Oakville’s Black History Exhibit

Upper Canada’s early Anti-Slavery Act was followed in 1833 by the complete abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. In the United States however, slavery continued. Both free and escaped slaves from the United States had been making their way to Canada for many decades. Gradually their routes became more established as the “Underground Railroad”. This term referred to a secret network of African American and White, men and women, who used railroad language as a code to escort and assist individuals following the North Star to freedom.

The flow of African Americans into Canada increased dramatically after 1850, with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in the United States. This Act encouraged the capture and return to slavery of African Americans, eliminating their right to testify on their own behalf, and denying their right to jury trial. This Act increased the risk to free African Americans as well. Anyone aiding in the escape of a slave could be fined or imprisoned, and many were.

It was through great personal sacrifice and great secrecy that the Underground Railroad continued to operate, doubling Ontario’s African American population from about 20,000 to 40,000 in the first ten years after the Fugitive Slave Act.

Many Loyalists who had fought and lost on the side of the British during the American Revolution (1775-83) settled in the area of Upper Canada, known today as Ontario. Among these Loyalists were African Americans - some who were free since volunteering to serve with the British Forces, and others who were still slaves to their British masters.  Upper Canada officially became a province in 1791, and John Graves Simcoe was its first Lieutenant Governor. A long-time supporter of the abolition of slavery, Simcoe introduced the Anti-Slavery Act, which was passed on July 9, 1793. The Act was “to prevent the further introduction of slaves, and to limit the term of contracts for servitude” within the province, allowing children of existing slaves to be automatically set free at the age of 25 years. This Act did not free existing slaves already in the province however, who were still considered as the property of their owners, and could still be bought and sold.

As a result of the Anti-Slavery Act, Upper Canada soon came to be viewed by African American slaves as the “Promised Land”. By the 1820s, “Underground Railroad” routes were already established, bringing more African Americans from the United States to freedom in Canada.