One Too Many: Enslavement of Africans in Early Ontario

New Black history in Toronto resource!!
I’m thrilled to announce that the self-guided walking tour I curated, Tracing Mary Ann Shadd Cary’s Footsteps in Mid-19th Century Toronto, is now available on the BaladoDiscovery App platform.

It’s a great educational resource for all - the general public, classes at the middle school, high school, and post-secondary levels, as well as tourists to the city.

Take a picture at the MASC plaque, the last point of interest, and post on social media using the hashtag .

The nice fall weather is a great opportunity to take the tour!

Tour link:
https://baladodiscovery.com/circuits/1303/

August 28, 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act received Royal Assent and took effect August 1, 1834. Read my Historica Canada article to learn more:

Slavery Abolition Act, 1833 An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted slaves; and for compensating the Persons hithe...

Today, August 23rd marks the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade & its Abolition. Read my article, "Black Enslavement in Canada."

Black Enslavement in Canada (Plain-Language Summary) | The Canadian Encyclopedia History, politics, arts, science & more: the Canadian Encyclopedia is your reference on Canada. Articles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public.

Today, August 23rd marks the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade & its Abolition. Read my article, "Black Enslavement in Canada."

Black Enslavement in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia History, politics, arts, science & more: the Canadian Encyclopedia is your reference on Canada. Articles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public.

August 23rd marks the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade & its Abolition. We remember the lives of those enslaved, honour those who agitated for freedom, and acknowledge the lasting legacies of the brutal system on people of African descent.

At least 4500 African people were enslaved in Canada for over 200 years, approximately 600 in colonial Ontario. My project, One Too Many, seeks to honour them & to uncover more about the lives and experiences of Black men, women, and children enslaved in early Ontario.

Learn about the lasting impact of slavery in Ontario and the power of Black resistance in our "Slavery & Abolition in Upper Canada" exhibit, created with Natasha Henry-Dixon and the Ontario Black History Society: https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/enslavedafricans/index.aspx.

[Levi Veney, formerly enslaved person who lived in Amherstburg, Ontario, circa 1898 (Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, F 2076, image I0024830)]

Glad to have contributed my chapter, “Sold as a Slave for Life: Black Enslavement in Colonial Canada”!

Check out this informative collection.

New Open Access Book - "Forced Migration in/to Canada: From Colonization to Refugee Resettlement"

"Forced migration shaped the creation of Canada as a settler state and is a defining feature of our contemporary national and global contexts. Many people in Canada have direct or indirect experiences of refugee resettlement and protection, trafficking, and environmental displacement. Offering a comprehensive resource in the growing field of migration studies, Forced Migration in/to Canada is a critical primer from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Researchers, practitioners, and knowledge keepers draw on documentary evidence and analysis to foreground lived experiences of displacement and migration policies at the municipal, provincial, territorial, and federal levels. From the earliest instances of Indigenous displacement and settler colonialism, through Black enslavement, to statelessness, trafficking, and climate migration in today’s world, contributors show how migration, as a human phenomenon, is differentially shaped by intersecting identities and structures. Particularly novel are the specific insights into disability, race, class, social age, and gender identity. Situating Canada within broader international trends, norms, and structures – both today and historically – Forced Migration in/to Canada provides the tools we need to evaluate information we encounter in the news and from government officials, colleagues, and non-governmental organizations. It also proposes new areas for enquiry, discussion, research, advocacy, and action."

https://repository.library.carleton.ca/concern/works/k643b269w?locale=en

New Open Access Book - "Forced Migration in/to Canada: From Colonization to Refugee Resettlement"

"Forced migration shaped the creation of Canada as a settler state and is a defining feature of our contemporary national and global contexts. Many people in Canada have direct or indirect experiences of refugee resettlement and protection, trafficking, and environmental displacement. Offering a comprehensive resource in the growing field of migration studies, Forced Migration in/to Canada is a critical primer from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Researchers, practitioners, and knowledge keepers draw on documentary evidence and analysis to foreground lived experiences of displacement and migration policies at the municipal, provincial, territorial, and federal levels. From the earliest instances of Indigenous displacement and settler colonialism, through Black enslavement, to statelessness, trafficking, and climate migration in today’s world, contributors show how migration, as a human phenomenon, is differentially shaped by intersecting identities and structures. Particularly novel are the specific insights into disability, race, class, social age, and gender identity. Situating Canada within broader international trends, norms, and structures – both today and historically – Forced Migration in/to Canada provides the tools we need to evaluate information we encounter in the news and from government officials, colleagues, and non-governmental organizations. It also proposes new areas for enquiry, discussion, research, advocacy, and action."

https://repository.library.carleton.ca/concern/works/k643b269w?locale=en

Glad to have been the lead researcher on this exhibit. Take a moment to learn more about slavery and freedom in colonial Ontario.

Today is . The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 put an end to slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834, providing a path to freedom for more than 800,000 enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Learn more about the history of slavery and its abolition in Ontario in our online exhibit "Slavery and Abolition in Upper Canada": https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/enslavedafricans/index.aspx.

[Moses Brantford Jr. leading an Emancipation Day parade down Dalhousie Street, Amherstburg, Ontario, 1894 (Alvin D. McCurdy fonds, F 2076, I0027817)]

Looking to learn more about ? Read Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada by Natasha L. Henry now: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/emancipation-day-celebrating-freedom-in-canada/9781554887170.html?searchType=products&searchTerm=emancipation%20day

August 1, 2024 marks the 190th Emancipation Day. My books document the history and significance of Emancipation Day and its continued legacy in Canada. Learn more about this rich cultural tradition. Get your copies today: tinyurl.com/mryjfzsx

2024 marks the 190th Emancipation Day. My books document the history and significance of Emancipation Day and its continued legacy in Canada. Learn more about this rich cultural tradition. Get your copies today: https://www.dundurn.com/authors_/t156375/p149016-natasha-l--henry-dixon

in 1793 the Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada received Royal Assent which prevented the further introduction of enslaved persons into Upper Canada. Chloe Cooley’s bravery precipitated this bill. Read my articles on the Act and the incident that spurred it:

1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada The 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada was the first legislation in the British colonies to restrict the slave trade. The Act recognized enslavement as a...

🆕Upcoming Event: Professor Natasha L. Henry-Dixon, "On Black Canadian Studies: A View through Ontario's Black History".

📅Date: Friday June 14th
⏰Time: 5:00PM
📍 Location: 519 Kaneff Tower

Please make sure to register by June 10 at [email protected]

Happening Thursday May 23rd

Learn more about the Black & Indigenous people enslaved by the Baby family on both sides of the Detroit River in Turner's project "The House of Baby": https://t.ly/ZeioR

Read the teacher's guide I developed that includes some historical background. Important to note that Detroit was a British territory connected to Upper Canada until 1796.

March 25: The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In honor of the millions who the inhumane system of racial chattel slavery, I tell the stories of the women, men, and children enslaved in Upper Canada (today Ontario).

March 25th: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery & the Transatlantic Slave Trade. One Too Many remembers the over 500 Black women, men, and children enslaved in colonial Ontario from the 1770s – 1834.

March 25: The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In honor of the millions who the inhumane system of racial chattel slavery, I tell the stories of the women, men, and children enslaved in Upper Canada (today Ontario).

My interview with CBC Morning North and Brent Whitford of the Cornwall Community Museum discussing the Baker family, enslaved in Cornwall, for Family Day: “It’s extremely important, it gives an insight into the Black presence at that particular time, including Black families with both statuses of enslaved and free, provides insight into the complexities of colonization. We need to see them as more than chattel, more than a commodity of the Loyalists who enslaved them. We can see them in their multidimensional lives as mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, that they established families and had a life even within the confines of enslavement.”

Remembering Chloe Cooley and her legacy today.

The 47th article of the peace agreement upheld the right to continue to enslave Black and Indigenous people:

"Negroes and panis of both sexes shall remain in their quality of slaves in the possession of the French or Canadians to whom they belong; they shall be at liberty to keep them in the colony or sell them."

The transition of power from French to British rule saw the enslaved population change to primary Black people in the British colonies that became Canada.

Capitulation of Montreal 1760 The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the capitulation of Quebec City in 1759 made the strategic situation of New France desperate. Despite a victory at the B...

Read my article on the history of Black enslavement in the colonies that became Canada.

Black Enslavement in Canada In early Canada, the enslavement of African peoples was a legal instrument that helped fuel colonial economic enterprise. The buying, selling and enslavement of...

Our next lecture is Thursday, July 20th . Join us for ‘A Violent Outrage’: The Chloe Cooley Incident, Black Enslavement & The Legacy of Black Resistance in Niagara.

Historian Natasha Henry-Dixon (York University) will discuss the historical significance and legacy of Chloe Cooley and will focus on contextualizing her life and the lives of hundreds of enslaved Black women, men, and children within Upper Canada’s system of racial chattel slavery. Henry-Dixon will also reflect on Cooley’s importance 230 years later and highlight why her story especially resonates today.

Natasha is an assistant professor in the Department of History at York University. The 2018 Vanier Scholar is researching the enslavement of Black people in early Ontario. Her publications include Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada (June 2010), Talking about Freedom: Celebrating Freedom in Canada (2012) and several entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia on African Canadian history. She has developed educational resources for several projects on the Black experience in Canada. Through her various professional, academic and community roles, Natasha’s work is grounded in her commitment to research, collect, preserve, and disseminate the histories of African Canadians.

‘A Violent Outrage’ will be presented at the NOTL Museum, Thursday July 20th at 7:30pm. Admission is $10.00, and free for members. Seating is limited, so call to reserve seating. For more information call 905 468 3912.

(image courtesy of Canada Post)