February is Black History Month
February 4, 2015
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Every month of February, we celebrate the heritage, traditions and culture of the people of African descent and diaspora. The precursor to Black History Month was Negro History Week, established in the United States in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The second week of February was chosen on account it marked the birthday of both former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who disapproved of slavery, and Frederick Douglass, the renowned African-American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman who escaped slavery and became a leader of the abolitionist movement to end slavery in the U.S.
In 1976 as part of the U.S. Bicentennial, the informal expansion of Negro History Week to Black History Month was officially recognized by the U.S. government. Black History Month was first celebrated in the United Kingdom in 1987. In December 1995, Canada began to acknowledge the too-often neglected accomplishments of the Black community when the House of Commons officially recognized the month of February as Black History Month in Canada. The Canadian Senate followed in February 2008. |
By Denise Hampden
Unifor Local 4003 / Council 4000
The Book of Negroes is the title of a novel written by Canadian author Lawrence Hill. It is a startling title that, without further inspection, can elicit a number of reactions. The first of which is usually negative. Then you're confused. Perhaps even a little bit angry. After all it is 2015 and there are certain words that we don't use to describe people of colour any more. So one has to take a bit of a journey that begins with a little pebble in your throat and butterflies in your stomach. But it is a journey that is well worth the ride and has roots in Canada and Canadian Black History.
From 1775 to 1776 the American colonies were engaged in the American Revolution seeking independence from British rule. People in the Americas took sides and waged war for a year. This included several thousand Africans in America who were free Blacks and escaped or runaway slaves. British military generals had been given the power to offer emancipation and resettlement to any Blacks who fought on the side of the British. Britain was offering freedom, passage on a ship from New York to Nova Scotia, or other British colonies, land upon their arrival and resettlement assistance in their new homes.
When the war ended and the British had lost they did fulfill their promise to the Blacks that had fought against the Americans. One hundred and fourteen ships were scheduled to leave New York between 1783 and 1785. During this period certificates of freedom were issued to approximately 3,000 Blacks who awaited passage to the newly established colonies where they would be free. Their names were also recorded in a book that was a type of manifest. This book was called The Book of Negroes.
Names, including surnames and ages if they were known, occupation, a physical description, identifying marks and details of their enslavement, escape and military service were recorded in the Book. There are just over 3,000 names of men, women and children logged in the Book. It is estimated that as many as 5,000 Blacks left on the 114 ships headed for Canada, Europe and the Caribbean.
Black who made this trip were known as Black Loyalists. It should be noted that there are some cases where whites were also travelling to the colonies under the same conditions. These whites often brought their slaves with them. These Blacks were not making the journey of their own volition and presumably continued to serve as slaves until slavery was officially abolished in Canada on August 1st 1834.
Black Loyalists' arrival in Nova Scotia was difficult. They settled in numerous communities in Nova Scotia and that settlement was wrought with hardship. The climate, topography, lack of sufficient resources and racism made it nearly impossible to re-establish new lives in this new land. People had been promised between 40 and 100 acres of land and rations for three years. Of the 649 eligible men only 187 received any of the land they were promised and some had to wait as long as 4 years to receive it.
In 1791 it became evident to some Black Loyalists that the promise of freedom in a new land was never going to be fulfilled. Over the next year the opportunity presented itself for some of the Loyalists to leave Nova Scotia and return to Africa, specifically Sierra Leone.
On January 15, 1792, 1196 settlers once again boarded 15 ships with their families and few belongings to once again cross the Atlantic Ocean and return to Africa, the continent of their origin. There is a good chance that some were returning to the continent of their birth.
During the War of 1812 in the newly formed United States of America, the British government offered Blacks in America essentially the same deal they had been offered during the American Revolution. Two thousand more Blacks were relocated to Nova Scotia between 1812 and 1816 and settled throughout the province.
Today, those settlements and the Loyalists who established them are remembered in many ways. There are monuments, archives and museums Throughout Canada and the United States that are established as testaments to the Loyalists and their struggles. One such museum exists in the centre of the Wall St. district in Lower Manhattan.
There are 3 copies of the Book of Negroes in existence. One in England, one in Washington DC, and one in Halifax at the Nova Scotia Archives.
Extensive details about Black Loyalists, including detailed pages from the original Book of Negroes can be found here: http://novascotia.ca/museum/blackloyalists/index.htm
Unifor Local 4003 / Council 4000
The Book of Negroes is the title of a novel written by Canadian author Lawrence Hill. It is a startling title that, without further inspection, can elicit a number of reactions. The first of which is usually negative. Then you're confused. Perhaps even a little bit angry. After all it is 2015 and there are certain words that we don't use to describe people of colour any more. So one has to take a bit of a journey that begins with a little pebble in your throat and butterflies in your stomach. But it is a journey that is well worth the ride and has roots in Canada and Canadian Black History.
From 1775 to 1776 the American colonies were engaged in the American Revolution seeking independence from British rule. People in the Americas took sides and waged war for a year. This included several thousand Africans in America who were free Blacks and escaped or runaway slaves. British military generals had been given the power to offer emancipation and resettlement to any Blacks who fought on the side of the British. Britain was offering freedom, passage on a ship from New York to Nova Scotia, or other British colonies, land upon their arrival and resettlement assistance in their new homes.
When the war ended and the British had lost they did fulfill their promise to the Blacks that had fought against the Americans. One hundred and fourteen ships were scheduled to leave New York between 1783 and 1785. During this period certificates of freedom were issued to approximately 3,000 Blacks who awaited passage to the newly established colonies where they would be free. Their names were also recorded in a book that was a type of manifest. This book was called The Book of Negroes.
Names, including surnames and ages if they were known, occupation, a physical description, identifying marks and details of their enslavement, escape and military service were recorded in the Book. There are just over 3,000 names of men, women and children logged in the Book. It is estimated that as many as 5,000 Blacks left on the 114 ships headed for Canada, Europe and the Caribbean.
Black who made this trip were known as Black Loyalists. It should be noted that there are some cases where whites were also travelling to the colonies under the same conditions. These whites often brought their slaves with them. These Blacks were not making the journey of their own volition and presumably continued to serve as slaves until slavery was officially abolished in Canada on August 1st 1834.
Black Loyalists' arrival in Nova Scotia was difficult. They settled in numerous communities in Nova Scotia and that settlement was wrought with hardship. The climate, topography, lack of sufficient resources and racism made it nearly impossible to re-establish new lives in this new land. People had been promised between 40 and 100 acres of land and rations for three years. Of the 649 eligible men only 187 received any of the land they were promised and some had to wait as long as 4 years to receive it.
In 1791 it became evident to some Black Loyalists that the promise of freedom in a new land was never going to be fulfilled. Over the next year the opportunity presented itself for some of the Loyalists to leave Nova Scotia and return to Africa, specifically Sierra Leone.
On January 15, 1792, 1196 settlers once again boarded 15 ships with their families and few belongings to once again cross the Atlantic Ocean and return to Africa, the continent of their origin. There is a good chance that some were returning to the continent of their birth.
During the War of 1812 in the newly formed United States of America, the British government offered Blacks in America essentially the same deal they had been offered during the American Revolution. Two thousand more Blacks were relocated to Nova Scotia between 1812 and 1816 and settled throughout the province.
Today, those settlements and the Loyalists who established them are remembered in many ways. There are monuments, archives and museums Throughout Canada and the United States that are established as testaments to the Loyalists and their struggles. One such museum exists in the centre of the Wall St. district in Lower Manhattan.
There are 3 copies of the Book of Negroes in existence. One in England, one in Washington DC, and one in Halifax at the Nova Scotia Archives.
Extensive details about Black Loyalists, including detailed pages from the original Book of Negroes can be found here: http://novascotia.ca/museum/blackloyalists/index.htm
