Underground Railroad

History of Slavery

Since the beginning of civilizations, slavery has existed. Here are some reasons:

-war prisoners

-repay a debt

-cheap labour

-extreme poverty

Just prior to the conquering of the Americas, Portugal used the well-established African slave trade to provide workers for their sugar crops in the Canary Islands.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Sugar: White Gold

Portuguese Hierarchy in the Americas

Slavery in Canada

  • At least 1,443 were Black people who were enslaved between the late 1600s and 1831 in New France
  • After losing the the war during the American Revolution, Britain promoted loyalists in America to move to Canada. They permitted those loyalists to bring their slaves.
  • Around 3,000 enslaved men, women and children of African descent were brought into British North America.
  • By the 1790s, the number of enslaved Black people in the Maritimes ranged from 1,200 to 2,000.
  • There were about 300 in Lower Canada (Québec), and between 500 and 700 in Upper Canada (Ontario).
  • The Slavery Abolition Act came into effect on 1 August 1834, abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire

Slavery in the U.S. in the 1800s

  • During and immediately following the Revolutionary War, abolitionist laws were passed in most Northern states and a movement developed to abolish slavery.
  • The rapid expansion of the cotton industry in the Deep South greatly increased demand for slave labor to pick cotton
  • Those states attempted to extend slavery into the new western territories to keep their share of political power in the nation.

The Underground Railroad

  • The underground railroad was not an actual railroad. Instead, it was a network of safe places (houses, barns, churches, etc.) in which escaped slaves could hide during the day while travelling north to their freedom.
  • The safe places were called “stations.” “Stationmaster” was the name for people who provided shelter for fugitive slaves.
  • “Conductors” led slaves along routes of the railroad, just as on an actual railroad.
  • Additionally, some supporters of the underground railroad were called “stockholders.” Stockholders provided food or money to help support the railroad.
  • Fugitive slaves or “riders” often needed a change of clothes to help disguise them as well as food. “Riders” might be stranded at a station for several days or even longer until it was safe to travel to the next station on the railroad.
  • the underground railroad began around 1810. It functioned approximately fifty years.
  • It is estimated that more than 30,000 slaves journeyed on the underground railroad during its existence

Black Settlement in Ontario

Upon arriving in Canada, many newly freed Blacks settled in what is now Ontario in Amherstburg, Chatham, London, Oro, Woolwich and Windsor. Others crossed the Great Lakes to freedom and made their homes in Owen Sound and Toronto. Here in Ontario, along with Black Loyalists who had arrived in the province following the American Revolution, they established new lives and enduring communities throughout the 19th century, and contributed to the overall defence and development of the province.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is built on the site of the Black settlement that Rev. Josiah Henson helped found in 1841