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Black Nova Scotians

February 15, 2024

Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro-Nova Scotians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th and early 19th centuries.[4] As of the 2021 Census of Canada, 28,220 Black people live in Nova Scotia,[3] most in Halifax.[5] Since the 1950s, numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities.[6][7] Before the immigration reforms of 1967, Black Nova Scotians formed 37% of the total Black Canadian population.[8]

Black Nova Scotians
Flag, designed by Wendie Wilson, first unveiled in February 2021[1]
The earliest known image of a Black Nova Scotian, in British Canada, in 1788. He was a wood cutter in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.[2]
Total population
28,220
3% of Nova Scotia population (2021)[3]
Languages
African Nova Scotian English, Canadian English, Canadian French
Religion
Christianity (Baptist), Irreligion and others
Related ethnic groups
African Americans, Black Canadians, Merikins, Sierra Leone Creoles

The first recorded free African person in Nova Scotia, Mathieu da Costa, a Mikmaq interpreter, was recorded among the founders of Port Royal in 1604. West Africans escaped slavery by coming to Nova Scotia in early British and French Colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many came as enslaved people, primarily from the French West Indies to Nova Scotia during the founding of Louisbourg. The second major migration of people to Nova Scotia happened following the American Revolution, when the British evacuated thousands of slaves who had fled to their lines during the war. They were given freedom by the Crown if they joined British lines, and some 3,000 African Americans were resettled in Nova Scotia after the war, where they were known as Black Loyalists. There was also the forced migration of the Jamaican Maroons in 1796, although the British supported the desire of a third of the Loyalists and nearly all of the Maroons to establish Freetown in Sierra Leone four years later, where they formed the Sierra Leone Creole ethnic identity.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In this period, British missionaries began to develop educational opportunities for Black Nova Scotians through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (Bray Schools).[16][17][18] The decline of slavery in Nova Scotia happened in large part by local judicial decisions in keeping with those by the British courts of the late 18th century.

The next major migration of Blacks happened during the War of 1812, again with African Americans escaping slavery in the United States. Many came after having gained passage and freedom on British ships. The British issued a proclamation in the South promising freedom and land to those who wanted to join them. Creation of institutions such as the Royal Acadian School and the African Baptist Church in Halifax, founded in 1832, opened opportunities for Black Canadians. During the years before the American Civil War, an estimated ten to thirty thousand African Americans migrated to Canada, mostly as individual or small family groups; many settled in Ontario. A number of Black Nova Scotians also have some Indigenous heritage, due to historical intermarriage between Black and First Nations communities.[19]

In the 20th century, Black Nova Scotians organized for civil rights, establishing such groups as the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Black United Front, and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. In the 21st century, the government and grassroots groups have initiated actions in Nova Scotia to address past harm done to Black Nova Scotians, such as the Africville Apology, the Viola Desmond Pardon, the restorative justice initiative for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, and most recently the official apology to the No. 2 Construction Battalion.

Demographics edit

Main denominations of African Nova Scotians Christians

  Baptist (40.2%)
  Catholic (18.4%)
  Anglican (6.9%)
  Christian (not stated) (19.3%)
  Pentecostal (3.5%)
  United Church (3.26%)
  Other (8.44%)

According to the 2021 Census, 59.1% of African Nova Scotians are Christian, especially Baptist, and 38.1 % are irreligious.[20] 86.4% of African Nova Scotians are born to Canadian-born parents and 12% of them are born to at-least one immigrant parent.[20]

Settlements edit

Black Nova Scotians were initially established in rural settings, which usually functioned independently until the 1960s. Black Nova Scotians in urban areas today still trace their roots to these rural settlements. Some of the settlements include: Gibson Woods, Greenville, Weymouth Falls, Birchtown, East Preston, Cherry Brook, Lincolnville, Upper Big Tracadie, Five Mile Plains, North Preston, Tracadie, Shelburne, Lucasville, Beechville, and Hammonds Plains among others. Some have roots in other Black settlements located in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island including Elm Hill, New Brunswick, Willow Grove (Saint John, NB) and The Bog (Charlottetown, PEI).

Prominent Black neighbourhoods exist in most towns and cities in Nova Scotia including Halifax, Truro, New Glasgow, Sydney, Digby, Shelburne and Yarmouth. Black neighbourhoods in Halifax include Uniacke Square and Mulgrave Park. The ethnically diverse Whitney Pier neighbourhood of Sydney has a significant Black population, first drawn there by the opening of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company steel mill in the early 20th century.

List of areas with Black populations higher than provincial average edit

[21]

Over 100,000

Over 10,000

Over 5,000

Over 1,000

History edit

Further information: History of Nova Scotia
See also: American immigration to Canada

Black Nova Scotians by share of overall Black Canadian population:

Year Number of Black Canadians Number of Black Nova Scotians Percent of all Black Canadians living in Nova Scotia
1881[22] 21,394 7,062 33%
1951[23] 18,020 8,141 45%
2016[24] 1,198,545 21,910 2%

17th century edit

Port Royal edit

The first recorded Black person in Canada was Mathieu da Costa. He arrived in Nova Scotia sometime between 1605 and 1608 as a translator for the French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts. The first known Black person to live in Canada was an enslaved person from Madagascar named Olivier Le Jeune (who may have been of partial Malay ancestry).

18th century edit

Louisbourg edit

 
Advertisement for Slaves, Halifax Gazette, 30 May 1752 p. 2[25]

Of the 10,000 French living at Louisbourg (1713–1760) and on the rest of Ile Royale, 216 were African-descended slaves.[26][27][28][29] According to historian Kenneth Donovan, slaves on Ile Royal worked as "servants, gardeners, bakers, tavern keepers, stone masons, musicians, laundry workers, soldiers, sailors, fishermen, hospital workers, ferry men, executioners and nursemaids."[30][31] More than 90 per cent of the enslaved people were Blacks from the French West Indies, which included Saint-Domingue, the chief sugar colony, and Guadeloupe.[32]

Halifax edit

Among the founders recorded for Halifax, were 17 free Black people. By 1767, there were 54 Blacks living in Halifax.[33][34] When Halifax, Nova Scotia, was established (1749), some British people brought slaves to the city. For example, shipowner and trader Joshua Mauger sold enslaved people at auction there. A few newspaper advertisements were published for runaway slaves.[35][36]

The first Black community in Halifax was on Albemarle Street, which later became the site of the first school for Black students in Nova Scotia (1786).[37][38][39] The school for Black students was the only charitable school in Halifax for the next 26 years. Whites were not allowed to attend.[40][38][41][42][43][44][45]

Prior to 1799, 29 recorded Blacks were buried in the Old Burying Ground; 12 of them were listed with both first and last names, seven of the graves are from the New England Planter migration (1763–1775), and 22 graves are from immediately following the arrival of the Black Loyalists in 1776.[46][47] Rev. John Breynton reported that in 1783, he baptized 40 Blacks and buried many because of disease.[38][48]

According to a 1783 report, 73 Blacks arrived in Halifax from New York.[49] Of the 4007 Blacks who came to Nova Scotia in 1783 as part of promised resettlement by the Crown, 69% (2775) were free, 35% (1423) were former British soldiers, and 31% (1232) were slaves of white Loyalists. While 41 former slaves were sent to Dartmouth, none were sent to Halifax.[50] 550 Jamaican Maroons lived in Halifax for four years (1796–1800); they were resettled in Freetown (now Sierra Leone).[51] A return in December 1816 indicates there were 155 Blacks who migrated to Halifax during the War of 1812.[52]

American Revolution edit

Main articles: Black Loyalist and Expulsion of the Loyalists

The British had promised enslaved people of rebels freedom if they joined their forces (See Dunmore's Proclamation and Philipsburg Proclamation). Approximately three thousand Black Loyalists were evacuated by ship to Nova Scotia between April and November 1783, traveling on Navy vessels or British chartered private transports.[53] This group was made up largely of tradespeople and labourers. Many of these African Americans had roots in the American states of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Maryland.[54] Some came from Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York as well.[55] Many of these African-American settlers were recorded in the Book of Negroes.

In 1785 in Halifax, educational opportunities began to develop with the establishment of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (Bray Schools).[16][17][56] In Halifax, for example, the first teacher was a "capable and serious Negroe woman".[45] Initially, the school was in the Orphan House and had 36 Black children, six of whom were enslaved. She was followed by Reverend William Furmage (d. 1793), Huntingdonian Missionary who was buried in the Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia).[57][58] After a year he was followed by Isaac Limerick.[45] Limerick moved the school and went into debt to maintain it. The next teacher was a white woman, Mrs. Deborah Clarke (1793–1809), followed by Mary Fitzgerald. The school was dissolved in 1814 (when the Royal Acadian School was established for Blacks and whites).[45][page needed] The next teacher was Daniel Gallagher, who held the position of schoolmaster for a long period. The school was in the Black community on Albemarle Street, where it served the people for decades under the son of Rev. Charles Inglis.[38][59]

Black Pioneers edit
See also: Military history of Nova Scotia

Many of the black Loyalists performed military service in the British Army, particularly as part of the only black regiment of the war, the Black Pioneers, while others served non-military roles. The soldiers of the Black Pioneers settled in Digby and were given small compensation in comparison to the white Loyalist soldiers.[61] Many of the blacks settled under the leadership of Stephen Blucke, a prominent black leader of the Black Pioneers. Historian Barry Moody has referred to Blucke as "the true founder of the Afro-Nova Scotian community."[62][63]

Birchtown edit

Blucke led the founding of Birchtown, Nova Scotia, in 1783. The community was the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th century. One of these Loyalists was a woman named Mary Postell, whose status as a free woman was contested. This eventually led to a court trial.[64] The community was named after British Brigadier General Samuel Birch, an official who assisted in the evacuation of Black Loyalists from New York. (Also named after the general was a much smaller settlement of Black Loyalists in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, called Birchtown.[65]) The two other significant Black Loyalist communities established in Nova Scotia were Brindley town (present-day Jordantown) and Tracadie. Birchtown was located near the larger town of Shelburne, with a majority white population. Racial tensions in Shelburne erupted into the 1784 Shelburne riots, when white Loyalist residents drove Black residents out of Shelburne and into Birchtown. In the years after the riot, Shelbourne county lost population due to economic factors, and at least half of the families in Birchtown abandoned the settlement and emigrated to Sierra Leone in 1792.[66] To accommodate these British subjects, the British government approved 16,000 pounds for the emigration, three times the total annual budget for Nova Scotia.[67] They were led to Sierra Leone by John Clarkson and became known as the Nova Scotian Settlers.[68]

Tracadie edit
 
Joe Izard, descendant of former enslaved man named Andrew Izard, Guysborough, c. 1900

The other significant Black Loyalist settlement is Tracadie. Led by Thomas Brownspriggs, Black Nova Scotians who had settled at Chedabucto Bay behind the present-day village of Guysborough migrated to Tracadie (1787).[69] None of the blacks in eastern Nova Scotia migrated to Sierra Leone.

One of the Black Loyalists was Andrew Izard (c. 1755 – ?). He was formerly enslaved by Ralph Izard in St. George, South Carolina. He worked on a rice plantation and grew up on Combahee. When he was young he was valued at 100 pounds. In 1778 Izard made his escape. During the American Revolution he worked for the British army in the wagonmaster-general's department. He was on one of the final ships to leave New York in 1783. He traveled on the Nisbett in November, which sailed to Port Mouton. The village burned to the ground in the spring of 1784 and he was transported to Guysborough. There he raised a family and still has descendants that live in the community.[70]

Education in the Black community was initially advocated by Charles Inglis who sponsored the Protestant Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.[71] Some of the schoolmasters were: Thomas Brownspriggs (c.1788–1790) and Dempsey Jordan (1818–?).[72] There were 23 Black families at Tracadie in 1808; by 1827 this number had increased to 30 or more.[73]

Abolition of slavery, 1787–1812 edit

While most Blacks who arrived in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution were free, others were not.[74] Enslaved Black peoples also arrived in Nova Scotia as the property of White American Loyalists.[75] In 1772, prior to the American Revolution, Britain outlawed the slave trade in the British Isles followed by the Knight v. Wedderburn decision in Scotland in 1778. This decision, in turn, influenced the colony of Nova Scotia.[76] In 1788, abolitionist James Drummond MacGregor from Pictou published the first anti-slavery literature in Canada and began purchasing slaves' freedom and chastising his colleagues in the Presbyterian church who enslaved people.[77] Historian Alan Wilson describes the document as "a landmark on the road to personal freedom in province and country."[78] Historian Robin Winks writes "[it is] the sharpest attack to come from a Canadian pen even into the 1840s; he had also brought about a public debate which soon reached the courts."[79] In 1790 John Burbidge freed the people he had enslaved.

Led by Richard John Uniacke, in 1787, 1789 and again on January 11, 1808, the Nova Scotian legislature refused to legalize slavery.[80][81] Two chief justices, Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange (1790–1796) and Sampson Salter Blowers (1797–1832) waged "judicial war" in their efforts to free enslaved people from their owners in Nova Scotia.[82][83][84] They were held in high regard in the colony. Justice Alexander Croke (1801–1815) also impounded American slave ships during this time period (the most famous being the Liverpool Packet). The last slave sale in Nova Scotia occurred in 1804.[85] During the war, Nova Scotian Sir William Winniett served as a crew on board HMS Tonnant in the effort to free enslaved people from America. (As the Governor of the Gold Coast, Winniett would later also work to end the slave trade in Western Africa.) By the end of the War of 1812 and the arrival of the Black Refugees, there were few people left enslaved in Nova Scotia.[73][86] (The Slave Trade Act outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 outlawed slavery all together.)

Jamaican Maroons edit

Main article: Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone

According to one historian, on June 26, 1796, 543 men, women and children, Jamaican Maroons, were deported on board the ships Dover, Mary and Anne, from Jamaica after being defeated in an uprising against the British colonial government.[87] However, many historians disagree on the number who were transported from Jamaica to Nova Scotia, with one saying that 568 Maroons of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) made the trip in 1796.[88] It seems that just under 600 left Jamaica, with 17 dying on the ship, and 19 in their first winter in Nova Scotia. A Canadian surgeon counted 571 Maroons in Nova Scotia in 1797.[89] Their initial destination was Lower Canada but on July 21 and 23, the ships arrived in Nova Scotia. At this time Halifax was experiencing a major construction boom initiated by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn's efforts to modernize the city's defenses. The many building projects had created a labour shortage. Edward was impressed by the Maroons and immediately put them to work at the Citadel in Halifax, Government House, and other defense works throughout the city.

The British Lieutenant Governor Sir John Wentworth, from the monies provided by the Jamaican Government, procured an annual stipend of £240 for the support of a school and religious education.[90] The Maroons complained about the bitterly cold winters, their segregated conditions, unfamiliar farming methods, and less than adequate accommodation.[91] The Maroon leader, Montague James, petitioned the British government for the right to passage to Sierra Leone, and they were eventually granted that opportunity in the face of opposition from Wentworth. On August 6, 1800, the Maroons departed Halifax, arriving on October 1 at Freetown, Sierra Leone.[90][92] In their new home, the Maroons established a new community at Maroon Town, Sierra Leone.[93]

19th century edit

In 1808, George Prévost authorized a Black regiment to be formed in the colony under captain Silas Hardy and Col. Christopher Benson.[94]

War of 1812 edit

Main article: Black Refugee (War of 1812)
 
Gabriel Hall, in the only known image of a black refugee from the War of 1812.[95]

The next major migration of Blacks into Nova Scotia occurred between 1813 and 1815. Black Refugees from the United States settled in many parts of Nova Scotia including Hammonds Plains, Beechville, Lucasville and Africville.

Canada was not suited to the large-scale plantation agriculture practiced in the southern United States, and slavery became increasingly rare. In 1793, in one of the first acts of the new Upper Canadian colonial parliament, slavery was abolished. It was all but abolished throughout the other British North American colonies by 1800, and was illegal throughout the British Empire after 1834. This made Canada an attractive destination for those fleeing slavery in the United States, such as American minister Boston King.

Royal Acadian School edit

In 1814, Walter Bromley opened the Royal Acadian School which included many Black students – children and adults – whom he taught on the weekends because they were employed during the week.[96] Some of the Black students entered into business in Halifax while others were hired as servants.[97]

In 1836, the African School was established in Halifax from the Protestant Gospel School (Bray School) and was soon followed by similar schools at Preston, Hammond's Plains and Beech Hill.[98][99]

New Horizons Baptist Church edit

 
John Burton – founder of one of the first integrated black and white congregations in Nova Scotia (c. 1811)

Following Black Loyalist preacher David George, Baptist minister John Burton was one of the first ministers to integrate Black and white Nova Scotians into the same congregation.[100] In 1811 Burton's church had 33 members, the majority of whom were free Blacks from Halifax and the neighbouring settlements of Preston and Hammonds Plains. According to historian Stephen Davidson, the Blacks were "shunned, or merely tolerated, by the rest of Christian Halifax, the Blacks were first warmly received in the Baptist Church."[100] Burton became known as "an apostle to the coloured people" and would often be sent out by the Baptist association on missionary visits to the black communities surrounding Halifax. He was the mentor of Richard Preston.

 
Richard Preston – founder of the first black church in Nova Scotia (1832)

New Horizons Baptist Church (formerly known as Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, the African Chapel, and the African Baptist Church) is a baptist church in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832. When the chapel was completed, Black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud of this accomplishment because it was evidence that former enslaved people could establish their own institutions in Nova Scotia.[101] Under the direction of Richard Preston, the church laid the foundation for social action to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians.[102]

Preston and others went on to establish a network of socially active Black baptist churches throughout Nova Scotia, with the Halifax church being referred to as the "Mother Church."[101] Five of these churches were established in Halifax: Preston (1842), Beechville (1844), Hammonds Plains (1845), and another in Africville (1849) and Dartmouth.[103] From meetings held at the church, they also established the African Friendly Society, the African Abolition Society, and the African United Baptist Association.

The church remained the centre of social activism throughout the 20th century. Reverends at the church included William A. White (1919–1936) and William Pearly Oliver (1937–1962).

American Civil War edit

 
Memorial to the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Boston

Numerous Black Nova Scotians fought in the American Civil War in the effort to end slavery. Perhaps the most well known Nova Scotians to fight in the war effort are Joseph B. Noil and Benjamin Jackson. Three Black Nova Scotians served in the famous 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry: Hammel Gilyer, Samuel Hazzard, and Thomas Page.[104]

20th century edit

Coloured Hockey League edit

 
Coloured Hockey League, 1910

In 1894, an all-Black ice hockey league, known as the Coloured Hockey League, was founded in Nova Scotia.[105] Black players from Canada's Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) participated in competition. The league began to play 23 years before the National Hockey League was founded, and as such, it has been credited with some innovations which exist in the NHL today.[106] Most notably, it is claimed that the first player to use the slapshot was Eddie Martin of the Halifax Eurekas, more than 100 years ago.[107] The league remained in operation until 1930.

World War One edit

 
Reverend William A. White – first black officer in the British Empire

The No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), was the only predominantly Black battalion in Canadian military history and also the only Canadian Battalion composed of Black soldiers to serve in World War I. The battalion was raised in Nova Scotia and 56% of battalion members (500 soldiers) came from the province. Reverend William A. White of the Battalion became the first Black officer in the British Empire.

An earlier black military unit in Nova Scotia was the Victoria Rifles.

Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People edit

Founded by Pearleen Oliver[108] and led by minister William Pearly Oliver, the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People was formed in 1945 out of the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. The organization was intent of improving the standard of living for Black Nova Scotians. The organization also attempted to improve Black-white relations in co-operation with private and governmental agencies. The organization was joined by 500 Black Nova Scotians.[109] By 1956, the NSAACP had branches in Halifax, Cobequid Road, Digby, Weymouth Falls, Beechville, Inglewooe, Hammonds Plains and Yarmouth. Preston and Africville branches were added in 1962, the same year New Road, Cherry Brook, and Preston East requested branches.[110] In 1947, the Association successfully took the case of Viola Desmond to the Supreme Court of Canada.[111] It also pressured the Children's Hospital in Halifax to allow for Black women to become nurses; it advocated for inclusion and challenged racist curriculum in the Department of Education. The Association also developed an Adult Education program with the government department.

By 1970, over one-third of the 270 members were white.[110]

Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission edit

Along with Oliver and the direct involvement of the premier of Nova Scotia Robert Stanfield, many Black activists were responsible for the establishment of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (1967).[112] Originally the mandate of the commission was primarily to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians. The first employee and administrative officer of the commission was Gordon Earle.

Black United Front edit

 
William Pearly Oliver (1934) – founder of the four leading organizations to support Black Nova Scotians in the 20th century

In keeping with the times, Reverend William Oliver began the Black United Front in 1969, which explicitly adopted a Black separatist agenda.[113] The Black separatist movement of the United States had a significant influence on the mobilization of the Black community in 20th Century Nova Scotia. This Black separatist approach to address racism and black empowerment was introduced to Nova Scotia by Marcus Garvey in the 1920s.[114] Garvey argued that Black people would never get a fair deal in white society, so they ought to form separate republics or return to Africa. White people are considered a homogenous group who are essentially racist and, in that sense, are considered unredeemable in efforts to address racism.

Garvey visited Nova Scotia twice, first in the 1920s, which led to a Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) office in Cape Breton, and then the famous 1937 visit.[115] He was initially drawn by the founding of an African Orthodox Church in Sydney in 1921 and maintained contact with the ex-pat West Indian community. The UNIA invited him to visit in 1937.[114] (Garvey presided over UNIA regional conferences and conventions in Toronto, in 1936, 1937, and 1938. At the 1937 meeting he inaugurated his School of African Philosophy.)

Despite objections from Martin Luther King Jr., this separatist politics was reinforced again in the 1960s by the Black Power Movement and especially its militant subgroup the Black Panther Party.[116][117] Francis Beaufils (a.k.a. Ronald Hill) was a fugitive Black Panther facing charges in the U.S. who had found refuge in rural Nova Scotia.[117] The separatist movement influenced the development of the Halifax-based Black United Front (BUF). Black United Front was a Black nationalist organization that included Burnley "Rocky" Jones and was loosely based on the 10 point program of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Stokely Carmichael, who coined the phrase Black Power!, visited Nova Scotia helping organize the BUF.[118][119]

Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia edit

Reverend William Oliver eventually left the BUF and became instrumental in establishing the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, which opened in 1983. The organization houses a museum, library and archival area. Oliver designed the Black Cultural Centre to help all Nova Scotians become aware of how Black culture is woven into the heritage of the province. The centre also helps Nova Scotians trace their history of championing human rights and overcoming racism in the province. For his efforts in establishing the four leading organizations in the 20th century to support Black Nova Scotians and, ultimately, all Nova Scotians, William Oliver was awarded the Order of Canada in 1984.

Migration out of Nova Scotia edit

Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, African Nova Scotians began leaving their settlements in order to find work in larger cities and towns such as Halifax, Sydney, Truro and New Glasgow. Many left Nova Scotia for cities such as Toronto and Montreal, while others left Canada altogether for the United States.[120][121]

Bangor, Maine's lumber industry attracted Black people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for decades. They formed a sizeable community on the town's west end throughout the early 1900s.[122] A small African Nova Scotian community had also developed in Sudbury in the late 1940s due to aggressive recruitment efforts in Black Nova Scotian settlements by Vale Inco.[123]

By the 1960s, a Black Nova Scotian neighbourhood had developed in Toronto, around the Kensington Market-Alexandra Park area. First Baptist Church, the oldest Black institution in Toronto, became the spiritual centre of this community.[124] In 1972, Alexandra Park is said to have had a Black Nova Scotian population of over 2,000 – making it more populous than any of the Black settlements in Nova Scotia at the time. Escaping rural communities with little education or skills, young Black Nova Scotians in Toronto faced high poverty and unemployment rates.[125]

In 1977, between 1,200 and 2,400 Black Nova Scotians lived in Montreal. Though dispersed throughout the city, many settled among African-Americans and English-speaking West Indians in Little Burgundy.[126][127]

Dwayne Johnson, Arlene Duncan, Beverly Mascoll, Tommy Kane, and Wayne Simmonds are examples of prominent individuals who have at least one Black Nova Scotian parent that settled outside the province.

21st century edit

Organizations edit

Several organizations have been created by Black Nova Scotians to serve the community. Some of these include the Black Educators Association of Nova Scotia, African Nova Scotian Music Association, Health Association of African Canadians and the Black Business Initiative. Individuals involved in these and other organizations worked together with various officials to orchestrate the government apologies and pardons for past incidents of racial discrimination.

Africville Apology edit

 
Africville Church (est. 1849) – rebuilt as part of the Africville Apology

The Africville Apology was delivered on February 24, 2010, by Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the eviction and eventual destruction of Africville, a Black Nova Scotian community.

Viola Desmond pardon edit

On April 14, 2010, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann Francis, on the advice of her premier, invoked the Royal Prerogative and granted Viola Desmond a posthumous free pardon, the first such to be granted in Canada.[128] The free pardon, an extraordinary remedy granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy only in the rarest of circumstances and the first one granted posthumously, differs from a simple pardon in that it is based on innocence and recognizes that a conviction was in error. The government of Nova Scotia also apologised. This initiative happened through Desmond's younger sister Wanda Robson, and a professor of Cape Breton University, Graham Reynolds, working with the Government of Nova Scotia to ensure that Desmond's name was cleared and the government admitted its error.

In honour of Desmond, the provincial government has named the first Nova Scotia Heritage Day after her.

Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children apology edit

Children in an orphanage that opened in 1921, the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse by staff over a 50-year period. Ray Wagner is the lead counsel for the former residents who successfully made a case against the orphanage.[129] In 2014, the Premier of Nova Scotia Stephen McNeil wrote a letter of apology and about 300 claimants are to receive monetary compensation for their damages.[130]

Immigration edit

Since the immigration reforms of the 1970s, a growing number of people of African descent have moved to Nova Scotia. Members of these groups are not considered a part of the distinct Black Nova Scotian community, although they are Black Canadian. The last group to be accepted as members of the Black Nova Scotian ethnic group are Bajans who came to Cape Breton in the early 1900s, referred to as the "later arrivals".[131]

Top 5 immigrant ethnic origins for people of African descent in Nova Scotia:[21]

Country of origin Population 2016
  Jamaica 480
  Nigeria 350
  Bahamas 230
  Ethiopia 185
  Ghana 185

Notable Black Nova Scotians edit

Main article: List of Black Nova Scotians

See also edit

Sources edit

  1. ^ "New official African Nova Scotian flag looking to connect past, present and future | CBC News". February 15, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "Website Update – Nova Scotia Archives". novascotia.ca. 20 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (February 9, 2022). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Canada [Country]". www12.statcan.gc.ca.
  4. ^ "About Nova Scotia – novascotia.ca". www.novascotialife.com. 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Halifax's Black Loyalists – Halifax Nova Scotia". highway7.com.
  6. ^ Confederation's Casualties: The "Maritimer" as a Problem in 1960s Toronto, Acadiensis. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  7. ^ Black history in Toronto 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, City of Toronto. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  8. ^ Perreaux, Les (May 21, 2010), "Racism's long history in quiet East Coast towns", The Globe and Mail. Accessed on February 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Thayer, James Steel (1991). A Dissenting View of Creole Culture in Sierra Leone. pp. 215–230. https://www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1991_num_31_121_2116
  10. ^ Browne-Davies, Nigel (2014). A Precis of Sources relating to genealogical research on the Sierra Leone Krio people. Journal of Sierra Leone Studies, Vol. 3; Edition 1, 2014 https://www.academia.edu/40720522/A_Precis_of_Sources_relating_to_genealogical_research_on_the_Sierra_Leone_Krio_people
  11. ^ Walker, James W (1992). "Chapter Five: Foundation of Sierra Leone". The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 94–114. ISBN 978-0-8020-7402-7., originally published by Longman & Dalhousie University Press (1976).
  12. ^ Taylor, Bankole Kamara (February 2014). Sierra Leone: The Land, Its People and History. New Africa Press. p. 68. ISBN 9789987160389.
  13. ^ Grant, John N (2002). The Maroons in Nova Scotia (Softcover). Formac. p. 203. ISBN 978-0887805691.
  14. ^ Mavis Campbell, Back to Africa: George Ross and the Maroons (Trenton: Africa World Press, 1993), p. 48.
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  29. ^ By the late 1750s Ile Royale's population, including soldiers, approached 10,000 people. See A. J. B. Johnston, "The Population of Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg", Nova Scotia Historical Review, 11,2 (December 1991), pp. 75–86.
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  81. ^ John Grant. Black Refugees. p. 31.
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  88. ^ Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), pp. 241–2.
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External links edit

  • Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management – African Nova Scotians 2013-10-11 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading edit

  • Martin, Shayla (September 12, 2022). "A Journey Through Black Nova Scotia. The 400-year history of African culture in this maritime Canadian province is expansive, but it's a story that's been tucked into the shadows of Canadian history. Now, grass-root initiatives are changing that". The New York Times.
  • Walker, James (1992). The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone, 1783–1870. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802074027.
  • Schama, Simon (2005). Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution. BBC Books. ISBN 0-06-053916-X.
  • Campbell, Mavis; Ross, George (1993). George Ross and the Maroons : from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone. Africa World Press. ISBN 978-0865433847.
  • History of the Maroons. 1803
  • William Renwick Riddell. "Slavery in the Maritime Provinces". The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 5, No. 3 (July 1920), pp. 359–375
  • Catherine Cottreau-Robins, "Timothy Ruggles – A Loyalist Plantation in Nova Scotia, 1784–1800". Doctorate Thesis. Dalhousie University, 2012
  • Williams, Dawn P. (2006), Who's Who in Black Canada, Volume 2, D.P. Williams, ISBN 0-9731384-2-4
  • Allen Robertson, "Bondage and Freedom: Apprentices, Servants and Slaves in Colonial Nova Scotia"; Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. Vol. #44 (1996); pp. 13.
  • Wilson Head. "Discrimination Against Blacks in Nova Scotia: The Criminal Justice System" (1989).
  • John Grant, . Journal of Negro History, 1973
  • The African in Canada; The Maroons of Jamaica and Nova Scotia (1890)
  • Papers relative to the settling of the Maroons in His Majesty's province of Nova Scotia (1798)
  • A brief history of the coloured Baptists of Nova Scotia and their first organization as churches, A.D. 1832 (1895)
  • African Nova Scotian Family Names by Region

February 15, 2024
black, nova, scotians, also, known, african, nova, scotians, afro, nova, scotians, black, canadians, whose, ancestors, primarily, date, back, colonial, united, states, slaves, freemen, later, arriving, nova, scotia, canada, during, 18th, early, 19th, centuries. Black Nova Scotians also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro Nova Scotians are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen later arriving in Nova Scotia Canada during the 18th and early 19th centuries 4 As of the 2021 Census of Canada 28 220 Black people live in Nova Scotia 3 most in Halifax 5 Since the 1950s numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities 6 7 Before the immigration reforms of 1967 Black Nova Scotians formed 37 of the total Black Canadian population 8 Black Nova ScotiansFlag designed by Wendie Wilson first unveiled in February 2021 1 The earliest known image of a Black Nova Scotian in British Canada in 1788 He was a wood cutter in Shelburne Nova Scotia 2 Total population28 2203 of Nova Scotia population 2021 3 LanguagesAfrican Nova Scotian English Canadian English Canadian FrenchReligionChristianity Baptist Irreligion and othersRelated ethnic groupsAfrican Americans Black Canadians Merikins Sierra Leone CreolesThe first recorded free African person in Nova Scotia Mathieu da Costa a Mikmaq interpreter was recorded among the founders of Port Royal in 1604 West Africans escaped slavery by coming to Nova Scotia in early British and French Colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries Many came as enslaved people primarily from the French West Indies to Nova Scotia during the founding of Louisbourg The second major migration of people to Nova Scotia happened following the American Revolution when the British evacuated thousands of slaves who had fled to their lines during the war They were given freedom by the Crown if they joined British lines and some 3 000 African Americans were resettled in Nova Scotia after the war where they were known as Black Loyalists There was also the forced migration of the Jamaican Maroons in 1796 although the British supported the desire of a third of the Loyalists and nearly all of the Maroons to establish Freetown in Sierra Leone four years later where they formed the Sierra Leone Creole ethnic identity 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 In this period British missionaries began to develop educational opportunities for Black Nova Scotians through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Bray Schools 16 17 18 The decline of slavery in Nova Scotia happened in large part by local judicial decisions in keeping with those by the British courts of the late 18th century The next major migration of Blacks happened during the War of 1812 again with African Americans escaping slavery in the United States Many came after having gained passage and freedom on British ships The British issued a proclamation in the South promising freedom and land to those who wanted to join them Creation of institutions such as the Royal Acadian School and the African Baptist Church in Halifax founded in 1832 opened opportunities for Black Canadians During the years before the American Civil War an estimated ten to thirty thousand African Americans migrated to Canada mostly as individual or small family groups many settled in Ontario A number of Black Nova Scotians also have some Indigenous heritage due to historical intermarriage between Black and First Nations communities 19 In the 20th century Black Nova Scotians organized for civil rights establishing such groups as the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission the Black United Front and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia In the 21st century the government and grassroots groups have initiated actions in Nova Scotia to address past harm done to Black Nova Scotians such as the Africville Apology the Viola Desmond Pardon the restorative justice initiative for the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children and most recently the official apology to the No 2 Construction Battalion Contents 1 Demographics 1 1 Settlements 1 1 1 List of areas with Black populations higher than provincial average 2 History 2 1 17th century 2 1 1 Port Royal 2 2 18th century 2 2 1 Louisbourg 2 2 2 Halifax 2 2 3 American Revolution 2 2 3 1 Black Pioneers 2 2 3 2 Birchtown 2 2 3 3 Tracadie 2 2 4 Abolition of slavery 1787 1812 2 2 5 Jamaican Maroons 2 3 19th century 2 3 1 War of 1812 2 3 2 Royal Acadian School 2 3 3 New Horizons Baptist Church 2 3 4 American Civil War 2 4 20th century 2 4 1 Coloured Hockey League 2 4 2 World War One 2 4 3 Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People 2 4 4 Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission 2 4 5 Black United Front 2 4 6 Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia 2 4 7 Migration out of Nova Scotia 2 5 21st century 2 5 1 Organizations 2 5 2 Africville Apology 2 5 3 Viola Desmond pardon 2 5 4 Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children apology 2 5 5 Immigration 3 Notable Black Nova Scotians 4 See also 5 Sources 6 External links 7 Further readingDemographics editMain denominations of African Nova Scotians Christians Baptist 40 2 Catholic 18 4 Anglican 6 9 Christian not stated 19 3 Pentecostal 3 5 United Church 3 26 Other 8 44 According to the 2021 Census 59 1 of African Nova Scotians are Christian especially Baptist and 38 1 are irreligious 20 86 4 of African Nova Scotians are born to Canadian born parents and 12 of them are born to at least one immigrant parent 20 Settlements edit Black Nova Scotians were initially established in rural settings which usually functioned independently until the 1960s Black Nova Scotians in urban areas today still trace their roots to these rural settlements Some of the settlements include Gibson Woods Greenville Weymouth Falls Birchtown East Preston Cherry Brook Lincolnville Upper Big Tracadie Five Mile Plains North Preston Tracadie Shelburne Lucasville Beechville and Hammonds Plains among others Some have roots in other Black settlements located in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island including Elm Hill New Brunswick Willow Grove Saint John NB and The Bog Charlottetown PEI Prominent Black neighbourhoods exist in most towns and cities in Nova Scotia including Halifax Truro New Glasgow Sydney Digby Shelburne and Yarmouth Black neighbourhoods in Halifax include Uniacke Square and Mulgrave Park The ethnically diverse Whitney Pier neighbourhood of Sydney has a significant Black population first drawn there by the opening of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company steel mill in the early 20th century List of areas with Black populations higher than provincial average edit 21 Over 100 000 Halifax 3 8 Over 10 000 Dartmouth North 9 7 Whitney Pier 7 7 Clayton Park 7 5 Spryfield 7 2 Cole Harbour 7 Dartmouth 6 5 Rockingham 5 Truro 3 9 West Hants County 2 4 Over 5 000 Preston 23 including Cherry Brook amp Lake Loon North End Halifax 21 West End Halifax 8 3 Yarmouth 7 8 Lake Echo 6 1 Digby municipal district 4 5 Amherst 3 9 New Glasgow 3 9 New Minas 3 8 Over 1 000 North Preston 99 East Preston 80 Upper Hammonds Plains 17 9 South End New Glasgow 17 Three Mile Plains amp Five Mile Plains 15 5 Shelburne town 13 8 Acaciaville Jordantown amp Marshalltown 11 1 Weymouth amp Weymouth Falls area 9 2 Beechville 9 5 Digby town 8 4 Lucasville 7 8 Guysborough 7 6 Lower Truro 6 3 Liverpool 3 History editFurther information History of Nova Scotia See also American immigration to Canada Black Nova Scotians by share of overall Black Canadian population Year Number of Black Canadians Number of Black Nova Scotians Percent of all Black Canadians living in Nova Scotia1881 22 21 394 7 062 33 1951 23 18 020 8 141 45 2016 24 1 198 545 21 910 2 17th century edit Port Royal edit The first recorded Black person in Canada was Mathieu da Costa He arrived in Nova Scotia sometime between 1605 and 1608 as a translator for the French explorer Pierre Dugua Sieur de Monts The first known Black person to live in Canada was an enslaved person from Madagascar named Olivier Le Jeune who may have been of partial Malay ancestry 18th century edit Louisbourg edit nbsp Advertisement for Slaves Halifax Gazette 30 May 1752 p 2 25 Of the 10 000 French living at Louisbourg 1713 1760 and on the rest of Ile Royale 216 were African descended slaves 26 27 28 29 According to historian Kenneth Donovan slaves on Ile Royal worked as servants gardeners bakers tavern keepers stone masons musicians laundry workers soldiers sailors fishermen hospital workers ferry men executioners and nursemaids 30 31 More than 90 per cent of the enslaved people were Blacks from the French West Indies which included Saint Domingue the chief sugar colony and Guadeloupe 32 Halifax edit Among the founders recorded for Halifax were 17 free Black people By 1767 there were 54 Blacks living in Halifax 33 34 When Halifax Nova Scotia was established 1749 some British people brought slaves to the city For example shipowner and trader Joshua Mauger sold enslaved people at auction there A few newspaper advertisements were published for runaway slaves 35 36 The first Black community in Halifax was on Albemarle Street which later became the site of the first school for Black students in Nova Scotia 1786 37 38 39 The school for Black students was the only charitable school in Halifax for the next 26 years Whites were not allowed to attend 40 38 41 42 43 44 45 Prior to 1799 29 recorded Blacks were buried in the Old Burying Ground 12 of them were listed with both first and last names seven of the graves are from the New England Planter migration 1763 1775 and 22 graves are from immediately following the arrival of the Black Loyalists in 1776 46 47 Rev John Breynton reported that in 1783 he baptized 40 Blacks and buried many because of disease 38 48 According to a 1783 report 73 Blacks arrived in Halifax from New York 49 Of the 4007 Blacks who came to Nova Scotia in 1783 as part of promised resettlement by the Crown 69 2775 were free 35 1423 were former British soldiers and 31 1232 were slaves of white Loyalists While 41 former slaves were sent to Dartmouth none were sent to Halifax 50 550 Jamaican Maroons lived in Halifax for four years 1796 1800 they were resettled in Freetown now Sierra Leone 51 A return in December 1816 indicates there were 155 Blacks who migrated to Halifax during the War of 1812 52 American Revolution edit Main articles Black Loyalist and Expulsion of the Loyalists The British had promised enslaved people of rebels freedom if they joined their forces See Dunmore s Proclamation and Philipsburg Proclamation Approximately three thousand Black Loyalists were evacuated by ship to Nova Scotia between April and November 1783 traveling on Navy vessels or British chartered private transports 53 This group was made up largely of tradespeople and labourers Many of these African Americans had roots in the American states of Virginia South Carolina Georgia and Maryland 54 Some came from Massachusetts New Jersey and New York as well 55 Many of these African American settlers were recorded in the Book of Negroes In 1785 in Halifax educational opportunities began to develop with the establishment of Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Bray Schools 16 17 56 In Halifax for example the first teacher was a capable and serious Negroe woman 45 Initially the school was in the Orphan House and had 36 Black children six of whom were enslaved She was followed by Reverend William Furmage d 1793 Huntingdonian Missionary who was buried in the Old Burying Ground Halifax Nova Scotia 57 58 After a year he was followed by Isaac Limerick 45 Limerick moved the school and went into debt to maintain it The next teacher was a white woman Mrs Deborah Clarke 1793 1809 followed by Mary Fitzgerald The school was dissolved in 1814 when the Royal Acadian School was established for Blacks and whites 45 page needed The next teacher was Daniel Gallagher who held the position of schoolmaster for a long period The school was in the Black community on Albemarle Street where it served the people for decades under the son of Rev Charles Inglis 38 59 nbsp Rose Fortune Black Loyalist Annapolis Royal c 1830 nbsp Lawrence Hartshorne d 1822 a Quaker who was the chief assistant of John Clarkson in helping the Black Nova Scotian Settlers emigrate to Sierra Leone 1792 Old Burying Ground Halifax Nova Scotia 60 nbsp Reverend William Furmage Huntingdonian Missionary to the Black Loyalists established black school in Halifax 57 58 nbsp Charles Inglis supported education for Black Nova ScotiansBlack Pioneers edit See also Military history of Nova Scotia Many of the black Loyalists performed military service in the British Army particularly as part of the only black regiment of the war the Black Pioneers while others served non military roles The soldiers of the Black Pioneers settled in Digby and were given small compensation in comparison to the white Loyalist soldiers 61 Many of the blacks settled under the leadership of Stephen Blucke a prominent black leader of the Black Pioneers Historian Barry Moody has referred to Blucke as the true founder of the Afro Nova Scotian community 62 63 Birchtown edit Blucke led the founding of Birchtown Nova Scotia in 1783 The community was the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th century One of these Loyalists was a woman named Mary Postell whose status as a free woman was contested This eventually led to a court trial 64 The community was named after British Brigadier General Samuel Birch an official who assisted in the evacuation of Black Loyalists from New York Also named after the general was a much smaller settlement of Black Loyalists in Guysborough County Nova Scotia called Birchtown 65 The two other significant Black Loyalist communities established in Nova Scotia were Brindley town present day Jordantown and Tracadie Birchtown was located near the larger town of Shelburne with a majority white population Racial tensions in Shelburne erupted into the 1784 Shelburne riots when white Loyalist residents drove Black residents out of Shelburne and into Birchtown In the years after the riot Shelbourne county lost population due to economic factors and at least half of the families in Birchtown abandoned the settlement and emigrated to Sierra Leone in 1792 66 To accommodate these British subjects the British government approved 16 000 pounds for the emigration three times the total annual budget for Nova Scotia 67 They were led to Sierra Leone by John Clarkson and became known as the Nova Scotian Settlers 68 Tracadie edit nbsp Joe Izard descendant of former enslaved man named Andrew Izard Guysborough c 1900The other significant Black Loyalist settlement is Tracadie Led by Thomas Brownspriggs Black Nova Scotians who had settled at Chedabucto Bay behind the present day village of Guysborough migrated to Tracadie 1787 69 None of the blacks in eastern Nova Scotia migrated to Sierra Leone One of the Black Loyalists was Andrew Izard c 1755 He was formerly enslaved by Ralph Izard in St George South Carolina He worked on a rice plantation and grew up on Combahee When he was young he was valued at 100 pounds In 1778 Izard made his escape During the American Revolution he worked for the British army in the wagonmaster general s department He was on one of the final ships to leave New York in 1783 He traveled on the Nisbett in November which sailed to Port Mouton The village burned to the ground in the spring of 1784 and he was transported to Guysborough There he raised a family and still has descendants that live in the community 70 Education in the Black community was initially advocated by Charles Inglis who sponsored the Protestant Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 71 Some of the schoolmasters were Thomas Brownspriggs c 1788 1790 and Dempsey Jordan 1818 72 There were 23 Black families at Tracadie in 1808 by 1827 this number had increased to 30 or more 73 Abolition of slavery 1787 1812 edit While most Blacks who arrived in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution were free others were not 74 Enslaved Black peoples also arrived in Nova Scotia as the property of White American Loyalists 75 In 1772 prior to the American Revolution Britain outlawed the slave trade in the British Isles followed by the Knight v Wedderburn decision in Scotland in 1778 This decision in turn influenced the colony of Nova Scotia 76 In 1788 abolitionist James Drummond MacGregor from Pictou published the first anti slavery literature in Canada and began purchasing slaves freedom and chastising his colleagues in the Presbyterian church who enslaved people 77 Historian Alan Wilson describes the document as a landmark on the road to personal freedom in province and country 78 Historian Robin Winks writes it is the sharpest attack to come from a Canadian pen even into the 1840s he had also brought about a public debate which soon reached the courts 79 In 1790 John Burbidge freed the people he had enslaved Led by Richard John Uniacke in 1787 1789 and again on January 11 1808 the Nova Scotian legislature refused to legalize slavery 80 81 Two chief justices Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange 1790 1796 and Sampson Salter Blowers 1797 1832 waged judicial war in their efforts to free enslaved people from their owners in Nova Scotia 82 83 84 They were held in high regard in the colony Justice Alexander Croke 1801 1815 also impounded American slave ships during this time period the most famous being the Liverpool Packet The last slave sale in Nova Scotia occurred in 1804 85 During the war Nova Scotian Sir William Winniett served as a crew on board HMS Tonnant in the effort to free enslaved people from America As the Governor of the Gold Coast Winniett would later also work to end the slave trade in Western Africa By the end of the War of 1812 and the arrival of the Black Refugees there were few people left enslaved in Nova Scotia 73 86 The Slave Trade Act outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 outlawed slavery all together nbsp Abolitionist Richard John Uniacke helped free Black Nova Scotian slaves nbsp Chief Justice Sampson Salter Blowers freed Black Nova Scotian slaves nbsp Chief Justice Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange freed Black Nova Scotian slaves nbsp Sir Alexander Croke nbsp James Drummond MacGregor Monument Pictou Nova ScotiaJamaican Maroons edit Main article Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone According to one historian on June 26 1796 543 men women and children Jamaican Maroons were deported on board the ships Dover Mary and Anne from Jamaica after being defeated in an uprising against the British colonial government 87 However many historians disagree on the number who were transported from Jamaica to Nova Scotia with one saying that 568 Maroons of Cudjoe s Town Trelawny Town made the trip in 1796 88 It seems that just under 600 left Jamaica with 17 dying on the ship and 19 in their first winter in Nova Scotia A Canadian surgeon counted 571 Maroons in Nova Scotia in 1797 89 Their initial destination was Lower Canada but on July 21 and 23 the ships arrived in Nova Scotia At this time Halifax was experiencing a major construction boom initiated by Prince Edward Duke of Kent and Strathearn s efforts to modernize the city s defenses The many building projects had created a labour shortage Edward was impressed by the Maroons and immediately put them to work at the Citadel in Halifax Government House and other defense works throughout the city The British Lieutenant Governor Sir John Wentworth from the monies provided by the Jamaican Government procured an annual stipend of 240 for the support of a school and religious education 90 The Maroons complained about the bitterly cold winters their segregated conditions unfamiliar farming methods and less than adequate accommodation 91 The Maroon leader Montague James petitioned the British government for the right to passage to Sierra Leone and they were eventually granted that opportunity in the face of opposition from Wentworth On August 6 1800 the Maroons departed Halifax arriving on October 1 at Freetown Sierra Leone 90 92 In their new home the Maroons established a new community at Maroon Town Sierra Leone 93 19th century edit In 1808 George Prevost authorized a Black regiment to be formed in the colony under captain Silas Hardy and Col Christopher Benson 94 War of 1812 edit Main article Black Refugee War of 1812 nbsp Gabriel Hall in the only known image of a black refugee from the War of 1812 95 The next major migration of Blacks into Nova Scotia occurred between 1813 and 1815 Black Refugees from the United States settled in many parts of Nova Scotia including Hammonds Plains Beechville Lucasville and Africville Canada was not suited to the large scale plantation agriculture practiced in the southern United States and slavery became increasingly rare In 1793 in one of the first acts of the new Upper Canadian colonial parliament slavery was abolished It was all but abolished throughout the other British North American colonies by 1800 and was illegal throughout the British Empire after 1834 This made Canada an attractive destination for those fleeing slavery in the United States such as American minister Boston King Royal Acadian School edit In 1814 Walter Bromley opened the Royal Acadian School which included many Black students children and adults whom he taught on the weekends because they were employed during the week 96 Some of the Black students entered into business in Halifax while others were hired as servants 97 In 1836 the African School was established in Halifax from the Protestant Gospel School Bray School and was soon followed by similar schools at Preston Hammond s Plains and Beech Hill 98 99 New Horizons Baptist Church edit nbsp John Burton founder of one of the first integrated black and white congregations in Nova Scotia c 1811 Following Black Loyalist preacher David George Baptist minister John Burton was one of the first ministers to integrate Black and white Nova Scotians into the same congregation 100 In 1811 Burton s church had 33 members the majority of whom were free Blacks from Halifax and the neighbouring settlements of Preston and Hammonds Plains According to historian Stephen Davidson the Blacks were shunned or merely tolerated by the rest of Christian Halifax the Blacks were first warmly received in the Baptist Church 100 Burton became known as an apostle to the coloured people and would often be sent out by the Baptist association on missionary visits to the black communities surrounding Halifax He was the mentor of Richard Preston nbsp Richard Preston founder of the first black church in Nova Scotia 1832 New Horizons Baptist Church formerly known as Cornwallis Street Baptist Church the African Chapel and the African Baptist Church is a baptist church in Halifax Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832 When the chapel was completed Black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud of this accomplishment because it was evidence that former enslaved people could establish their own institutions in Nova Scotia 101 Under the direction of Richard Preston the church laid the foundation for social action to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians 102 Preston and others went on to establish a network of socially active Black baptist churches throughout Nova Scotia with the Halifax church being referred to as the Mother Church 101 Five of these churches were established in Halifax Preston 1842 Beechville 1844 Hammonds Plains 1845 and another in Africville 1849 and Dartmouth 103 From meetings held at the church they also established the African Friendly Society the African Abolition Society and the African United Baptist Association The church remained the centre of social activism throughout the 20th century Reverends at the church included William A White 1919 1936 and William Pearly Oliver 1937 1962 American Civil War edit nbsp Memorial to the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry BostonNumerous Black Nova Scotians fought in the American Civil War in the effort to end slavery Perhaps the most well known Nova Scotians to fight in the war effort are Joseph B Noil and Benjamin Jackson Three Black Nova Scotians served in the famous 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Hammel Gilyer Samuel Hazzard and Thomas Page 104 20th century edit Coloured Hockey League edit nbsp Coloured Hockey League 1910In 1894 an all Black ice hockey league known as the Coloured Hockey League was founded in Nova Scotia 105 Black players from Canada s Maritime provinces Nova Scotia New Brunswick Prince Edward Island participated in competition The league began to play 23 years before the National Hockey League was founded and as such it has been credited with some innovations which exist in the NHL today 106 Most notably it is claimed that the first player to use the slapshot was Eddie Martin of the Halifax Eurekas more than 100 years ago 107 The league remained in operation until 1930 World War One edit nbsp Reverend William A White first black officer in the British EmpireThe No 2 Construction Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force CEF was the only predominantly Black battalion in Canadian military history and also the only Canadian Battalion composed of Black soldiers to serve in World War I The battalion was raised in Nova Scotia and 56 of battalion members 500 soldiers came from the province Reverend William A White of the Battalion became the first Black officer in the British Empire An earlier black military unit in Nova Scotia was the Victoria Rifles Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People edit Founded by Pearleen Oliver 108 and led by minister William Pearly Oliver the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People was formed in 1945 out of the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church The organization was intent of improving the standard of living for Black Nova Scotians The organization also attempted to improve Black white relations in co operation with private and governmental agencies The organization was joined by 500 Black Nova Scotians 109 By 1956 the NSAACP had branches in Halifax Cobequid Road Digby Weymouth Falls Beechville Inglewooe Hammonds Plains and Yarmouth Preston and Africville branches were added in 1962 the same year New Road Cherry Brook and Preston East requested branches 110 In 1947 the Association successfully took the case of Viola Desmond to the Supreme Court of Canada 111 It also pressured the Children s Hospital in Halifax to allow for Black women to become nurses it advocated for inclusion and challenged racist curriculum in the Department of Education The Association also developed an Adult Education program with the government department By 1970 over one third of the 270 members were white 110 Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission edit Along with Oliver and the direct involvement of the premier of Nova Scotia Robert Stanfield many Black activists were responsible for the establishment of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission 1967 112 Originally the mandate of the commission was primarily to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians The first employee and administrative officer of the commission was Gordon Earle Black United Front edit nbsp William Pearly Oliver 1934 founder of the four leading organizations to support Black Nova Scotians in the 20th centuryIn keeping with the times Reverend William Oliver began the Black United Front in 1969 which explicitly adopted a Black separatist agenda 113 The Black separatist movement of the United States had a significant influence on the mobilization of the Black community in 20th Century Nova Scotia This Black separatist approach to address racism and black empowerment was introduced to Nova Scotia by Marcus Garvey in the 1920s 114 Garvey argued that Black people would never get a fair deal in white society so they ought to form separate republics or return to Africa White people are considered a homogenous group who are essentially racist and in that sense are considered unredeemable in efforts to address racism Garvey visited Nova Scotia twice first in the 1920s which led to a Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League UNIA office in Cape Breton and then the famous 1937 visit 115 He was initially drawn by the founding of an African Orthodox Church in Sydney in 1921 and maintained contact with the ex pat West Indian community The UNIA invited him to visit in 1937 114 Garvey presided over UNIA regional conferences and conventions in Toronto in 1936 1937 and 1938 At the 1937 meeting he inaugurated his School of African Philosophy Despite objections from Martin Luther King Jr this separatist politics was reinforced again in the 1960s by the Black Power Movement and especially its militant subgroup the Black Panther Party 116 117 Francis Beaufils a k a Ronald Hill was a fugitive Black Panther facing charges in the U S who had found refuge in rural Nova Scotia 117 The separatist movement influenced the development of the Halifax based Black United Front BUF Black United Front was a Black nationalist organization that included Burnley Rocky Jones and was loosely based on the 10 point program of the Black Panther Party In 1968 Stokely Carmichael who coined the phrase Black Power visited Nova Scotia helping organize the BUF 118 119 Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia edit Reverend William Oliver eventually left the BUF and became instrumental in establishing the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia which opened in 1983 The organization houses a museum library and archival area Oliver designed the Black Cultural Centre to help all Nova Scotians become aware of how Black culture is woven into the heritage of the province The centre also helps Nova Scotians trace their history of championing human rights and overcoming racism in the province For his efforts in establishing the four leading organizations in the 20th century to support Black Nova Scotians and ultimately all Nova Scotians William Oliver was awarded the Order of Canada in 1984 Migration out of Nova Scotia edit Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s African Nova Scotians began leaving their settlements in order to find work in larger cities and towns such as Halifax Sydney Truro and New Glasgow Many left Nova Scotia for cities such as Toronto and Montreal while others left Canada altogether for the United States 120 121 Bangor Maine s lumber industry attracted Black people from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for decades They formed a sizeable community on the town s west end throughout the early 1900s 122 A small African Nova Scotian community had also developed in Sudbury in the late 1940s due to aggressive recruitment efforts in Black Nova Scotian settlements by Vale Inco 123 By the 1960s a Black Nova Scotian neighbourhood had developed in Toronto around the Kensington Market Alexandra Park area First Baptist Church the oldest Black institution in Toronto became the spiritual centre of this community 124 In 1972 Alexandra Park is said to have had a Black Nova Scotian population of over 2 000 making it more populous than any of the Black settlements in Nova Scotia at the time Escaping rural communities with little education or skills young Black Nova Scotians in Toronto faced high poverty and unemployment rates 125 In 1977 between 1 200 and 2 400 Black Nova Scotians lived in Montreal Though dispersed throughout the city many settled among African Americans and English speaking West Indians in Little Burgundy 126 127 Dwayne Johnson Arlene Duncan Beverly Mascoll Tommy Kane and Wayne Simmonds are examples of prominent individuals who have at least one Black Nova Scotian parent that settled outside the province 21st century edit Organizations edit Several organizations have been created by Black Nova Scotians to serve the community Some of these include the Black Educators Association of Nova Scotia African Nova Scotian Music Association Health Association of African Canadians and the Black Business Initiative Individuals involved in these and other organizations worked together with various officials to orchestrate the government apologies and pardons for past incidents of racial discrimination Africville Apology edit nbsp Africville Church est 1849 rebuilt as part of the Africville ApologyThe Africville Apology was delivered on February 24 2010 by Halifax Nova Scotia for the eviction and eventual destruction of Africville a Black Nova Scotian community Viola Desmond pardon edit On April 14 2010 the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Mayann Francis on the advice of her premier invoked the Royal Prerogative and granted Viola Desmond a posthumous free pardon the first such to be granted in Canada 128 The free pardon an extraordinary remedy granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy only in the rarest of circumstances and the first one granted posthumously differs from a simple pardon in that it is based on innocence and recognizes that a conviction was in error The government of Nova Scotia also apologised This initiative happened through Desmond s younger sister Wanda Robson and a professor of Cape Breton University Graham Reynolds working with the Government of Nova Scotia to ensure that Desmond s name was cleared and the government admitted its error In honour of Desmond the provincial government has named the first Nova Scotia Heritage Day after her Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children apology edit Children in an orphanage that opened in 1921 the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children suffered physical psychological and sexual abuse by staff over a 50 year period Ray Wagner is the lead counsel for the former residents who successfully made a case against the orphanage 129 In 2014 the Premier of Nova Scotia Stephen McNeil wrote a letter of apology and about 300 claimants are to receive monetary compensation for their damages 130 Immigration edit Since the immigration reforms of the 1970s a growing number of people of African descent have moved to Nova Scotia Members of these groups are not considered a part of the distinct Black Nova Scotian community although they are Black Canadian The last group to be accepted as members of the Black Nova Scotian ethnic group are Bajans who came to Cape Breton in the early 1900s referred to as the later arrivals 131 Top 5 immigrant ethnic origins for people of African descent in Nova Scotia 21 Country of origin Population 2016 nbsp Jamaica 480 nbsp Nigeria 350 nbsp Bahamas 230 nbsp Ethiopia 185 nbsp Ghana 185Notable Black Nova Scotians editMain article List of Black Nova ScotiansSee also edit nbsp Canada portalIndigenous Black Canadians Black Canadians in New Brunswick Thomas Peters Black Loyalist who settled Nova Scotia The Book of Negroes 2007 novel based on the historic document of the same name Poor Boy s Game Speak It From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia Black CopSources edit New official African Nova Scotian flag looking to connect past present and future CBC News February 15 2021 Retrieved September 1 2022 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 a b Government of Canada Statistics Canada February 9 2022 Profile table Census Profile 2021 Census of Population Canada Country www12 statcan gc ca About Nova Scotia novascotia ca www novascotialife com 14 May 2018 Halifax s Black Loyalists Halifax Nova Scotia highway7 com Confederation s Casualties The Maritimer as a Problem in 1960s Toronto Acadiensis Retrieved 2014 02 04 Black history in Toronto Archived 2014 02 02 at the Wayback Machine City of Toronto Retrieved 2014 02 04 Perreaux Les May 21 2010 Racism s long history in quiet East Coast towns The Globe and Mail Accessed on February 23 2016 Thayer James Steel 1991 A Dissenting View of Creole Culture in Sierra Leone pp 215 230 https www persee fr doc cea 0008 0055 1991 num 31 121 2116 Browne Davies Nigel 2014 A Precis of Sources relating to genealogical research on the Sierra Leone Krio people Journal of Sierra Leone Studies Vol 3 Edition 1 2014 https www academia edu 40720522 A Precis of Sources relating to genealogical research on the Sierra Leone Krio people Walker James W 1992 Chapter Five Foundation of Sierra Leone The Black Loyalists The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783 1870 Toronto University of Toronto Press pp 94 114 ISBN 978 0 8020 7402 7 originally published by Longman amp Dalhousie University Press 1976 Taylor Bankole Kamara February 2014 Sierra Leone The Land Its People and History New Africa Press p 68 ISBN 9789987160389 Grant John N 2002 The Maroons in Nova Scotia Softcover Formac p 203 ISBN 978 0887805691 Mavis Campbell Back to Africa George Ross and the Maroons Trenton Africa World Press 1993 p 48 Michael Sivapragasam The Returned Maroons of Trelawny Town Navigating Crosscurrents Trans linguality Trans culturality and Trans identification in the Dutch Caribbean and Beyond ed by Nicholas Faraclas etc Curacao Puerto Rico University of Curacao 2020 p 17 a b Organization Associates of Dr Bray 24 September 2017 An Account of the Designs of the Associates of the late Dr Bray with an abstract of their proceedings via Google Books a b Nova Scotia Department of Education Learning Resources and Technology lrt ednet ns ca Education in Nova Scotia before 1811 Washington D C 1922 Sheri Borden Colley Black artists with N S roots want their Metis ancestry recognized CBC News Nova Scotia February 16 2018 a b Government of Canada Statistics Canada May 10 2023 Religion by ethnic or cultural origins Canada provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts www150 statcan gc ca a b Census Profile 2016 Census Statistics Canada Accessed on May 1 2018 Canada Library and Archives 8 March 2013 1881 Census Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada Services Government of Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada Integrated Services Branch Government Information Services Publishing and Depository July 2002 Ninth census of Canada 1951 Neuvieme recensement du Canada CS98 1951 PDF Government of Canada Publications Canada ca publications gc ca a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link File not found Fichier non trouve www12 statcan gc ca Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Kenneth Donovan Slaves and Their Owners in Ile Royale 1713 1760 Acadiensis XXV 1 Autumn 1995 pp 3 32 Slavery Tour opens at Fortress of Louisbourg Interpreters of African descent lead tourists through historic site CBC News Posted July 30 2009 Kenneth Donovan A Nominal List of Slaves and Their Owners in Ile Royale 1713 1760 Nova Scotia Historical Review 16 1 June 1996 pp 151 62 By the late 1750s Ile Royale s population including soldiers approached 10 000 people See A J B Johnston The Population of Eighteenth Century Louisbourg Nova Scotia Historical Review 11 2 December 1991 pp 75 86 Kenneth Donovan Slaves and Their Owners in Ile Royale 1713 1760 Acadiensis XXV 1 Autumn 1995 p 4 Ken Donovan Slavery and Freedom in Atlantic Canada s African Diaspora Introduction Volume XLIII Number 1 Winter Spring Hiver Printemps 2014 Donovan p 5 The census of 1767 indicates that there were 13 374 people in what is now the Maritimes 104 of them were black Census dated January 1 1767 as cited by John N Grant Black Nova Scotians Nova Scotia Department of Education 1980 p 7 Also see Bruce Furguson Public Archives of Nova Scotia RG 1 Volume 443 No 1 See Archives Of the 3000 inhabitants of the city in 1750 400 were labelled servants some of whom were slaves The Archives of Nova Scotia asserts that these 400 servants were slaves Given that most of the immigrants to Halifax came directly from England and were primarily poor the possibility of them having as many as 400 slaves is remote Further the assertion that the 400 servants were black in 1749 is highly improbable given only 54 Blacks were in Halifax in 1767 The Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Among the Negroes in the Colonies The Journal of Negro History October 1916 Albemaarle St is named after George Keppel 3rd Earl of Albemarle a b c d Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society Halifax Nova Scotia Historical Society December 31 1880 via Internet Archive Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 See Griffith An address to the inhabitants of New Brunswick Nova Scotia in North America microform Occasioned by the mission of two ministers John James and Charles William Milton sent out by the Countess of Huntingdon from her college in South Wales to preach the glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ to lost sinners 1788 ISBN 9780665206979 Smith Thomas Watson December 31 1877 History of the Methodist Church within the territories embraced in the late conference of eastern British America including Nova Scotia New Brunswick Prince Edward Island and Bermuda Halifax N S Methodist Book Room via Internet Archive Jack C Whytock The Huntingdonian Missionaries to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick c 1785 1792 Haddington House Jack C Whytock Historical Papers 2003 Canadian Society of Church History Edited by Bruce L Guenther p 154 pdf on line a b c d The Black Loyalists The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and By James W St G Walker St Paul s Cemetery Old Burial Ground records as transcribed in the Death Burials amp Probate of Nova Scotians C B Fergusson A Documentary Study of the Establishment of the Negroes in Nova Scotia Between the War of 1812 and the Winning of Responsible Government Public Archives of Nova Scotia Halifax Publication no 8 1948 p 1 Mastering Christianity Missionary Anglicanism and Slavery in the Atlantic World by Travis Glasson Whitfield p 43 Pachai pp 11 12 Pachai p 21 See Pachai p 23 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives www gov ns ca Archived from the original on 2009 03 15 Retrieved 2009 01 28 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives www gov ns ca Archived from the original on 2007 08 14 Retrieved 2007 07 31 Remembering Black Loyalists Black Communities in Nova Scotia Archived 2007 07 18 at the Wayback Machine Judith Fingard Attitudes towards the Education of the Poor in Colonial Halifax p 17 a b Jack C Whytock The Huntingdonian Missionaries to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick c 1785 1792 PDF a b Jack C Whytock Historical Papers 2003 Canadian Society of Church History Edited by Bruce L Guenther p 154 https www smu ca webfiles fingard educationofthepoorinhfx 1973 pdf bare URL PDF Biography HARTSHORNE LAWRENCE Volume VI 1821 1835 Dictionary of Canadian Biography Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Barry Cahill Stephen Blucke The Perils of Being a White Negro in Loyalist Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Historical Review p 129 William Weir 2004 The Encyclopedia of African American Military History Prometheus Books pp 31 32 ISBN 9781615928316 CDC Black Loyalists blackloyalist com Retrieved 2023 03 16 Birchtown Archived 2012 10 08 at the Wayback Machine Place Names and Places of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management p 67 Robertson Jesse January 20 2015 The Shelburne Race Riots Encyclopedia of Canada Retrieved August 2 2017 John N Grant Black Nova Scotians Nova Scotia Department of Education 1980 p 13 Calgary University of Laval Universite Our Roots Page view permanent dead link CDC Black Loyalists blackloyalist com Ruth Whitehead Black Loyalists 2013 p 172 John Grant Dempsey Jordan Teacher Preacher Farmer Community Leader and Loyalist Settler at Guysborough and Tracadie Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Journal Vol 14 2011 pp 78 79 Big Tracadie people stfx ca Archived from the original on 2016 03 03 Retrieved 2015 01 14 a b Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Riddell William Renwick 1 July 1920 Slavery in the Maritime Provinces The Journal of Negro History via Internet Archive Harvey Amani Whitfield The Struggle over slavery in the Maritime Colonies Acadiensis 2002 No 2 Harvey Amani Whitfield North to Bondage Loyalists Slavery in the Maritimes UBC 2016 MacGREGOR McGregor JAMES DRUMMOND Dictionary of Canadian Biography Alan Wilson Highland Shepherd James MacGregor Father of the Scottish Enlightenment in Nova Scotia University of Toronto Press 2015 p 75 Robin Winks as cited by Alan Wilson Highland Shepherd James MacGregor Father of the Scottish Enlightenment in Nova Scotia University of Toronto Press 2015 p 79 Bridglal Pachai amp Henry Bishop Historic Black Nova Scotia 2006 p 8 John Grant Black Refugees p 31 Robin Winks Blacks In Canada p 102 Biography STRANGE Sir THOMAS ANDREW LUMISDEN Volume VII 1836 1850 Dictionary of Canadian Biography www biographi ca Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia courts ns ca Archived from the original on 2015 01 12 Retrieved 2015 01 12 Acadia University Archives Opinions of several gentlemen of the law on the subject of negro servitude in the province of Nova Scotia 1802 Cannon Richard 24 September 2017 Historical record of The Twentieth or The East Devonshire Regiment of Foot microform containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1688 and of its subsequent services to 1848 London Parker Furnivall amp Parker ISBN 9780665483516 via Internet Archive Mavis Campbell The Maroons of Jamaica 1655 1796 a History of Resistance Collaboration amp Betrayal Massachusetts Bergin amp Garvey 1988 pp 241 2 Michael Siva After the Treaties A Social Economic and Demographic History of Maroon Society in Jamaica 1739 1842 PhD Dissertation Southampton Southampton University 2018 pp 144 6 a b John N Grant Black Immigrants into Nova Scotia 1776 1815 The Journal of Negro History Vol 58 No 3 July 1973 pp 253 270 Robin Winks The Blacks in Canada A History McGill Press 1997 pp 78 93 The Decline and Disappearance of Slavery 1793 1812 Archived from the original on 2006 04 30 Retrieved 2012 09 14 The British colonies Their history extent condition and resources 1800 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Thomas Akins History of Halifax p 174 Akins p 159 Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 p 18 PDF 1973 a b Burton John Dictionary of Canadian Biography a b Biography PRESTON RICHARD Volume VIII 1851 1860 Dictionary of Canadian Biography www biographi ca Shaping a Community Black Refugees in Nova Scotia Pier 21 www pier21 ca Website Update Nova Scotia Archives novascotia ca 20 April 2020 Brooks Tom All Men are Brothers 1995 LWF Publications historical quarterly Lest We Forget Black hockey hall of fame proposed for Dartmouth CBC Sports August 26 2006 Accessed on August 19 2012 birthplaceofhockey com Archived 2006 11 05 at the Wayback Machine Garth Vaughan c 2001 Accessed on August 19 2012 Martins Daniel Hockey historian credits black player with first slapshot Archived 2012 03 23 at the Wayback Machine CanWest News Service January 31 2007 Accessed on August 19 2012 Smith Emma 26 February 2021 New book brings to light legacy of civil rights crusader Pearleen Oliver CBC Retrieved 30 March 2023 Colin A Thomson Born with a call a biography of Dr William Pearly Oliver C M p 79 permanent dead link a b Thomson p 81 Thomson p 93 Andrew MacKay First Chairperson In Bridglal Pachai ed Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission 25th Anniversary 1992 p 19 Thomson p 121 a b Jon Tattrie Sunday Chronicle Herald November 29 2009 Archived August 14 2016 at the Wayback Machine Paul MacDougall Marcus Garvey and Nova Scotia Birth of a Movement Birth of a Religion Birth of a Church Archived 2021 09 20 at the Wayback Machine Shunpiking Magazine Black History amp African Heritage Supplement February March 2000 Volume 5 Number 32 In 1937 Marcus Garvey visited Africville and gave a speech at the African Methodist Church a speech Bob Marley referenced in the lyrics to Redemption Song Martin Luther King Jr Where Do We Go From here Community or chaos 1968 a b Black Panther s story is also story of N S in 70s 14 April 2014 Archived from the original on 9 September 2018 Retrieved 10 February 2013 Tim Mitchell Black rights advocate refuses to quit The Mail Archive February 19 2009 Thomson p 137 Wharton Zaretsky Marcia 1 April 2000 Foremothers of Black Women s Community Organizing in Toronto Atlantis Critical Studies in Gender Culture amp Social Justice 24 2 61 71 ISSN 1715 0698 Retrieved 17 January 2021 Clairmont Donald H Magill Dennis W 1970 Nova Scotian Blacks An Historical and Structural Overview Institute of Public Affairs Retrieved 17 January 2021 Lee Maureen Elgersman 2005 Black Bangor African Americans in a Maine Community 1880 1950 UPNE ISBN 978 1 58465 499 5 Lacey Keith April 13 2006 Nigerian was first black man hired by Inco Sudbury com Retrieved 9 February 2021 Now and Then First Baptist Church Torontoist 2 February 2017 Retrieved 17 January 2021 Austin Bobby William May 1972 The Social Status of Blacks in Toronto McMaster University Este David Sato Christa McKenna Darcy 2017 THE COLOURED WOMEN S CLUB OF MONTREAL 1902 1940 African Canadian Women Confronting Anti Black Racism Canadian Social Work Review Revue canadienne de service social 1 81 99 doi 10 7202 1040996ar Retrieved 17 January 2021 Torczyner Jim L 2001 The evolution of the black community of Montreal change and challenge October 2001 Montreal MCESSP McGill School of Social Work ISBN 1 896456 45 6 Carlson Kathryn Blaze April 14 2010 Canada s Rosa Parks Viola Desmond posthumously pardoned National Post Archived from the original on August 26 2010 Retrieved April 14 2010 CBC News Home for Colored Children victims tell court about rape beatings July 7 2014 CBC news Home for Colored Children apology N S says sorry to ex residents October 10 2014 African Nova Scotian Community African Nova Scotian Affairs ansa novascotia ca Retrieved 15 December 2021 External links editNova Scotia Archives amp Records Management African Nova Scotians Archived 2013 10 11 at the Wayback MachineFurther reading editMartin Shayla September 12 2022 A Journey Through Black Nova Scotia The 400 year history of African culture in this maritime Canadian province is expansive but it s a story that s been tucked into the shadows of Canadian history Now grass root initiatives are changing that The New York Times Walker James 1992 The Black Loyalists The Search for a Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783 1870 University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0802074027 Schama Simon 2005 Rough Crossings Britain the Slaves and the American Revolution BBC Books ISBN 0 06 053916 X Campbell Mavis Ross George 1993 George Ross and the Maroons from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone Africa World Press ISBN 978 0865433847 History of the Maroons 1803 William Renwick Riddell Slavery in the Maritime Provinces The Journal of Negro History Vol 5 No 3 July 1920 pp 359 375 Catherine Cottreau Robins Timothy Ruggles A Loyalist Plantation in Nova Scotia 1784 1800 Doctorate Thesis Dalhousie University 2012 Williams Dawn P 2006 Who s Who in Black Canada Volume 2 D P Williams ISBN 0 9731384 2 4 Allen Robertson Bondage and Freedom Apprentices Servants and Slaves in Colonial Nova Scotia Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol 44 1996 pp 13 Wilson Head Discrimination Against Blacks in Nova Scotia The Criminal Justice System 1989 John Grant Black Immigration into Nova Scotia Journal of Negro History 1973 The African in Canada The Maroons of Jamaica and Nova Scotia 1890 Papers relative to the settling of the Maroons in His Majesty s province of Nova Scotia 1798 A brief history of the coloured Baptists of Nova Scotia and their first organization as churches A D 1832 1895 African Nova Scotian Family Names by Region Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Black Nova Scotians amp oldid 1200764871, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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