Graeme Decarie
Well-Known Member
Well, pr., you won't find it in many history books. But Canada has legal slavery until about 1820 - only 40 years before the US civil war. New France had them from the start. They tried Indians for at time; but it was too easy for Indians to escape into the forests.
Besides, they died very young. So the French early switched to African slaves.
The difficulty with slaves was revealed at the time of the American revolution, as Empire Loyalists fled the US with their slaves, many going to Nova Scotia and then New Brunswick. The difficulty was that Canada at that time had no big cash crop to take advantage of slave labour. They were just a nuisance, so they were "freed", and dumped on those lands that nobody else wanted.
The same difficult had revealed itself in the former New France, with the result that there just wasn't much of a market for slaves.
But, with the slaves they did have, Canadians, like Americans, freely gave them the lash and other punishments, including being torn apart by horses. When slavery was abolished, it wasn't because of any Canadian enlightenment. It came because slavery was abolished throughout the empire.
Many ex-slaves and slaves who had fled the US fought for Canada in the war of 1812. Another, from Nova Scotia became an
early winner of the Victoria Cross. But Canada generally segregated them in this country. Nova Scotia is still the most racist province, by far, that I have seen in Canada. New Brunswick was notorious for its racism. (though I find it much improved, now.)
In Montreal, Most were forced to live in a miserable district now called "Little Burgundy". the only work the men could find was as railway porters, and low level factory workers. Women had it worse. They were restricted to being domestics or nightclub singers and dancers. (though Black customers were not permitted in white nightclubs. Sammy Davis Jr. as a child sang and danced at a Montreal club - but he would not have been admitted as a customer, and he was not permitted to sit with a white customer. That hasn't improved a whole lot.)
I did a film on this with NFB, though I'm damned if I can recall the name of it. So I met some of the girls. They were very observant Christians. But the choice was working for peanuts as a domestic, or making a living as a dancer. Another Black friend wanted to go to university but couldn't afford it unless he had an athletic scholarship. He was, in fact, an NHL prospect. But there was no chance the NHL would accept a Black, and he couldn't get a scholarship because most universities in Canada, including McGill, wouldn't accept them - and certainly not on the school hockey team. So he got a scholarship to a prestigious US university, got a law degree, became a major figure in Montreal,and president of the Quebec Liberal Party. His sister, about 1960, became the first Black teacher to be hired by the Montreal Protestant School Board.
In World War 1, they were not permitted to join the army (or, in those days, to go to any white hotel, restaurant, movie theatre, etc.) That still happens. Shortly before his death, Martin Luther King was denied a reservation at a New Brunswick resort.
Check any world war 2 photos of the Canadian Navy or Air Force. count the Black faces. You probably won't need even one finger. I'm not sure, but I think the Black Watch regiment still refuses to accept Blacks. Certainly, it did refuse them until recently.
But, no, you won't find much of this in Canadian history books.
Besides, they died very young. So the French early switched to African slaves.
The difficulty with slaves was revealed at the time of the American revolution, as Empire Loyalists fled the US with their slaves, many going to Nova Scotia and then New Brunswick. The difficulty was that Canada at that time had no big cash crop to take advantage of slave labour. They were just a nuisance, so they were "freed", and dumped on those lands that nobody else wanted.
The same difficult had revealed itself in the former New France, with the result that there just wasn't much of a market for slaves.
But, with the slaves they did have, Canadians, like Americans, freely gave them the lash and other punishments, including being torn apart by horses. When slavery was abolished, it wasn't because of any Canadian enlightenment. It came because slavery was abolished throughout the empire.
Many ex-slaves and slaves who had fled the US fought for Canada in the war of 1812. Another, from Nova Scotia became an
early winner of the Victoria Cross. But Canada generally segregated them in this country. Nova Scotia is still the most racist province, by far, that I have seen in Canada. New Brunswick was notorious for its racism. (though I find it much improved, now.)
In Montreal, Most were forced to live in a miserable district now called "Little Burgundy". the only work the men could find was as railway porters, and low level factory workers. Women had it worse. They were restricted to being domestics or nightclub singers and dancers. (though Black customers were not permitted in white nightclubs. Sammy Davis Jr. as a child sang and danced at a Montreal club - but he would not have been admitted as a customer, and he was not permitted to sit with a white customer. That hasn't improved a whole lot.)
I did a film on this with NFB, though I'm damned if I can recall the name of it. So I met some of the girls. They were very observant Christians. But the choice was working for peanuts as a domestic, or making a living as a dancer. Another Black friend wanted to go to university but couldn't afford it unless he had an athletic scholarship. He was, in fact, an NHL prospect. But there was no chance the NHL would accept a Black, and he couldn't get a scholarship because most universities in Canada, including McGill, wouldn't accept them - and certainly not on the school hockey team. So he got a scholarship to a prestigious US university, got a law degree, became a major figure in Montreal,and president of the Quebec Liberal Party. His sister, about 1960, became the first Black teacher to be hired by the Montreal Protestant School Board.
In World War 1, they were not permitted to join the army (or, in those days, to go to any white hotel, restaurant, movie theatre, etc.) That still happens. Shortly before his death, Martin Luther King was denied a reservation at a New Brunswick resort.
Check any world war 2 photos of the Canadian Navy or Air Force. count the Black faces. You probably won't need even one finger. I'm not sure, but I think the Black Watch regiment still refuses to accept Blacks. Certainly, it did refuse them until recently.
But, no, you won't find much of this in Canadian history books.
Graeme, and Inanna. I didn't know those things.
of Canada.