Images: 1. St. Catharines British Methodist Episcopal Church; 2. Refugees from Slavery; 3. Sandwich First Baptist Church; 4. The Reverend Josiah Henson; 5. Mary Ann Shadd Cary; 6. Plan of Elgin [Buxton] Settlement
© Parks Canada
The enslavement of millions of Africans sparked a long history of resistance.
During the 19th-century, thousands of enslaved and many free African-Americans fled the United States and made their way to Mexico and Canada where they could live as free citizens.
In Canada, the refugees arrived at points as far east as Nova Scotia and as far west as British Columbia, but the majority crossed over into what is now southwestern Ontario. They formed communities in the growing villages and towns or cleared the forests and pioneered new farmland.
The network of sympathetic black and white abolitionists that assisted in the escapes along their secret routes became known as the Underground Railroad.
To visit and to discover more about the Parks Canada Underground Railroad site, click on:
http://pc.gc.ca/canada/proj/cfc-ugrr/index_E.asp