A public holiday will be observed on Monday, 8 June to commemorate Emancipation Day, the day Tonga’s King Siaosi Tupou I officially abolished serfdom in Tonga in 1862.
The June 4 public holiday this year falls on Thursday, so it is moved to be observed on Monday, 8 June in accordance with section 2 of the Public Holidays Act.
Emancipation Day represents a turning point in Tongan history as commoners were freed from the virtual ownership of chiefs.
King Tupou I declared the abolition of serfdom as part of his 1862 Code of Laws, with his official emancipation edict in the 1862 Code of Laws:
“All chiefs and people are to all intents and purposes set at liberty from serfdom, and all vassalage, from the institution of this law; and it shall not be lawful for any chief or person, to seize, or take by force, or beg authoritatively, in Tonga fashion, anything from anyone.”
King Tupou I is credited with bringing Christianity to Tonga as well as establishing Tonga’s first constitution and parliament.
