can be equally well made in Canada, and which a duty of 20% will no doubt stimulate. That these results should flow from the necessity of increased taxation, is no subject of regret to the Canadian Government, nor can it be alleged as any departure, on their part, from the recognized sound principles of trade, as it will shortly be shown that the Government were compelled to obtain increased revenue; and it is believed that no other course could be relied on for this result than that adopted.1

In answer to the complaint of the British Government against the increased duties levied on manufactured goods, Galt declared the fiscal independence of Canada in unmistakable and unforgettable language:

Self-government would be utterly annihilated if the views of the Imperial Government were to be preferred to those of the people of Canada. It is, therefore, the duty of the present government distinctly to affirm the right of the Canadian legislature to adjust the taxation of the people in the way they deem best— even if it should unfortunately happen to meet the disapproval of the Imperial Ministry. Her Majesty cannot be advised to disallow such acts, unless her advisers are prepared to assume the administration of the affairs of the colony irrespective of the views of its inhabitants.2

Since this pronouncement by Galt, the constitutional right of Canada to settle her fiscal policy has not been questioned.

From the adoption of free trade by the United Kingdom in 1846, until the present, the fiscal policy of the United States, and not that of Great Britain, has exercised a greater influence in Canada. To the protests of the United States at the increased rate of duties, Galt had retorted, "it is not for the high tariff pot to call the lower tariff kettle black ".3

The Quebec Gazette, October 4, 1850.

2O. D. Skelton, The Life and Times of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, p. 330, quoted from source.

CHAPTER II

THE NEGRO IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA

Slavery in the Early Days-British North American Legislation on Slavery-Anti-Slavery Sentiment-Depreciation in the Value of Slave Property in the British Provinces-Effect of the Pro-Slavery Legislation of the United States-Press of British America United in its Condemnation of Fugitive Slave Law 1850-Northward Trek of NegroesDestitution-Organization of the Anti-Slavery Society in Canada 1851Negro Settlements in British North America-Political Events in the United States-Effect on the Extension of Slavery-Sympathy for the Refugee John Brown in Canada-Harper's Ferry Insurrection-Southern Resentment against Canada-The Negro Safe in Canada.

The question naturally presents itself as to how far the presence of the colored race in the British North American Provinces determined the attitude which these provinces adopted toward the American Civil War. Negro settlements at the outbreak of the war were to be found not only in the Canadas, but also in the Maritime provinces. The negro will, therefore, be considered not merely as an economic issue, but as a moral issue, affecting the relations of the two countries.

The presence of the negro in Canada was not something new, for in Lower Canada as far back as 1689, slavery had been recognized by France, and sixty years later slavery was also to be found in Nova Scotia.1 Before the separation of Upper and Lower Canada in 1791 slavery had spread westward into Upper Canada and a few hundred negroes and some Pawnee Indians were to be found in bondage throughout the scattered settlements of the southwestern portion of

1 Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol. x, T. Watson Smith, "Slave in Canada," chap. i.

58

[346

2

Upper Canada.1 At the termination of the Revolutionary War the rumor that two thousand slaves had escaped to British territory caused considerable consternation to their masters, especially when it became known that the British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Guy Carleton, had issued a "proclamation guaranteeing their liberty to all slaves who when taking refuge within the British lines had formally claimed the protection offered by British commanders." " The demand of Washington for their surrender was refused, for such a restoration would have been a violation of good faith on the part of the British authorities. These fugitives were reassured by the grant of certificates of freedom from the British government, and were given grants of land, and rations such as were distributed to the United Empire Loyalists. In 1791 John Clarkson, an anti-slavery leader, was sent to Nova Scotia by the Sierra Leone Company to arrange for the transportation back to Africa of all freedmen desirous of returning there. One thousand one hundred and eighty negroes from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are said to have availed themselves of this opportunity.3 At the termination of the American War of Independence the total number of United Empire Loyalists, including men, women and children, some accompanied by their slaves, has been estimated as between eighty and one hundred thousand. About two-thirds of the exiles had settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the remainder in the valley of the St. Lawrence. The slaves who accompanied their 1 Wilbur H. Siebert, The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom, chap. vii, p. 190.

4

'Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, vol. x, p. 21.

66

3 Ibid., vol. x, p. 23; vol. vii, 'Story of Deportation of Negroes from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone" (read by ex-Governor Archibald 12th March, 1885).

Canadian Magazine, vol. x, art. vi, "The Makers of the Dominion of Canada," by Bourinot, Sir John G.

masters to the Maritime provinces were classified as ser

vants.

In Canada East the negroes have never been numerically strong. This fact may partly account for the failure of the legislature of that province to pass any legislation on the subject of slavery. Petitions were presented to the House of Assembly to safeguard the rights of the slave owners. One motion to consider the question of slavery was referred to a committee of five consisting of Papineau,1 Grant, Craigie, Cuthbert, and Dumas. Cuthbert introduced on behalf of the committee, April 30, 1800, a bill which provided for the gradual liberation of the slaves, and the prevention of any further introduction of slavery. This bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole, but was never heard of again. The Courts of Canada East, however, refused to uphold the rights of the slave owner. The Court of King's Bench at Montreal discharged a slave of a Mr. Fraser who had been committed by three justices of the peace to the house of correction in accordance with his master's wishes. The legislature of Canada East also refused to aid in the restoration of the fugitive slave to his master. When the Secretary of State of the United States requested the delivery of a slave, Sir James Kempt referred the matter to the Executive Council, which reported that, "the law of Canada does not admit a slave to be a subject of property.' Slavery, however, was never formally abolished in Canada East, until the passage of the Act of 1833 by the Imperial parliament which fixed the date August 1, 1834, as the date for the emancipation of all slaves in the British Colonies.

2

In Canada West where there were more slaves the case

1 Joseph Papineau, the father of Louis J. Papineau the rebel, was one of the outstanding men of his day, a commanding influence in public meetings.

2 Journal of Negro History, vol. v, W. R. Riddell, 'Slavery in Canada"; Canadian Archives, State K., p. 406.

was somewhat different, for the Upper Canada legislature had passed an act September 28, 1793, which formally provided for gradual emancipation.1 Hence technically at least Canada West was in advance of Canada East in anti-slavery legislation.

2

According to Judge Marshall, who was appointed chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Cape Breton in 1832, an escaped slave was brought before Chief-Justice Bowers, who “legally and justly decided that this province was not debased with that cruel and abominable slave system which John Wesley appropriately characterized as the sum of all villainies." " Judge Thomas C. Haliburton, on the contrary, denied that there had ever been a judicial decision rendered in Nova Scotia on the subject of slavery.3 In New Brunswick no judicial decision condemning slavery was ever rendered; nevertheless the conviction gradually grew in the Maritime provinces that the slave owners there could not expect much recognition from the law courts, and as a natural consequence the value of slaves greatly depreciated. An indication of the general uncertainty with regard to slavery was to be found in a bill of sale made out in King's County 1807 in which appeared the words “if a negro can be considered property in Nova Scotia." The last effort made by the slave owners to protect themselves resulted in a bill for "securing them their property or indemnifying them for its loss." It passed its second reading, January 11, 1808, but never became law. Partly, no

1 Canadian Archives, Q 2792, p. 335.

Nova Scotia Historical Collections, vol. x, T. Watson Smith, “The Slave in Canada," p. III.

3 Judge Thomas C. Haliburton, History of Nova Scotia, vol. ii, p. 280 (published 1829).

Nova Scotia Historical Collections, vol. x, pp. 113-114.