Josiah Henson

Today, we bring you the story of Josiah Henson. His remarkable life story inspired American author Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her famous anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Duration: 2:59

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/7-Josiah_Henson.mp3

Africville

Today, we bring you the story of Africville, the beating heart of the African Canadian community in Nova Scotia until it was bulldozed over in the 1960s to make way for other projects, including private housing, ramps for the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, and the Fairview Container Terminal. The central area was turned into a dog park called Seaview Park.

Duration: 3:27

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/6-Africville.mp3

Slave rebellions

Slaves in North America and the Caribbean staged several rebellions and engaged in other forms of resistance against their masters.

Duration: 3:02

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/5-Slave_rebellions.mp3

Slavery laws

A number of slavery laws, in addition to Indigenous slavery customs, existed in Canada both under the French rule and British rule until slavery was officially abolished in 1833.

Duration: 2:49

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/4-Slavery_laws.mp3

Olivier Le Jeune

Olivier Le Jeune is the first black person known to have lived and died in Canada. He was also Canada’s first recorded African slave. Le Jeune was about seven years old when he was brought to Canada from Madagascar during the British invasion of what was known then as New France in 1628.

Duration: 2:09

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/3-Olivier_Le_Jeune.mp3

Mathieu Da Costa

Mathieu Da Costa, the first black man to arrive in Canada, is said to have been born in the Azores. Da Costa was a free black man who in the early 1600s was employed as a translator by French and Dutch traders and explorers. He spoke several languages including French, Dutch and Portuguese, as well as "pidgin" Basque, a language used by fishermen on the Atlantic coast that was a mix of a French-Basque dialect and First Nations languages including Mi' kmaq.

Duration 2:28

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/2-Mathieu_Da_Costa.mp3

We begin the first episode of our podcast series Portraits of Black Canadians with a short introduction into the history of slavery in the Americas.

Slavery Triangle

The transatlantic slave trade forced millions of black Africans into bondage.

Duration 3:01

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/1-Slavery_Triangle.mp3