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Afro-Canadians in Nova Scotia

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Slavery

Under Ground Railroad

Inventions

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The End

Black Migration

Introduction: In the following presentation I will talk about how Afro-Canadians came to be in Nova Scotia. The history of Afro-Canadians dates back to the seventieth century, where the earliest record of a black man who lived in Port Royal for two years, between 1604-1606. It is said that he was brought over to help one of the colonists, and expeditors from the late fifteenth century. Over all there about ten-fifteen million slaves that were shipped form South Africa and the Caribbean during the duration of 1600s – 1850. Slaves, immigrants, and refugees brought divers times to the province in search for freedom. Today, economy, Political campaigning, and other important parts that play a very important role in the provinces survival are ran by the same Black people that were once slaves to it.

Black Migration

The following is a very short and yet detailed timeline of the Black Migration to Nova Scotia.

1782-85 - About 3,500 Blacks fled to what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick at the close of the American Revolution. They had fought for Britain in return for freedom. Once in the Maritimes, they were cheated of land, forced to work on public projects such as road building and denied equal status.

1792 - Exodus to Africa: 1,190 men, women and children left Halifax on 15

ships for the long voyage to Sierra Leone. Sixty-five died en route. 1796 - Nearly 600 Trelawney Maroons exiled from Jamaica arrived in the

Maritimes. They faced miserable conditions and opted for Sierra Leone. They left Halifax in 1800.

1813-15 - Roughly 2,000 U.S. Blacks, refugees from the War of 1812,

settled in the Maritimes. 1833 - Slavery officially abolished in the British Empire. 1920s - Hundreds of Caribbean immigrants, called the "later arrivals,"

flocked to Cape Breton to work in coal mines and the steel factory.

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Under Ground Railroad

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Black Migration

SlaveryThe Canadians did not use the term “slave” but instead they used

“servant”. There is a impression that the first slaves where located in the Maritimes, but many say that the first black settlers where from Quebec. Records indicated that slavery was established in Quebec, by the French, through a royal mandate issued by Louis XIV in 1689.

In 1783-4 about 1232 slaves where brought to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Africans, who came from a rich prosperous continent, before bondage, the white loyalists took advantage of their skills (blacksmiths, millwrights, caulkers and coopers) by associating them with pioneering frontier settlements, such as working the fields, building houses, clearing land etc.

The treatment of slaves in Canada was just as severe as their treatment in the United States. They were punished when they disobeyed their master and in some cases they were whipped, tortured or murdered. Eventually laws were passed which made killing slaves as serious a crime as killing a freedman. Slavery in Canada did not flourish economically as to slavery in America. However, the two countries did have similarities as to those who supported slavery, and as to those who opposed it.

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Black Migration

SlaveryContinued…#2

In sum, slavery began to decline in the opening decades of the nineteenth century because of the combination of factors which made slavery uneconomic in Canada, to which must be added the opposition of the law courts throughout British North America from the third quarter of the eighteenth century. When slaves were legally emancipated as of August 1, 1834, there were very few slaves in British North America who had not already obtained their legal freedom. On that date 781,000 slaves were set free in the British Empire. A hundred million dollars were appropriated by the British Government to compensate the slave owners. Not a single dollar was paid in Canada since no claims for compensation were submitted. The institution was no longer of consequence. Although our ancestors endured being captured like animals; to be denounced from African Royalty to another's man possession of property; to face the agony of being separated from their families; of being denied to speak their native tongue, one must acknowledge slavery as part of our history and culture which we should not ignore or feel a sense of humiliation. It is through this unbearable treatment, which made us a strong people

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Black Migration

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD ”Freedom Trail To Canada”

The Underground Railroad was created to help the slaves which worked in horrible conditions in sugar field and to help bring them,to Canada From the 1830's - 1860's.

Relying on the North Star, the runaways traveled the Underground Railroad by night proceeding through waterways, swamps, forests, mountains and back roads. With the assistance of such groups as the Quakers, free Blacks and Natives Americans, these bonded men, children and women were able to see their dream become reality. Throughout the journey they hid in places such as barns, cellars, wagons and aboard ships. Religious groups such as the Presbyterian, African Methodist Episcopal, & African Baptist along with the persistent Quakers, also played a part by providing food and shelter.

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Black Migration

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD ”Freedom Trail To Canada”

In fear of being caught by the bounty hunters, the slaves would alter the escape routes. Secret codes were used for communicating, along with coded spirituals, which conveyed signals for hiding and danger. One song, for example "Steal Away", was an obvious invitation to the slave to steal way to freedom.

Steal away, steal awaySteal away to Jesus

Steal away, steal awayI ain't got long to stay here

Although these people endured severe cold weather conditions, and the fear of punishment or death if captured by the master, their determination of reaching freedom and their powerful faith in God, provided them with the courage and strength to continue the journey to their destination.

Continued…#2

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Black Migration

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD ”Freedom Trail To Canada” Continued…#3

A legendary conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman became known as the "Moses of Her People." Tubman was born into slavery on a Maryland plantation and suffered brutal treatment from numerous owners before escaping in 1849. Over the next decade she returned to the American South 19 times and led 300 of freedom seekers north. When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 allowed slave owners to recapture runaways in northern free states, Tubman extended her operations to the Canadian border. For eight years, she lived in St. Catherine, Ontario and at one point rented a house in their neighborhood. With the outbreak of the Civil War, she returned to the United States to serve the Union as a scout and spy.

Until recently, the Underground Railroad into Nova Scotia was Canada's best-kept secret. People living in the communities of Preston, Upper Hammonds Plains, Guysborough, Lincolnville, Tracadie, Milford Haven and Boylston can trace their roots to the escape slaves of the Underground Railroad "the road that led to freedom.

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Black Migration

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Black Inventors

• Clothes Dresser John H. Jordan • Electric Lamp Latimer & Nichols • Printing Press W.A. Lavalette • Laser Fuels Lester Lee • Pressure Cooker Maurice W. Lee • Envelope Seal F.W. Leslie • Window Cleaner A.L. Lewis • Pencil Sharpener John L. Love • Fire Extinguisher Tom J. Marshal • Lock W.A. Martin • Shoe Lasting Machine Jan Matzeliger • Lubricators Elijah McCoy • Rocket Catapult Hugh MacDonald • Elevator Alexander Miles

Continued…#2

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Black Migration

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Black InventorsContinued…#3

• Gas Mask Garrett Morgan • Traffic Signal Garrett Morgan • Hair Brush Lyda Newman • Heating Furnace Alice H. Parker • Air Ship (Blimp) J.F. Pickering • Folding Chair Purdy/Sadgwar • Hand Stamp W.B. Purvis • Fountain Pen W.B. Purvis • Dust Pan L.P. Ray • Insect Destroyer Gun A.C. Richardson • Baby Buggy W.H. Richardson

There are many other inventions which have been created by black colonists but I would rather not waste my slides on it, because there is so much more history to the Afro-Canadians of Nova Scotia.

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Black Migration

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Black Migration

• Dr. Daurene Lewis (yellow balloon): Dr. Lewis became  the first Black Mayor in Nova Scotia and consequently, the first Black woman Mayor in North America. She is presently the Executive Director of the Center for Women in Business of Mount Saint Vincent University.

• Sir James Douglas (green balloon): Sir Douglas helped the Hudson's Bay Company become a trading monopoly in the North Pacific, and later became the first black governor of British Columbia. He was  the son of Scottish Merchant and a free coloured woman. He was appointed Governor of Vancouver Island on October 30, 1851 and affectionately referred to as the father of British Columbia.”

• Jean Augustine (red balloon): Ms. Augustine was the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the Parliament of Canada. From 1993 - 1996 she was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada.

• Mattieu da Costa (blue balloon). Mattieu da Costa, a Portugese-African navigator was the first known black to set foot on Canadian soil. He was a free man contracted to work as an interpreter in 1608 between the Mi’kmaq people and French explorers.

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Gallery , Maroons in Nova Scotia

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Mr. Know-it-all, Bruce Nunn

Nova Scotia’s Mr. Know-It-All Bruce Nunn takes us back to the days of the Second World War and a group of entertainers called the Halifax Concert Party. As Bruce showed us, if members of the Concert Party weren't boarding ships in the harbor to entertain the troops, they played military venues around the province. One of the greatest Black leaders in our history who was a man of many talents: athlete, spiritual leader, military officer and family man

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Special Thanks,

A spatial Thanks goes to:• http://novascotia.cbc.ca/tv/canadanow/knowitall.html• http://museum.gov.ns.ca/arch/blkdata.htm • http://www.ciaccess.com/%7Ejdnewby/ • http://www.ciaccess.com/%7Ejdnewby/heritage/african.htm • http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/BHMA/

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Special Thanks

Slavery

Under Ground Railroad

Inventions

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Black Migration

.:The End :.