Browse Items (33 total)

Runaway slave ad - NS - 1786.png
Advertisements of runaway slaves of this sort were common before 1833 when the British abolished slavery. The format of the ad is also common, giving a description of runaway, Henry Jones, and threats to anyone who might aid in his concealment.…

Saint John River Valley with Black Settlements - 1788.png
This is a map of the Saint John River and its tributaries in New Brunswick created in 1788.  It is thought to be the first map of this area that was relatively unknown by Whites until it was settled by United Empire Loyalists from the United States…

Joseph Papineau - 1825.png
This image of Joseph Papineau was painted 26 years after he presented the citizen's petition endorsing the abolition of slavery in Lower Canada.

Map of Northwest Territory - 1787.pdf
This map shows the new territory created in the United States in 1787 as a "free" territory. Any slave entering the state after 1787 was deemed free, although slaves already residing there remained the property of their owners. Since this territory…

Memorial and Petition from James Frazer - Montreal - 1798.png
This petition from James Frazer to the Governor of Upper and Lower Canada, Robert Prescott, is a request for assurances that these colonies will not abolish slavery. Frazer was a White United Empire Loyalist who came to Nova Scotia and brought, at…

Governor John Graves Simcoe.png
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe played a significant role in the passing of a law in Upper Canada in 1793 that was intended to gradually eliminate slavery. While existing slaves would remain slaves, the law disallowed any new slaves from…

Layout of Slave Ship.png
This illustration shows the way slave ships were packed with slaves during the Atlantic slave trade. The illustration was used as evidence presented to a select committee of the British House of Commons in 1790-1791. However, it took another…

Richard Pierpoint - Date Unknown.png
Richard Pierpoint is an example of a man who was captured and enslaved in Africa and transported to the United States where he was a slave before he gained his freedom and made his way to Canada. He fought on the side of the British during the…

William Hall - Postage Stamp - 1859.png
William Hall was born in Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia, the son of former American slaves. He began his naval career on an American trading vessel in 1844 when he was only seventeen years old. In 1852 he joined the British Royal Navy and fought in the…

Map of the Underground Railroad Routes to Canada.png
The Underground Railroad was the name given to the system of secret routes and stopping points that White and Black abolitionists and fugitive slaves used to get fugitives out of the southern American "slave states" and into the northern "free…
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