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History

The Long Road to Freedom

After the American Revolution, there was still slavery in the United States. The northern states were gradually outlawing slavery, but workers were still badly needed in the southern states and slavery was still very much a way of life. The people in favour of slavery were able to get a law passed in 1793 that allowed slave owners to track down runaway slaves who had fled to the northern states and bring them back. Then in 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act said that anyone who knew where runaway slaves were had to report what they knew or be punished. It was no longer safe to run away to the northern states. Many enslaved African Americans decided to flee further north, hoping to reach British North America where they would be free. By this time, British North America had abolished slavery.

Underground to Canada

Stories of the Underground Railroad spread, and more and more people decided to come to British North America where they could be free. Many of the people who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad settled in the Province of Canada and in New Brunswick. By 1865, more than 30 000 African Americans had made the dangerous journey to Canada West or the maritime colonies. Many slaves were captured, badly beaten and returned to their owners. Because everything was so secretive, no one knows for sure how many African Americans came to British North America by the Underground Railroad, but it could be anywhere from 20 000 to 100 000 people.

Many escaped slaves settled in Canada West in such towns as St. Catharines, Amherstburg, London, Woolwich, Oro and Chatham. Escaped slaves also crossed the Great Lakes into towns such as Owen Sound, Toronto and Windsor.