Inquiry

Who were the African American Loyalists?


Ask yourself some questions as you do your inquiry:

  •     Who were the African American Loyalists?
  •     Why did they come to Canada?
  •     What happened to the promises of free land?
  •     To what other country did some of the African American Loyalists decide to go?
  •     Why would the African American loyalists who remained call their community Africville?
  •     What were the problems there?
  •     What did the city of Halifax do?  How did the city’s actions cause problems for
        the people who lived there?
  •     What is Africville today?


An important note:  Do not mix the story of the African American Loyalists or Africville with the stories about the Underground Railroad.  The African American Loyalists were not smuggled out of America to freedom; rather, they were free people who left later.


Resources for Inquiry

  1. Textbook
      • Read pages 52 and 53.

  2. Library Book
      • The Kids Book of Black Canadian History, pages 18 – 21.

  3. Websites
  4. Videos
      • Watch the following three videos to gather more information about the Black Loyalists.



Notebook




Click here to download, save to your Unit 2 Notebook, and respond to the questions as you complete the inquiry .


When you feel confident about the information you explored in this inquiry, complete the Lesson 12 Self-Check on the following page.