A History of Nova Scotia Page


Book #3: TOC
The Road To Being Canada
(1815-1867)
Chapter 3, More Blacks Come To Nova Scotia

There were, through the years, three major migrations of blacks to Nova Scotia. The first occurred in 1783 when the Black Loyalists came from the newly independent United States. The second migration came about in 1796; the Maroons who came from Jamaica. The third migration occurred when the refugee blacks fled the aftereffects of the War of 1812.1 This last migration consisted of about a thousand Black refugees who were landed at Halifax. These blacks, the "Chesapeake Blacks," were settled by 1816 at Preston, Hammond's Plains and other nearby communities. The years that followed their settlement were difficult ones."2 But many survived to be the progenitors of the majority of the Blacks who are in Nova Scotia today.3

To conclude this brief note: In 1821, 90 of the "Chesapeake Blacks" took up an offer of the government to transport them to Trinidad. They arrived safely and Trinidad was glad to have them. Ninety out of a population of in excess of 2,000 was not many. Most felt that they were being tricked and that they were going to be sold back to their old masters in the United States. The majority preferred their state of freedom as experienced by them in Nova Scotia, though life was hard for them mainly because of the cold winters.4


NEXT: [Chapter 4, The Existence Of Class ...]

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