Canadian Black Heritage in the Third Millennium

Blacks in New France

The New France era involved the French colonial rule of Canada from on or around 1600 to 1760. Slavery was legal during the era of French rule and the code noir [black code] set out restrictive and harsh conditions under which blacks lived during enslavement. Museums, research centres, students, teachers and organizations have documented historical information on this era and the links on this page represent some of the people, significant events and conditions that existed for people of African descent in New France.

1600s-1760s

Mathieu DaCosta .pdf file
Mathieu DaCosta is the first African to set foot in Canada. The multilingual Da Costa, born in the Azores, first visited Canada with the Portuguese fishing fleet around 1603. A few years later, as Champlain's interpreter, Da Costa played a crucial role in Canadian history by maintaining friendly relations between the Native people and the French in Nova Scotia.
Mathieu DaCosta Challenge:http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/dacosta/index.aspx
Mathieu DaCosta 400:http://www.dacosta400.ca/index.shtml

Blacks in CanadaOnline Exhibit
Parks Canada has an interesting online exhibit about blacks in Canada dating all the way back to when the first slaves were imported into what would become Ontario and Quebec.
URL:http://agora.museevirtuel.ca/edu/ViewLoitCollection.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=2999

Slave, Soldier, Settler: The Life of Richard Pierpoint
Richard Pierpoint arrived from Senegal in 1760 and secured his freedom from slavery after fighting for the British in the War of 1812. He made efforts to create a black settlement near Fergus Ontario. This site also includes lesson plans with activities for students
URL:http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/soccult/pioneer.html
Lesson Plans URL:http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/soccult/set_ex.html

Blacks in Quebec and Canada
This site is an impressively organized site which looks at the history of blacks in Canada from the 1600s - 2000. It includes photos, maps, narratives, resources and documents. The site was created by educators and is organized by units. It includes topics and lesson plans.
URL:http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/features/bhr/hbhmcan.html
Lesson Plans URL:http://www.learnquebec.ca/export/sites/learn/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/documents/smpsup.pdf .pdf file
Timeline 1600-1760's, 1800s- :http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/features/missingpages/appndix1.htm

Marie-Joseph Angélique
The life and times of Marie-Joseph Angélique provide a variety of perspectives on the presence of Black Slave Women in early Canada. Other works including a documentary, wikipedia, exhibition and public lectures build upon the body of information on this remarkable slave.
Related Link:Angélique 1734 Art Exhibition
Wiki - Online Encyclopedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Joseph_Ang%C3%A9lique

Becoming a Slave in Canada
Becoming a Slave in Canada consists of a video and activities that engage vievers of the video about the slave trade and its impact in early Canada from 1600-1833.
URL:http://explore.ecb.org/ecbschema/plsql/IDEA4D?PROGID=313628 Becoming a Slave Video Information

Early Black Canadian History .pdf file
This website focuses on Black Canadian History from the 17th - 21st Century.
URL:http://www.k12studycanada.org/files/EarlyBlackCanadianHistory.pdf

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I can be reached at gpieters@oise.utoronto.ca
Copyright ©2010 Gary Pieters, All Rights Reserved. Created on January 4, 2001. Most Recently Updated on December 30, 2006. Duplication or redistribution of this page in any form is prohibited without the explicit consent of the author/webmaster of this page.