Question 2 Upper Canada was the first of the British colonies to move to abolish slavery. True. There had been no restriction against slavery in Canada during the time of the French and then the British colonists, until the year 1791. In that year, Colonel John Graves Simcoe, who became Lieutenant Governor of the province, challenged the legality of slavery in Upper Canada. It became the only colony to legislate for the abolition of slavery. By 1800, courts in others parts of British North America had moved to eliminate slavery and in August 1883 the British Parliament passed a law abolishing slavery in all the colonies. The law went into effect in August of 1834. Next Top of Page