The Refugees
WAR OF 1812 REFUGEE MIGRATION
The War of 1812 between the United States and Britain was another era that saw a new influx of Black families to the British territories of Nova Scotia & New Brunswick .
As former slaves the chance to seek freedom outside of the United States was to good to resist. The result was that between 1813 -1816 approximately two thousand Black men , women & children commonly referred to as Black Refugees arrived in the Maritimes.
New Brunswick received between four or five hundred and Nova Scotia the remainder, which in year 1816 numbered to over one thousand & six hundred. Their settlement was full of difficulties as well as opposition from White settlers afraid of losing control of their power in society. Discrimination in land grants , jobs, and supplies was rampant as these individuals tried to make a living and provide a better life for their families in areas such as Preston, Africville, Hammonds Plains and Beechville.
Some were eventually put up in Poor houses or upon early arrival periods quarantined on Melville Island in Halifax , where the the Armdale Yacht Club is located today. A small number were enticed to leave for Trinidad in 1821, but the remainder stayed and today their descendants live in the various Black Communities across Nova Scotia.