The Black Loyalist Heritage Centre in Birchtown is a museum and interpretive centre which attempts to relay the story of the free blacks, escaped from the U.S., which were resettled in Nova Scotia. Though they settled in various locations throughout the Maritimes, the majority forming a community of roughly 2,500 at Birchtown.
The centre is also a repository for records pertaining to the blacks of Birchtown, and contains a record, the "Book of Negroes", of all the names of free blacks who came to Canada.
Near the interpretive centre and museum is the old burial ground and at the iron gate at the entrance is the following historical note relating a bit of the story of the burial ground. Also in the cemetery is a
CNHE plaque commemorating the Black Loyalist Landing in Birchtown in 1783.
Further below is an early history of the free blacks of Birchtown.
Black Burial Ground
Legend and oral history told that this piece of land was a burial ground for Blacks. There is no formal record of the burial ground, though historical deeds from two adjoining plots of land show that the properties border on "the burial ground". Families in the area remember being told not to play on the site, because it was sacred ground.
There are no records as to who may be buried on the site, though one church record suggests that a man named John Stevens, who died in the 1800s, was buried "on the northwestern side of Shelburne Harbour'', most likely in Birchtown. Unfortunately, most of the old church records were destroyed in a house fire.
The burial ground is the first piece of property the Black Loyalist Heritage Society obtained. In 1996 it was recognized with a plaque from the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The Black Loyalist Heritage Society has constructed a retaining wall to protect the site from further water erosion The Iron Gates located at the entrance of the grounds Were donated by Dr. Clifford "Nick" Skinner of the New Brunswick Black Loyalist Society.
From the Historical Marker
Loyalist History
It was 1775 and Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, had a strategy to subdue the rebellious Colonists. He offered freedom to any slave who would escape from his rebel master and fight on the side of those loyal to the British Crown. More than 300 Blacks immediately found their way behind British Lines and formed The Ethiopian Regiment. Black Soldiers fought in the belief that they were securing freedom, not only for themselves, but for all enslaved blacks. The British were confident, because slaves made up 20% of the American population, that if they could convince them to join the ranks, the Colonial uprising would be squelched.
By 1779, the British saw another reason for luring slaves from the plantations. Their departure from rebel-owned estates would seriously undermine the southern plantations' economy. The British extended their offer of freedom to include grants of land and provisions to the former slaves once the rebellion was defeated. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 slaves had taken refuge behind British Lines. By the summer of 1782, it became evident that the Americans were winning the war and the British began to make preparations for their departure.
They left a number of blacks behind as they retreated, who were recaptured into slavery. Other Black Loyalists were resettled in Florida, the West Indies, and British North America ( Canada). More than 3,500, the largest group of Black Loyalists, were transported to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The Loyalist colonies were not equipped to maintain the influx of thousands of new citizens. A priority system was established to serve the newest citizens to British North America. White officers and Gentlemen were served first in terms of rations and land grants. Ordinary Privates and Laboring people, among the Whites, had to wait. The Blacks, coming up last, rarely received the land or rations promised to them.
With a population of more than 2,500, Birchtown Nova Scotia became the largest settlement of free blacks outside Africa. There were 649 male heads of families in Birchtown during the muster of 1784. Out of bureaucratic incompetence and racial inequality, only 184 heads of families received the promised crown land. Their granted lands measured and average of 34 acres. Other Black Loyalists settled communities at Port Mouton (Later Liverpool); Brindy Town (Near Digby); Tusket & Greenville (Near Yarmouth); Little Tracadie (Guysbourough County); Preston (Halifax County), Annapolis Royal, Halifax and Saint John, New Brunswick.
In the eight years that followed the Black Loyalist settlement in Lower Canada, the communities suffered…harsh climactic conditions, soil unsuitable for cultivation, high unemployment, and unfair treatment from authorities…were some of the hardships endured.
Either Black Loyalists were located in exclusively Black settlements with farms too small to ensure self-support, or they were scattered as landless members of the white Loyalist settlements. Many Blacks were able to work as day workers for Whites. In desperation their employers easily exploited the Blacks. Wage rates for blacks averaged one-quarter of what was acceptable for Whites. Shelburne saw the violent outcome of this system as it became the location of the first race riot in North America as disbanded white soldiers drove Blacks out of their homes in order to secure employment for themselves.
When the Sierra Leone Company entered the scene in 1791, it is unsurprising that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick saw the exodus of almost half of the Black Loyalist community. The British formed company offered blacks more land, and a chance to establish their own governing policies in the West African country. Dissatisfied with the Canadian Government’s failure to provide land, support, and equality amongst the races, 1,200 Blacks boarded ships for Sierra Leone. The Black Loyalists who stayed in British North America, numbered approximately 2,500. Economically , the Black Community’s position showed improvement within the decade. Many Blacks completed their indenture terms and more Blacks working as apprentices began to qualify for trades. By 1812, employers could not find enough Blacks to fill available work and wages rose accordingly. During the war of 1812, Blacks volunteered in militia and formed three separate Black Corps. The Black Loyalists, although still a disadvantaged class, were watching as slavery and racial distinctions were beginning to erode and economic advance was in sight.
From the Black Loyalist Heritage Society