The Maroons Outcome 3a

Second immigration of free Blacks into Nova Scotia 1655- British conquered Jamaica, and the Maroons fought against them for 140 years using guerilla tactics 1796- Legislature of Jamaica offered to move them to NS if they surrendered Sent 543 men, women, and children in 3 ships (Dover, Mary, and Anne) to Halifax Duke of Kent was so impressed by them he employed the whole group to work on new fortifications on Citadel Hill They worked on section known as “the Maroon Bastion”

Settlement in Nova Scotia Commissioners Quarrell and Ochterloney given £25,000 of Jamaican money to use in settling the Maroons in Preston (£3,000 used for 5,000 acres of land and construction costs) £240 allowance from England to be used annually for support of a school and religious instruction Maroons were not used to being “farmers” or “settlers" and basically refused to do this sort of work

Emigration Severe winters Support money running low Maroons themselves “wish to be sent to India or somewhere in the east, to be landed with arms in some country with a climate like that they left, where they might take possession with a strong hand…” Although Sierra Leone Company initially objected to them going there, in 1800 they arrived in Freetown Harbour, where they helped the government put down an insurrection of the previous Black Loyalists (remember from the American Revolution?)

Immigration after 1812 War broke out between Britain and the USA in 1812 As a result, nearly 2000 Black Refugees came to Nova Scotia from southern slave states But there had been no preparations or plans made for them, so they were initially placed in a poor house, and a former stronghold for prisoners

The Black Refugees Cont’d Ultimately they settled in Preston, Hammonds Plains, Cobequid Road, Shubenacadie Road, Windsor Road, Refugee Hill, Porter’s Lake, Prospect Road, Fletcher’s Lake, Beaver Bank, Beech Hill, and Dartmouth Problems: cold climate, poor land, no experience with these crops, mice, colds, influenza, etc.

Decline of Slavery in Nova Scotia In the late 1700’s, there were still ads in the ROYAL GAZETTE and NOVA SCOTIA ADVERTISER for slaves to be bought or sold. In early 1800’s slavery was being abolished in Britain Mostly, however, slavery faded away through legal challenges as opposed to outright laws against it