Nova Scotia Archives
African Nova Scotian Teaching and Learning
Report of land cleared by Black Refugees at Preston
This important document sheds light on the work patterns of the black refugees. It demonstrates the wide range of their farming abilities. Clearly some were good farmers, while others struggled unsuccessfully to cultivate the poor land allotted to them. Refugee housing is also described. The majority lived in huts, some lived in "snug" houses, and others had not yet built a dwelling.
Date: 9 May 1816
Reference Commissioner of Public Records Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 421 number 3
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?