Emancipation Day (Dominica)

Emancipation Day is a public holiday in the Commonwealth of Dominica, and it is observed on the first Monday in August each year. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of when slavery was abolished in Dominica in 1834.

Dominica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea. Indigenous people inhabited the island since the fifth century. Christopher Columbus first sighted the island in 1493 and claimed it for Spain, but Spain had little success in colonizing the island in the following years.

The French established the first permanent settlement for wood in 1690 and brought slaves to the island. The French developed the coffee plantations in Dominica worked by the slaves.

In 1763, the French ceded the island and several other Caribbean islands to Britain after the French lost in the Seven Years' War in Europe. Although the French recaptured the island in 1778, the British restored it in 1783.

The Slavery Abolition Act received Royal assent in the British Empire on August 28, 1833, and took effect on August 1, 1834. As one of the British colonies, slavery was abolished in Dominica on August 1, 1834. However, all former slaves had to work for their former masters for a four-year apprenticeship, and they achieved full freedom on August 1, 1838.

The following is the list of Emancipation Day in Dominica from 202 to 2026.

Please check more public holidays in the Commonwealth of Dominica: