Amen to that! In addition, I would imagine that the desire to reunite with family members who had been left behind in the states was probably a large part of why blacks left Canada after Emancipation.

Canada was just a racist a county as the U.S. and Canadian history of discrimination and attacks against blacks, both subtle and overt, are well documented. And many former slaves may have felt even less welcome up North and opted to return back South ... the devil you know versus the devil you don't know. I can imagine that if I'd heard all the stories about Canada being the "promised land," but once I arrived, found out that white folks there were as bad as the white folks back home, why bother to fight the hard winters, all the work and trouble involved with homesteading, clearing acres of land, etc.? Given that situation, I might just go on back home where I'd have the comfort of being surrounded by a much larger population of black folks and have a chance of making a better life for my family.

But in the end, there were pockets of very large populations of blacks at varying times in Canadian history, but "large" is a relative term.

Good luck in your search, my dear.

- Lisa B. Lee, PLCGS
Oakland, CA