The Blacks in Canada: A History

Front Cover
McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1997 - 546 pages
Hailed as the most sweeping history of African-Canadians ever written when it first appeared, The Blacks in Canada remains the only historical survey that covers all aspects of the Black experience in Canada, from the introduction of slavery in 1628 to the first wave of Caribbean immigration in the 1950s and 1960s.
Using an impressive array of primary and secondary materials, Robin Winks details the diverse experiences of Black immigrants to Canada, including Black slaves brought to Nova Scotia and the Canadas by Loyalists at the end of the American Revolution, Black refugees who fled to Nova Scotia following the War of 1812, Jamaican Maroons, and fugitive slaves who fled to British North America. He also looks at Black West Coast businessmen who helped found British Columbia, particularly Victoria, and Black settlement in the prairie provinces. Throughout Winks explores efforts by African-Canadians to establish and maintain meaningful lifestyles in Canada.
The Blacks in Canada investigates the French and English periods of slavery, the abolitionist movement in Canada, and the role played by Canadians in the broader continental antislavery crusade, as well as Canadian adaptations to nineteenth- and twentieth-century racial mores. The second edition includes a new introduction by Winks on changes that have occurred since the book's first appearance and where African-Canadian studies stands today.
Robin W. Winks is Randolph W. Townsend Professor of History and chair of the Department of History, Yale University.

From inside the book

Contents

To the Nadir 18651930
288
Source of Strength?The Church
337
Source of Strength?The Schools
362
Source of Strength?The Press
390
SelfHelp and a New Awakening 19301970
413
The Black Tile in the Mosaic
470
How Many Negroes in Canada?
484
Note on Sources
497
Index
521
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1997)

Robin W. Winks (1930-2003) was Randolph W. Townsend Professor of History and chair of the Department of History, Yale University.

Bibliographic information