Richard Gallion, president of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, is among the thousands of Nova Scotians who can find their ancestors’ names among the three thousand recorded in the Book of Negroes. FREEDOM BOUNDA simple act – having one’s name recorded in a ledger known as the Book of Negroes – promised freedom to Black Loyalists in 1783 and, for some, allowed passage to Canada. But was Canada the promised land? by Lawrence Hill t is not easy to find original documents about the the Life of Boston King, a Black Preacher. Written by history of blacks in Canada. Indeed, many high- Himself, which begins, like most slave narratives, with school or university students would come back the circumstances of his birth: “I was born in the One copy of empty-handed if you sent them to the Province of South Carolina, 28 miles from the Book of library in search of material about Charlestown. My father was stolen from Africa Negroes, a blacks in the eighteenth century. A few when he was young …” hand-written, Ienterprising students might unearth newspaper But even some of the keenest students bound list of advertisements for runaway slaves. For example, might miss a little-known document offering black passen- the July 3, 1792, issue of The Royal Gazette and details about the names, ages, places of origin, gers leaving the Nova Scotia Advertiser carries a crude sketch and personal situations of thousands of blacks New York on of runaway slaves with the advertisement: “Run who fled American slavery and hoped to find British ships in Away, Joseph Odel and Peter Lawrence (Negroes) their promised land in Canada. 1783 during from their Masters, and left Digby last evening … It is called the Book of Negroes. the American Whoever will secure said Negroes so that The handwritten ledger runs to about 150 Revolutionary their Masters may have them again, shall receive TEN pages. It offers volumes of information about the lives of War, is stored DOLLARS Reward, and all reasonable Charges paid. Daniel black people living more than two centuries ago. On an at the Nova SHANNON HENNIGAR Odel, Phillip Earl.” anecdotal level, it tells us who contracted smallpox, who Scotia Archives The truly motivated student might dig up one of the was blind, and who was travelling with small children. in Halifax. memoirs written centuries ago by blacks who had come One entry for a woman boarding a ship bound for Nova to Canada. One, for example, would be the Memoirs of Scotia describes her as bringing three children, with a The Beaver February - March 2007 17 Born in men, women, and children who travelled – some as free Newfoundland people, and others the slaves or indentured servants of in 1783 where white United Empire Loyalists – in 219 ships sailing his father served from New York between April and November 1783. The as governor, Book of Negroes did more than capture their names for Sir Henry Clinton posterity. In 1783, having your name registered in the was appointed document meant the promise of a better life. commander-in- chief of the s the last British stronghold during the Revolu- British forces in tionary War, Manhattan – where the sacred and North America A the profane mingled so freely that an area in 1778. His 1779 teeming with brothels was ironically dubbed “Holy Philipsburg Ground” for its proximity to churches – became a Proclamation haven for black refugees. Some of the blacks who stated that any crowded into the city arrived on their own volition. But “Negro who shall others came on the invitation of the British, who twice desert the Rebel issued formal proclamations asking blacks to abandon Standard” would their slave owners and to serve the military forces of receive full pro- King George III. tection, freedom, THE AMERICAN MUSEUM IN BRITAIN The first proclamation appeared in November 1775, and land. just months after the Revolutionary War had begun. To attract more support for the British forces, John Murray, the Virginia governor who was formally known as Lord Dunmore, infuriated American slave owners with his famous Dunmore Proclamation: The Book of Negroes did more than capture their registered in the document meant the promise of a baby in one arm and a toddler in the other. In this way, To the end that peace and good order may the sooner be the Book of Negroes gives precise details about when restored … I do require every person capable of bearing and where freedom seekers managed to rip themselves arms to resort to His Majesty’s standard … and I do free of American slavery. As a research tool it offers his- hereby further declare all indented servants,Negroes,or torians and genealogists the opportunity to trace and others (appertaining to Rebels) free, that are able and correlate people backward and forward in time in other willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops, documents, such as ship manifests, slave ledgers, and as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this census and tax records. Colony to a proper sense of their duty to his Majesty’s Sadly, however, the Book of Negroes has been largely crown and dignity. forgotten in Canada. And that is a shame. Dating back to an era when people of African heritage were mostly Enslaved blacks attentively followed this proclamation, excluded from official documents and records, the Book fleeing their owners to serve the British war effort. of Negroes offers an intimate and unsettling portrait of The Philipsburg Proclamation came four years later the origins of the Black Loyalists in Canada. Compiled and was designed to attract not just those “capable of bear- in 1783 by officers of the British military at the tail end ing arms,” but any black person, male or female, who was of the American Revolutionary War, the Book of Negroes prepared to serve the British in supporting roles as cooks, was the first massive public record of blacks in North laundresses, nurses, and general labourers. Issued in 1779 America. Indeed, what makes the Book of Negroes so by Sir Henry Clinton, commander-in-chief of the British fascinating are the stories of where its people came forces, it promised: “To every Negro who shall desert the from and how it came to be that they fled to Nova Sco- Rebel Standard, full security to follow within these lines, tia and other British colonies. any occupation which he shall think proper.” The document, which is essentially a detailed It is no small irony that Lord Dunmore, who issued ledger, contains the names of three thousand black the first proclamation, was a slave owner himself. The 18 February - March 2007 The Beaver sad truth is that when a number of former British mili- of New York City, blacks in Manhattan became increas- tary officers left New York City at the end of the war, they ingly desperate about their prospects. They had been took with them slaves or indentured servants, all of promised freedom in exchange for service in wartime. whom had no choice but to follow the men who claimed But would the British live up to their side of the bargain? to own them as they sailed to areas still under the rule of For a time, it looked as though they would not. When their king. the terms of the provisional peace treaty between the los- Nonetheless, in response to the British promises of ing British and the victorious rebels were finally made security and freedom, many blacks escaped from their known in 1783, the loyal blacks felt betrayed. Article 7 of owners and lent their skills and their labour to an army the peace treaty left the Black Loyalists with the impres- that had been weakened by smallpox epidemics and by sion that the British had abandoned them entirely. It said: the daily toll of fighting a war on a foreign continent. If you want to find examples of blacks joining the Brit- All Hostillities both by Sea and Land shall from hence- ish war effort, you would only have to scroll through the forth cease all prisoners on both sides shall be set at Lib- Book of Negroes to find listings of blacks who had served in erty and His Britannic Majesty shall with all a British military regiment called the Black Pioneers. In the convenient Speed and without Causing any destruc- ship La Aigle [sic], for example, which left New York for tion or carrying away any Negroes or other Property of Annapolis Royal on October 21, 1783, all forty-four of the the American Inhabitants withdraw all its Armies,Gar- black men, women, and children on board are listed as risons, and Fleets, from the said United States. having served with the Black Pioneers. The children appear to have been with their parents as they served Boston King, a Black Loyalist who fled from his slave behind British lines: owner in South Carolina, served with the British forces in the war, and went on to become a church minister in Nova Jam Crocker, 50, ordinary fellow, Black Pioneers. For- Scotia and subsequently in Sierra Leone, noted in his merly servant to John Ward,Charlestown,South Caroli- memoir the terror that blacks felt when they discovered na; left him in 1776. the terms of the peace treaty: names for posterity. In 1783, having your name better life. Molly, 40, ordinary wench, incurable lame of left arm, Rose Fortune Black Pioneers. Formerly slave to Mr. Hogwood, Great came to Bridge near Portsmouth,Virginia; left him in 1779. Nova Scotia with her Jenny, 9, Black Pioneers.