Afro-Canadians in Nova Scotia

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Afro-Canadians in Nova Scotia
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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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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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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Black Migration
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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Slavery
The 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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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Slavery
Continued2
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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Freedom Trail To Canada
Continued2
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
away Steal away to Jesus Steal away, steal away I
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.
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Black Migration
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Freedom Trail To Canada
Continued3
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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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Black Inventors
Continued2

• 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

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Black Migration
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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Black Inventors
Continued3

• 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
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
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Gallery
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Black Migration
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
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Gallery
Special Thanks
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Gallery,

• 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 Mikmaq people
  and French explorers.

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Gallery , Maroons in Nova Scotia
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Mr. Know-it-all, Bruce Nunn
Nova Scotias 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.ht
  ml
• http//museum.gov.ns.ca/arch/blkdata.htm
• http//www.ciaccess.com/7Ejdnewby/
• http//www.ciaccess.com/7Ejdnewby/heritage/africa
  n.htm
• http//www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/BHMA/

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Black Migration
Slavery
Under Ground Railroad
Inventions
Gallery
Special Thanks
The End
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• .The End .