Every Day Is Special: August 3 - Emancipation Day in St. Kitts and Nevis

Posted on August 3, 2020

(First Monday of August)

First the Brits abolished slave trade. (1807)

Next they outlawed purchasing slaves from European powers. (1812)

Then they passed laws demanding that planters treat slaves with respect, granting certain rights to slaves, and so forth. (1812 - 1831)

But...planters still OWNED human beings!

Finally, on August 1, 1832, Britain abolished slavery in all of its realms.

Emancipation Day is celebrated on the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis on the first Monday of August.

Did you know...?

St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) is the smallest nation in the Caribbean. Actually, it's the smallest nation in all of the Americas! The two islands that make up the nation total only about 104 square miles - which is around the size of California's capital city, Sacramento. Yep, the capital CITY of my STATE is about the same size as the entire NATION!
St. Kitts and Nevis has one of the oldest still-operating Citizenship By Investment programs in the world. Starting in 1984, wealthy people could donate a hefty sum to a SKN charity that helps people who used to work in the sugar industry, or could invest a certain amount of money into real estate (that could not be sold for a certain number of years), or could invest in a sustainable growth fund.
The two islands are separated (at the narrowest point) by only two miles, and really good swimmers can swim from one to the other.

This is an event in which MANY good swimmers
race across from island to island!

St. Kitts and Nevis is known for beautiful beaches (of course! - it's the Caribbean!), Sugar Mas (a Carnival-like festival held around Christmas and New Years), and "green" monkeys (I would consider them barely greenish!).