.” Canada Parks, parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/chloe-cooley. Accessed 24 June 2023.

Henry, Natasha. “Black Enslavement in Canada.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 9 Feb. 2022, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-enslavement. Accessed 24 June 2023.

Henry, Natasha. “Chloe Cooley.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 30 Jan. 2023, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chloe-cooley-and-the-act-to-limit-slavery-in-upper-canada. Accessed 24 June 2023.

“New Stamp Honors Chloe Cooley, Who Fought for Her Freedom.” CBC News, 9 Feb. 2023, www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/new-stamp-honours-chloe-cooley-who-fought-for-her-freedom/. Accessed 24 June 2023.

“Recognizing the Legacy of Chloe Cooley.” Canada Post Magazine, 30 Jan. 2023, www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/blogs/personal/perspectives/chloe-cooley-black-history-month/. Accessed 24 June 2023.