African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition

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Slavery and Freedom, 1749-1782

Most black people brought to Nova Scotia between 1749 and 1782 were slaves of English or American settlers. In 1750 a Royal Navy officer, Thomas Bloss, brought 16 slaves to Halifax, perhaps in order to crew vessels involved in maritime commerce. Prominent shipowner and trader Joshua Mauger sold slaves at auction in Halifax, and newspaper advertisements for the return of runaway slaves were common. Included in the nearly 3000 inhabitants of Halifax in 1750 were about 400 enslaved and 17 free black people.

In 1759 the governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, offered New Englanders large tracts of free land if they would move to Nova Scotia. This resulted in some 6000 settlers (Planters) relocating to Nova Scotia between 1759 and 1765. They settled in the Annapolis Valley and elsewhere and formed townships such as Cornwallis, Falmouth and Liverpool. The Planters brought their slaves, numbering in the hundreds, with them. A few free black people, such as Barbary (Barbara) Cuffy of Liverpool, also came as Planters.

Despite the growth of slavery, a few African Nova Scotians were able to gain or keep their freedom. Over half of the free black people resided in Halifax and probably made a living as common labourers, or in domestic service, stevedoring or building construction. In 1767 there were 104 free black persons living in Nova Scotia, which included present-day New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. This was less than one per cent of the total population.

During this period, enslaved African Nova Scotians worked as domestics, agricultural labourers and seafarers. However, some were skilled labourers such as carpenters, sail-makers and rope-makers. Nova Scotia's slave population at any one time during this period numbered in the hundreds. Although Nova Scotia's economic resources and climate could not sustain a plantation economy, its slave population provided a cheap source of labour. The assumption, then commonly held by Whites, that the place of Blacks was to be slaves was prevalent throughout Nova Scotia. These negative attitudes became sorely exposed following the large influx of Loyalist refugees, both white and black, at the end of the American War of Independence in 1783.

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