Title: How the Blacks created Canada /
Authors: Fraser, Fil, 1932-2017
Publisher: Dragon Hill Pub.,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Black people Canada History.; Black Canadians History.
Abstract: Across the country and throughout time, Blacks have played pivotal roles in the unfolding of Canadian history. Woven into the fabric of the country itself, they have made serious contributions to this great nation. In the early 1600s, African navigator Mathieu De Costa used his knowledge of Mi'kmaq languages to enable communication between the Europeans and Aboriginals. Arriving in 1605, he was the first Black to come to what would become Canada. Over two centuries later, Sir James Douglas recruited 800 former American slaves and freemen to settle in Victoria, BC, where they staved off the threat from an America that would gobble up land and stretch up the west coast from California to Alaska. Josiah Henson escaped half a lifetime of slavery and came to Dresden, Ontario through the underground railway. He established a highly successful business, met Queen Victoria, had dinner with the prime minister and became friends with the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was also an unofficial ambassador for Canada. And, more currently, Blacks have made great strides in Canadian sports, entertainment and politics, as well as business, academia, the judiciary and a broad range of public service. So take a seat and discover the surprising and satisfying history that is finally making it in the mainstream. Publisher's note.
Contents: Foreward -- Preface -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Saving British Columbia for Canada -- Chapter 2: Here at the beginning -- Chapter 3: Changing perceptions in Upper Canada -- Chapter 4: Homesteading on the prairies -- Chapter 5: Strength from strength: the Black Church -- Chapter 6: The Nova Scotians: a remarkable community -- Chapter 7: The Caribbean invasion -- Chapter 8: The modern Africans: refugees, scholars and entrepreneurs -- Chapter 9: Icons and trailblazers:movers and shakers in the 21st century -- Chapter 10: Black studies -- Afterword -- Notes on sources.