|
Guy Carleton | Jay's
Treaty |
Black Loyalists |
Alexander Mackenzie |
Simon Fraser |
David Thompson |
John Graves Simcoe |
Captain George Vancouver |
The Northwest Company |
Prevost's Conciliation |
Tecumseh |
The War of 1812 | Lord Selkirk
| Newfoundland |
Constitution Act 1791
As the American Revolutionary War drew to
an end, those in the U.S. who had supported the British
found themselves increasingly under suspicion and
pressure by those who had supported
the Independence movement. Some loyalists re tarred and
feathered and placed on rails as they were carried out
of town, some slowly migrated north as events turned
against the British, and some followed the British army
seeking safety in their presence.
In the summer of 1775 the
colony of Virginia was taken over by rebel elements and
in order to regain control, the British Governor, Lord
Dunmore issued a proclamation which stated that any
slave or indentured person that was willing to take up
arms with the British against the rebels, would be given
their freedom. The result was that over 2000 slaves
flocked to the British bases and joined up.
There were
approximately 100,000 loyalists that fled the U.S. and
settled in Canada. About 30,000 of these migrated
to the Maritimes, and most of the rest settled in what
was to become Upper Canada with a few choosing Lower
Canada as their new home. They brought with them a
commitment to the British Crown and an opposition to the
revolutionary republican politics of the break away
colonies. This created an even stronger royalists streak
in the Canadian character then had existed before.
The loyalists however were not just
Englishmen still supporting the British Empire. Many of
them were of a variety of religious, ethnic and national
background who had a vested interest or believe in the
status quo on England. Many of these were black slaves
or freemen who had been promised freedom or additional
rights once order was re-established by the British.
Once the war was accepted as a lots cause by the British
and it's troops, many of these black soldiers,
supporters and slaves of other loyalists prudently
decided to migrate north to the Canada's and the
Maritimes. The black migrants settled mainly in
Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, the along the Saint John River
Valley in New Brunswick and some smaller settlements
along the St Lawrence river. In some cases they were
accepted into the societies in which they arrived but in
many circumstances they were not treated as full
citizens and not extended all the rights and privileges
that others valued.
Some of these
communities are still thriving and strong in the
Maritimes after 230 years of arriving in Canada. |
