Often depicted as the promised land for those enslaved in the Americas, Canada was frequently the destination of those traveling the Underground Railroad[1]. Most people don’t know that Canada also has a history of enslaving others. Examining slavery in Canada can only be done effectively by studying those who historically populated the provinces. The British and French colonies that became Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Ontario enslaved more than 4,000 African and African descent people between 1629 and 1834.
In May 1689, the French Monarch Louis XIV officially sanctioned the participation of New France in the Atlantic slave trade. It was in response to the petition of Colonial Administrator, Jean-Baptiste de Lagny[2] (Sieur des Brigandières), insisting that the economic viability of the colony depended upon the forced labor of Africans. The petition is historically significant because it highlights the role of slavery in the economic strategies of European colonies in the Americas.
New France[3] has the first recorded Black chattel slave named Olivier Le Jeune[4] held by Frenchman Sir David Kirke. Not alone in this endeavor, and not all permanent settlers, the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, British, Danes, Swedes, and other Europeans also participated in slavery[5]. From 1763 to 1834, Canada and Jamaica were British possessions that recognized the legalities of slavery. Recognized as chattel, Black women especially were valued because of their labor and their ability to produce more chattel.
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Records and documents help shed light on the enslaved
The following are just a few of the records that can be found if diligence is employed.
Louis XIV’s edict of 1685 aka Code Noir[6] was specific to policing those believed to be inferior, such as the enslaved and Jews. Though it required enslavers to provide the enslaved with food, shelter, and clothing, it also gave them the power to inflict violent punishments, including branding, mutilating and even killing them. People of African descent weren’t the only ones held in bondage for their free labor and monetary value. In 1732, Pierre, a Comanche slave[7] under the jurisdiction of Montreal’s Lieutenant General for civil and criminal affairs, was ordered sold to a merchant for 351 livres when his former enslaver defaulted on a debt where he used the enslaved Pierre as collateral.
In 1781, Saint John’s Island (Prince Edward Island) became the only colony in British North America to pass legislation[8] that defined the legal parameters of enslavement. The abduction of Chloe Cooley[9] in Queenstown, Canada, taken to the United States brought the attention of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe,[10] ultimately resulting in the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada[11].
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833[12] by the British Parliament is proof that enslavement of others was alive and well across most of the British Empire. Marie-Josèphe Angélique's[13] documented case in New France is an example of resistance to enslavement. The Canadian Government authorized a demographic analysis[14] of the life expectancy of groups within the province. In this report was documentation on the life expectancy of the Indigenous Panis[15] and Black slave labor.
Newspapers are just part of the story
The Halifax Gazette, of Halifax, Nova Scotia carried an advertisement on May 30, 1752, demonstrating their part in the Atlantic coastal slave trade. The ad provides a great deal of genealogical information including:
- Name of seller/merchant – Joshua Mauger
- Location of sale – Major Lockman’s store – clearly the store owner also participated in the slave trade
- Where the enslaved people were imported from – the West Indies
- The number, sex, age, origins and brief description pointing to suitability of enslaved people being offered for sale
Understanding slavery within its historical and socio-economic context is crucial to fully grasping its long-term impacts on a nation and its descendants. Slavery was not merely a labor system; it was an institution that deeply influenced the cultural, political, and economic framework of the societies that practiced it as well as those who were its victim.
References
- ↑ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Underground-Railroad
- ↑ https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2020/07/the-enslavement-of-african-people-in-canada-c-16291834.html
- ↑ New France - WorldAtlas
- ↑ https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/olivier-le-jeune
- ↑ SLAVERY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
- ↑ https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335/
- ↑ Pierre (Comanche slave) - Citizendium
- ↑ https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/download/12734/13665?inline=1
- ↑ Wayback Machine
- ↑ John Graves Simcoe | Upper Canada, Loyalist, Military Leader | Britannica
- ↑ 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ↑ The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 - The History Press
- ↑ https://wams.nyhistory.org/early-encounters/french-colonies/marie-josephe-angelique/
- ↑ https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/91F0015M1997003
- ↑ Enslavement of Indigenous People in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia
See also
Explore more about Slavery in Canada
- Henry-Dixon, Natasha. 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last modified February 7, 2022.
- Parks Canada The Enslavement of African People in Canada (c. 1629–1834). Government of Canada. Last modified July 31, 2020.
- Hamilton, James Cleland. Transactions of the Canadian Institute, Vol. I, 1889–1890. Slavery in Canada. Hathi Trust Digital Library.
- Nova Scotia Historical Society. Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. Halifax: Nova Scotia Historical Society, 1880.
- Canadian Museum for Human Rights. "The Story of Black Slavery in Canadian History." Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
- Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada.
- Riddell, William Renwick. Upper Canada – Early Period. The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Washington, D.C., 1920.
- Elgersman Lee, Maureen. Unyielding Spirits: Black Women and Slavery in Early Canada and Jamaica. Garland Publishers, New York: 1999.