Book Of Negroes

Book Of Negroes

The Book of Negroes is one of the most important records of Black migration to British North America. Created at the end of the American Revolution, it documents the names, ages, and physical descriptions of around 3000 Black Loyalists. Much like the white Loyalists, they were men, women, and children who had sided with the British during the war, with the main difference being that Black Loyalists were mostly previously enslaved folks. As a reward for their support, they were granted freedom and the opportunity to be evacuated to Nova Scotia. This list exposes both the promise and the limits of Loyalist freedom: although these people were being finally acknowledged for their hard work, they were not recorded as subjects equal to white loyalists, instead being marked down as property formerly owned or “freed.”

This document serves as proof that freedom before emancipation was not accidental: it was earned, verified, then bureaucratically recorded. It marks the moment where free Black folks entered colonial Canada for the first time, although their status remained fragile and closely monitored.

General Samuel Birch and Sir Guy Carleton

“Book of Negroes, 1783.” Nova Scotia Archives. https://archives.novascotia.ca/africanns/archives/?ID=26

The National Archives At Kew

1783

Public Domain

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