Nova Scotia Archives
African Nova Scotian Teaching and Learning
Bill to provincial government for surveying Birch Town
This bill is for surveying the 179 lots assigned to the black settlers of Birchtown in 1787. It states that each family received 40 acres, while single persons obtained 20 acres. The average land grant to white settlers was 100 acres or more. The muster roll of the inhabitants of Birchtown, giving their names, ages and occupations, is held by the National Archives of Canada (reference: MG 9 B 9-14, vol. 1, file 3, p. 108-109).
Date: 20 November 1787
Reference Nova Scotia Archives MG 100 volume 256 number 30 (microfilm 21819)
Questions to Consider
- When do you think the document was written?
- Who do you think wrote the document?
- Why do you think the document was written
- Who do you think received the document?
- Who do you think this document was written for?
- What information do you think this document provides? What do you think it tells us about the past?
- How do you think the document reflects the attitudes and values of the time period in which it was written?
- What impact do you think the document had at the time it was written?
- Do you think those were different impacts for different people?