SYLVIA HAMILTON, "VOYAGE TO SIERRA LEONE -- BLACK LOYALISTS RETURNED TO AFRICAN HOMELAND," HALIFAX DAILY NEWS  (FEBRUARY 2, 1992).

Copyright Halifax Daily News 1992

When the tall ships sailed from Halifax harbor several summers ago, crowds of people packed the wharves along the Halifax waterfront to catch a final glimpse of these magnificent vessels. But 200 years ago, on Jan. 15, l792, another fleet sailed from hereon a mission unique and unparalled in Canadian history.

This is the story of the brave men and women who returned to the African nation of Sierra Leone.

There story begins at the end of the American Revolution, when ships gathered in New York to carry those loyal to England to Nova Scotia. There were many black faces among those who waited, men and women who had accepted an offer of freedom to all slaves who deserted their American masters in favor of the British forces. Some had taken part in active combat; others served as spies, pilots, guides, nurses and personal servants.

Sir Guy Carleton, commander of the British troops, ordered that shelter and provisions be made available to these former slaves. He kept a detailed register, later known as Carletons Book of Negroes, containing the name, age and a brief description of every black person wanting to leave.

Before they could board the ships each person had to produce a freedom certificate issued by the British authorities. Some claims to freedom were disputed. Slave catchers were everywhere and former masters flocked to New York, determined to reclaim their former property.

By l783 most of the the ships were finally ready to leave. Two weeks after the ships left New York, they arrived in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Governor John Parr was not prepared for this influx of 30,000 new settlers 3,000 of them black to his sparsely settled colony.

With its broad harbor and ample forests of spruce and maple, Shelburne (then known as Port Roseway) on the coast south of Halifax, seemed to be the perfect spot to settle. Unfortunately, the newcomers did not realize the soil was too sandy for agriculture, the forests were virtually impenetrable, and the harbor froze in winter.

While some free blacks settled there, nearly 1,500 chose Birchtown, a site across the harbor. Together, Shelburne and Birchtown had the highest concentration of free blacks in all of North America.

The free Black Loyalists, assuming equality, expected to receive government grants of land and provisions they and other Loyalists had been promised. But most received no land or rocky tracts with little hope of raising crops.

The Black Loyalists were highly talented people. However these skilled settlers became a pool of cheap labor, forced to take whatever wage white employers decided to pay. Disbanded white soldiers seeking work were angered that employers hired black workers instead of them. This situation helped precipitate Nova Scotias, and perhaps Canadas, first race riot in Shelburne in 1784.

Thomas Peters was frustrated by these conditions. A veteran of the Black Pioneers, an engineering corps mustered during the war, he had settled first in Digby, then moved to New Brunswick in 1785.

New Brunswick Gov. Thomas Carleton assured Peters he would be treated the same as all other Loyalists but five years later, after having three petitions for land rejected, Peters decided to appeal directly to the British government. He sailed for England, bearing a petition outlining the complaints of 200 black families.

British abolitionist Granville Sharp arranged for Peters to present his case to Secretary of State Henry Dundas and to a group of influential British merchants and politicians who had established the Sierra Leone Company, a venture dedicated to the spread of Christianity, the civilization of Africa, and the abolition of the slave trade.

Dundas advised the governors of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to investigate Peters charges. He ordered three options to be presented to the Black Loyalists: immediate grants of land if their complaints were found to be justified; emigration to Sierra Leone, or enlistment in the British army for military service in the West Indies.

Peters returned to Nova Scotia, spreading the word about the plan The Sierra Leone Co. sent John Clarkson to organize the voyage. Upon his arrival in October 1791, Clarkson began distributing handbills outlining the plan. Their response was overwhelmingly in favor of emigration.

But the white community was against the plan. A mass emigration meant the end of the cheap labor. False debts were charged to prevent them from leaving.Employers refused to release black servants from indentures.

Yet the Black Loyalists persevered. They sold property in common to pay off the debts of those who would otherwise be left behind.

By New Years Day in 1792, nearly 1,200 blacks had gathered in Halifax awaiting passage. Two weeks later, the fleet set sail.

The Nova Scotia freedom fleet survived gales, rain and snow. The last vessel in the fleet arrived in Sierra Leone on March 9, 1792. Sixty-five passengers died en route; three births were recorded.

Only two patches of cleared ground, a hut and a few tents greeted the voyagers. But these Nova Scotians, as they were later called, became major players in the development of this west African nation.