1836

The year 1836 marks the setting of the novel’s fourth part, which opens in England and follows Washington Black into a new phase of his life. It is more than a chronological label: against the background of emancipation in the West Indies, the year gathers together the continuing consequences of enslavement, the persistence of racial exclusion, and Washington’s efforts to build relationships and a future beyond the plantation.

Part IV in England

The narrative explicitly marks Part IV as taking place in England in 1836. Washington and Tanna Goff have travelled there with Tanna’s father, G. M. Goff. Although G. M. Goff initially resists Washington’s company, their shared work during the crossing changes their relationship: caring for the living specimens gives them a practical purpose and helps turn an uneasy truce into mutual respect.

The journey also makes clear that geographical arrival does not end racial subordination. A woman on the viewing deck tells G. M. Goff that Washington belongs with the animals below deck. He responds with anger, and thereafter confronts people who insult Washington. The scene places the year’s English setting in tension with the promise of movement and opportunity: Washington is no longer on Faith Plantation, but others still try to reduce him to property and deny his place in public life.

The plantation’s aftermath

The date sits within a history that reaches back to Washington’s childhood at Faith Plantation. After Erasmus Wilde took control, he replaced the old overseers with rough men recruited from the docks, and the regime grew harsher. The punishment of workers, the death of James, and the branding of the enslaved people who were made to pass his remains show the violence that shaped Washington’s early life. The passage of time to 1836 does not erase that history; it remains an active point of reference in his understanding of freedom and vulnerability.

By the time Washington asks what became of the people at Faith, Mrs. Wilde says the plantation has been sold and that its former enslaved population had become apprentices and paid workers. Her description presents emancipation as a changed legal and labor arrangement, not as proof that the people’s earlier suffering or the unequal conditions of their lives have simply disappeared. Washington’s question, prompted by his memories of Big Kit and Gaius, insists on the fate of those left behind.

Freedom across borders

The novel sets the English year against Washington’s earlier experiences in the United States and Nova Scotia. In Norfolk, Captain Benedikt and his brother ask Washington and Titch to leave discreetly, having recognized the danger attached to their history but choosing not to make trouble for them. Titch nevertheless warns Washington that a mercy can be withdrawn. The moment distinguishes temporary assistance from secure freedom: the two arrive in America, but Washington remains conscious that he is not free in the same way as those around him.

In Nova Scotia, Washington hopes for a life among the Loyalists but finds scarce resources and poor prospects for Black residents. He fears kidnappers who seize freed men and carry them toward enslavement in the Southern states. He is also attacked by a local man, an encounter that renews his fear of John Francis Willard. By 1836, these earlier experiences give the English scenes a wider context: movement between countries changes Washington’s circumstances, but does not end the racialized threats to his safety or dignity.

A continuing struggle against slavery

The year also belongs to a period in which emancipation has not ended the work of abolition. In England, Washington and Tanna visit an organization that preserves records and continues to oppose slavery. A woman there describes America as an area of continuing darkness and points them toward Robert Solander, a supporter of Titch. The institution’s dual role—as a repository for records and an active opponent of slavery—connects the novel’s personal histories to continuing political work.

Together, the plantation’s legacy, Washington’s insecure freedom in North America, and the racism he encounters during the journey to England make 1836 a measure of unfinished change. The year situates the narrative after emancipation in the West Indies while showing that altered legal status does not by itself undo coercive labor, racial contempt, or the fear of being returned to bondage.