This document summarizes Black history in Canada from 1604 to 2016 in three time periods: 1604-1867, 1867-1962, and 1962-2016. It outlines important events, people and developments for Black Canadians over time, including the first Black person in Canada, slavery and abolition, the Underground Railroad, influential figures, discrimination and civil rights milestones.

3. CELEBRATI
NG
BLACK HISTORY
IN CANADA!
1604 – 1867: Pre-Confederation:
1867 – 1962: People who Made
History
1962 – 2016: Creating Equality

4. Take time this month to reflect on the diversity at ACI.

5. OSCAR PETERSON
Sources:
Historica Canada: Black History Timeline http://blackhistorycanada.ca/timeline.php?id=1600
Inside Halton.com
http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/2929641-oakville-s-forgotten-history/
Images from Wikipedia

6. BLACK HISTORY IN CANADA BEFORE
CONFEDERATION:
1604- 1799
NEW FRANCE (Quebec)
Slave Trading Ship
 1608: FIRST BLACK PERSON IN
CANADA was Mathieu Da Costa, hired
as a translator for Samuel de Champlain.
 1 May 1689: King Louis XIV of France
gave limited approval to slavery
 Spring 1734: Marie-Joseph Angélique
was tortured and hanged for allegedly
setting a fire that burned nearly 50
homes. She was trying to escape and
may have set the fire as “cover” for her
departure.
 1799: Papineau Presents Citizens'
Petition to Abolish Slavery This
marked the beginning of a movement
towards the abolition of slavery in
Lower Canada (Quebec).

7. BLACK HISTORY IN CANADA BEFORE
CONFEDERATION: 1604- 1799
UPPER CANADA (Ontario)
 Starting 1776: White Loyalists brought slaves after the American
War of Independence.
 21 March 1793: Chloë Cooley was beaten, bound, and sold by
her owner to an American.
 19 June 1793: Governor Simcoe's Anti-Slave Trade Bill was
passed. It was not a total ban on slavery, but it had the effect of
ending slavery in Upper Canada by 1800.

8. NOVA SCOTIA
1776 : Loyalist "Free Negroes" Reach
Nova Scotia
Black people who had served on the
British side during the American War
of Independence settled in Nova
Scotia.
Local discrimination caused a large
number to move to Sierra Leone later
on.
Africville Church
(Reconstructed as part of Nova Scotia’s
apology for razing Africville)

9. 1799 - 1833
War of 1812 to
Abolition of Slavery in 1833
UNDERGROUND RAILWAY
“Uncle Tom” Service in
1812
 1812-1815: War of 1812 Thousands of
Black volunteers fought for the British
 1815-1860: The Underground Railroad
Tens of thousands of African-Americans from
the USA sought refuge in Upper and Lower
Canada (Ontario & Quebec).
 28 October 1830: Henson— "Uncle
Tom"—Escaped to Canada
 28 August 1833: British Parliament
Abolished Slavery, effective August 1,
1834 - By that time, there were probably
fewer than 50 slaves in British North America
(Canada).

10. 1833 TO 1867
(CONFEDERATION)
 February-May 1851: Upper
Canadians Opposed the USA’s
Fugitive Slave Act
 24 March 1853: Mary Ann and
Isaac Shadd founded the Provincial
Freeman Newspaper In Upper
Canada
 26 April 1858: 800 Black
Californians landed in Victoria,
BC at the invitation of the colony’s
Governor.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary

11. HARRIET
TUBMAN
A symbol of courage in the abolition
movement and Underground
Railroad, Tubman died 10 March
1913:
 She made 19 secret trips to the
American South and guided more than
300 slaves to freedom in Canada;
 During the American Civil War, she
worked for the Union Army as an armed
scout and spy;
 Tubman led an armed raid which
liberated over 700 slaves;
 She was active in the movement for
women’s suffrage (votes for women)

12. ELIJAH MCCOY – BORN 1844 IN
CANADA
“THE REAL MCCOY” WAS HIS
INVENTION!

13. MIFFLIN GIBBS:
CANADA’S FIRST BLACK POLITICIAN
 Mifflin Gibbs travelled from
California to Victoria, B.C.
 He wanted to escape racist
laws in California
 He was elected to Victoria
Town Council in 1866
 Gibbs returned to the USA
after the American Civil War
and became a lawyer there.

14. 1867 - 1962
After Confederation,
discrimination was a
problem across Canada:
 On February 28, 1930, the KKK
burned crosses in Oakville ON.
About 75 clansmen removed
Isobel Jones, a white woman, from
the home of her fiance, Junius
Johnson. Johnson was a black
WWI veteran who had fought at
Vimy Ridge in WWI.
 Leaders were charged and
convicted; the first KKK
prosecution
1911: Immigration Policy
severely restricted immigration of
black people into Canada
1914-1918: Black Canadians
served on the Home Front and
abroad in WWI - The No. 2
Construction Battalion was
segregated.
1920’s : Ku Klux Klan groups formed
in various parts of Canada .

15. VIOLA DESMOND WAS ARRESTED FOR SITTING IN THE "WHITE-
ONLY" SECTION OF A MOVIE THEATRE IN NOVA SCOTIA IN 1946. TRAGICALLY,
HER LEGAL CHALLENGE TO THESE UNSEEMLY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS FAILED.

16. After WWII, Conditions
in Canada began to
improve
1939-1945 : In WWII, many black soldiers were
integrated into the regular army and officer corps.
14 March 1944: Ontario Passed the Racial
Discrimination Act to prohibit expression of
ethnic, racial, or religious discrimination.
2-3 September 1954: Toronto Telegram Covers
the Dresden Story - In 1954, two black people
were refused service in two restaurants in
Dresden ON.
June, 1962: Ontario passed the Ontario
Human Rights Code to prohibit
discrimination
After 1962, Canada’s “White Only”
Immigration Policy was eliminated.

17. LEONARD
BRAITHWAITE
Was the first black
person elected to a
Canadian Parliament
when he became
Liberal MPP for
Etobicoke, Ontario in
1963.

18. CREATORS OF EQUALITY
Dr. Wilson Head, a sociologist, moved
from the US to Canada in 1959 and founded the
Urban Alliance on Race Relations in 1975.
Daniel Hill was Ontario Human Rights
Commissioner, & Ontario Ombudsman.

19. ROSEMARY
BROWN
•
•First black woman elected to
a Canadian legislature,
serving as MLA in British
Columbia
• Professor of Women’s
Studies at Simon Fraser U
• Served as Chief
Commissioner of the Ontario
Human Rights Commission

20. MUSICAL GLORY
PORTIA WHITE was born 1911
in Truro, Nova Scotia
MEASHA BRUEGERGOSMAN
b1977, Fredericton New
Brunswick

21. HARRY JEROME
Received the Order of Canada for
excellence in all fields of Canadian
life after representing Canada in
three Olympic Games between 1964
and 1971

22. CARIBANA!

23. AUSTIN CLARKE
 Winner of Giller Prize in
2002 for The Polished Hoe
 Canada's most widely-read
black novelist!

24. ANDRE ALEXIS
 Writer and winner of the 2015 Giller prize for Fifteen Dogs

25. MICHAELLE JEAN:
JOURNALIST
CANADA’S FIRST BLACK GOVERNOR-GENERAL

26. LINCOLN ALEXANDER
 was the first black Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister in
Canada; and
 was sworn in as Ontario's lieutenant-governor in September 1985.