Slavery in Canada
1st African in Canada
1605: First Black Person in Canada
 The first named African person to set foot on
Canadian soil was Mathieu Da Costa, a free
man who was hired as a translator for
Samuel de Champlain's 1605 excursion.


1628: “Slave Boy”, First Black
Resident of New France

The first named enslaved African to reside
in Canada was a six-year old boy, the
property of Sir David Kirke. The child was
sold several times, lastly to Father Paul Le
Jeune, and was baptized Catholic and
given the name Olivier Le Jeune.

1709:
Louis
XIV
Formally
Authorizes
Slavery in New France
King Louis XIV formally
authorized slavery in 1709,
when he permitted his
Canadian subjects to own
slaves,
"in
full
proprietorship." There were
fewer slave-owners in New
France
than
in
the
neighbouring
English
colonies, and few French
colonists openly questioned
the long-standing practice.
The Canadians did not use the term
“slave” but instead usually used
“servant”. The first Canadian slaves
were most likely found in the
Maritimes.
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.

1776 : "Free Negroes" Reach Nova
Scotia

Canada developed a reputation as a safe
haven for Blacks during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783. The British
promised land, freedom and rights to
slaves and free Blacks in exchange for
services rendered.
In 1783-4 about 1232
slaves where brought to
Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and Prince
Edward Island.

26-27
July
1784:
Canada's First Race-Riot
Rocks Birchtown, NS After
the Revolutionary War, the
"Black Pioneers" were among
the
first
settlers
in
Shelburne,
Nova
Scotia.
They helped build the new
settlement. On its fringes
they established their own
community,
"Birchtown."
When hundreds of White,
disbanded
soldiers
were
forced to accept work at
rates competitive with their
Black neighbours the ensuing
hostility caused a riot.

1790: Imperial Statute

The Imperial Statute of 1790 effectively
allowed settlers to bring enslaved persons
to Canada. Under the statute, the
enslaved had only to be fed and clothed.
Image: Slave auctioning
continued in Canada even
after the American War of
Independence.
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.

15 January 1792: The Black Loyalist
Exodus
The difficulty of supporting themselves in
the face of widespread discrimination
convinced many Black Loyalists that they
would never find true freedom and equality
in Nova Scotia.
 When offered the opportunity to leave the
colony in the 1790s, almost 1200 Blacks left
Halifax to relocate to Sierra Leone.

1833 – The Slave Trade officially
abolished in the British Empire.
Established slaves were still enslaved
in parts of Canada

February-May
1851: Canadians
React to Fugitive
Slave Act

The passage of the
Fugitive Slave Act in
the United States led
to the formation of an
larger and more
durable antislavery
society in Canada.

1850s: Harriet Tubman, fugitive slave,
underground railroad conductor, abolitionist,
spy, soldier, nurse , aka “Black Moses “
Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Maryland in 1820.
She escaped in 1849 and made at least 19 return trips
to the South to guide fugitives to the Northern states
and freedom. In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act made it
dangerous for runaways to remain in the North.
Harriet made 11 trips to Canada leading more than
300 Underground Railway "passengers" to Canada.
They moved only at night, sheltering in barns,
chimneys and haystacks. She allowed no dropping out
or turning back. She drew a pistol on one discouraged
fugitive, saying, "Move or die." He and the rest of the
group reached Canada in safety.
Harriet Tubman