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.
© Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate, The Corporation of the Town of Oakville, 2000
The following information is reproduced from the display panels in the exhibit “Oakville’s Black History”, as written and designed by Deborah Hudson, Curator of Collections, Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate.
