Birchtown, Nova Scotia

Birchtown, Nova Scotia was the largest free black community in North America during the 1780s and it is where the majority of African Americans who escaped to the British during the American Revolution settled. These were African Americans who escaped from slavery in the American South. The majority of Nova Scotian settlers lived in Birchtown before immigrating to Sierra Leone. The majority of Birchtown blacks entered Nova Scotia through Port Roseway. Many of these African American settlers were recorded in the Book of Negroes. Of the blacks who left for Sierra Leone 600 were from the Birchtown and Digby areas, 220 were from Preston, 200 were from New Brunswick, and 180 were from the Annapolis-Digby area.

History

Birchtown, Nova Scotia was named for Samuel Birch and was established in 1783 by five companies of the Black Pioneers who were Black Americans who helped the British forces during the American War of Independence. Over two thirds of the Blacks who immigrated to Canada were from the American South. Birchtown was acknowledged as being the largest settlement of free African Americans in the world by newspapers in New York and in London.

The Departure for Sierra Leone

The majority of blacks who left for Sierra Leone were from Birchtown; fifty five of these were born in Virginia (http://books.google.com/books?id=Bfe_32ysk38C&pg=PA251&dq=john+kizell&lr=&sig=xudqAqVh-EK4sOSld1Y8hJdxxXc#PPA185,M1).

Notable Residents

*David George (Baptist)-African American Baptist preacher who founded Silver Bluff Baptist Church
*Moses Wilkinson- was an African American Methodist preacher
*John Marrant- was the first African American preacher; was a Methodist

ources

*http://www.newsouthassoc.com/African%20American%20Archaeology%20Newsletters/Summer1994.html
*http://www.multiculturaltrails.ca/level_3/number199.html
*http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/08/arts/design/08anti.html?pagewanted=all
*http://antislavery.eserver.org/narratives/boston_king/
*http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevEssays.nash.htm
*http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=NEWS&template=wiki&text=Black_Canadian
*http://www.google.com/search?q=african+american+settlers+birchtown&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS256US256&start=70&sa=N
*http://books.google.com/books?id=k2k8VbdgVpAC&pg=PA35&dq=john+kizell&lr=&sig=lGKbwzJTorfHuqMcGWQayZ0z8Hw
*http://books.google.com/books?id=Bfe_32ysk38C&pg=PA251&dq=john+kizell&lr=&sig=xudqAqVh-EK4sOSld1Y8hJdxxXc#PPA188,M1
*http://books.google.com/books?id=dDwUFhl-4EMC&pg=RA1-PA387&dq=john+kizell&lr=&sig=pFQsoScrnQgWrIlITY8nRltee7g
*http://books.google.com/books?id=Bfe_32ysk38C&pg=PA251&dq=john+kizell&lr=&sig=xudqAqVh-EK4sOSld1Y8hJdxxXc#PPA185,M1
*http://www.lawrencehill.com/freedom_bound.pdf
*http://www.guysboroughacademy.ednet.ns.ca/ANS/History/birchtown.htm
*http://www.multiculturaltrails.ca/level_3/number111.html
*http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne/main/BlackCommunitySources.php
*http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne/main/BlackLoyalistHistory.php
*http://www.rootsweb.com/~nsdigby/lists/article2.htm
*http://museum.gov.ns.ca/arch/sites/birch/loyalists.htm
*http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/story/arrival/birchtown.htm
*http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/africanns/archives.asp?ID=112&Language=English
*http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/communities/birchtown.htm