Although the act to limit slavery in Upper Canada is documented, very little is known about Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Upper Canada. She was motivated, intelligent, and collaborative and actively resisted her enslaver, Sergeant Vrooman. Chloe Cooley’s acts of defiance and protest against her enslavement were demonstrated by her being disruptive, disobedient, and pilfering of property given to her by Sergeant Vrooman.

Despite being bound, thrown in a boat, and transported across the Niagara River for sale in the state of New York (Henry, 2016), she fought and screamed as an act of resistance to bring about change. When the incident occurred, enslavesd people were being sold off as fears of the abolition of slavery permeated in the Niagra region. The subsequent report to Lieutenant-Governor John Graves-Simcoe and the Executive Council of Upper Canada led to the prosecution of Vrooman. Her activism drew attention to the plight of enslaved people, which in part contributed to the resolution to end the violent removal of slaves.

For more information on Chloe Cooley and the act to limit slavery in Upper Canada. Adapted and reposted with permission from Natasha Henry. 

Works Cited

Henry, Natasha. “Chloe Cooley and the act to limit slavery in Upper Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 5 Jan. 2016, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chloe-cooley-and-the-act-to-limit-slavery-in-upper-canada. Accessed 16. Jul 2021.