Nova Scotia Civil Rights Timeline by Marina Bianquini

1783

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 14:47:06 UTC

3500 free Black Loyalists arrive in Nova Scotia: the first major group of Black settlers in the province of Nova Scotia. The Black Loyalists encountered unfair and unequal treatment. They were given much smaller plots of land and fewer provisions than white settlers. Indeed, many did not receive any land, and some received no provisions.

1796 - 1800

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 14:51:55 UTC

In 1796, three ships brought approximately 600 Maroons — men, women, and children — to Halifax from Jamaica, where they had fought for independence from Britain. To solve what the British saw as a security problem in Jamaica, the Maroons were transported against their will to Nova Scotia, but in 1800 they were removed from Nova Scotia and sent to Sierra Leone in Africa.

1833

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 16:10:56 UTC

Britain officially abolishes African Chattel Slavery in entire British Colonial Empire (The buying and selling of slaves was made illegal across the British Empire in 1807, but owning slaves overseas was permitted until it was outlawed completely in 1833)

1853 - 1854

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 16:13:24 UTC

African United Baptist Association, officially organized, many churches were established around the province that exist today.

The African Baptist Association of Nova Scotia was established in 1853 by the Rev. Richard Preston, building upon the work begun by Rev. David George in the 1780s, who ministered to the Black Loyalist settlers. Their descendants and those of two other major migrations – the Jamaican Maroons (around 1795) and the Refugee Blacks (1812-1814) – constitute the majority of Black settlements and Black churches in Nova Scotia

1857

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 16:15:41 UTC

William Hall of Horton’s Bluff awarded Order of Victoria Cross, first Canadian sailor and first Black person to achieve this honour.

To save the trapped soldiers and civilians, the relief force first needed to take over a mosque protected by thick walls. When the guns could not break through, two were ordered closer to the wall to try and make an opening, putting the crews under heavy fire. Hall was at one of these guns.

Eventually, only Hall and one other officer were left standing at their gun. Under constant fire, they worked the gun until the building was captured.

For his bravery under fire, Hall was awarded the Victoria Cross. He received his medal in October of 1859 aboard his new ship, the HMS Donegal.

1916 - 1918

marinacbianquini — 2024-06-11 16:19:47 UTC

No. 2 Construction Battalion was formed during WWI. Canada’s first and only all Black military regiment. No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, also known as the Black Battalion, was created on July 5, 1916, during the First World War. It was a segregated non-combatant unit, the first and only all-Black battalion-sized formation in Canadian military history.