Black Nova Scotians

Formerly enslaved families secured their freedom by resettling in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but Nova Scotian government did not make their resettlement easy.

Robert Petley (1835), Library and Archives Canada (C-115424)

Of the estimated 4000 enslaved people who escaped to the British during the War of 1812, about 2000 of them were resettled in Nova Scotia (Canada). However, the Nova Scotian government was not welcoming toward the newly freed settlers. Unlike European settlers, Black settlers were given titles of occupation rather than ownership of the land they lived on. This meant that when long winters left entire communities destitute, Black settlers could not sell their land and move elsewhere.

In addition, the Nova Scotian government also made a request to the British government in 1817 that Black settlers be returned to America or sent to live in Sierra Leone, where about a thousand Black Loyalists had resettled as a result of their mistreatment in Nova Scotia in 1792. The Black settlers refused to be returned to the United States or to move to Sierra Leone, so Trinidad was offered as a last option. Only about ninety settlers agreed to move to Trinidad.

Despite the fear and discrimination they faced, Black settlers were able to form a cohesive culture in Nova Scotia bound by their determination to make a new home where they were free to make their own decisions.

To read more about Black settlers in Nova Scotia during the War of 1812, please visit this article from the Nova Scotia Archives or click on the people featured below.