Canada prides itself on its multicultural population and calls itself a "cultural mosaic" rather than a "melting pot." Canada’s past and present is filled with stories and events which have to do with difference and the ability and inability of others to respect difference and diversity. Understanding the ideas behind diversity is an important aspect of understanding Canadian society’s past, present and future.
What is Diversity?
Diversity includes all the ways in which we are different. Diversity describes the notion of differences among and between individuals. This may include, but is not limited to, differences in: age, class, ethnicity, gender, ideology, national origin, personal appearances, physical ability, race, religion, sexual or affectual orientation, or any other cultural, economic, political, or social factors that make people different, collectively or individually.
How are we diverse?
Human beings identify themselves though group and social order. Some of these groups we choose, whereas others have been taught. People are taught they are part of groups from day one, whether by their families or society. Additionally, some of us are perceived as being in groups that we don't even think ourselves as being a part of, or don't realize how deeply we are influenced by being a part of certain groups.
Why does diversity matter?
Diversity brings new ideas, experiences, and perspectives to personal relationships, work relationships and our communities.
Activity One
What groups do you identify with? These are just some of the ways that we are diverse. Fill in the following survey and think about all the ways in which you identify yourself. Compare your results with others. How are you similar? How are you different? Which categories do you identify yourself with in day to day life? Which categories do you not identify yourself with on a regular basis?
Activity Two
After you’ve looked at your results from the diversity worksheet above, look at the following quotations and think, talk or write through what these quotations mean and how they might apply to life in Canada.
Activity Three: Learning Diversity: Exploring African Canadian Women’s History
Critic Charlotte Bunch wrote that "A crucial point of the process is understanding that reality does not look the same from different people's understanding." A crucial part in understanding how different people see the Canada is to understand the history different groups of people who make up Canadian society. In this activity, you will learn about a group of Canadians, African Canadian Women, who are often left out of the history books. You will then be asked to do some research on another group of Canadians to find out about their history.
Writing prompt: Much is known about the experiences of African Americans but African Canadians are a lesser explored group. To begin this activity, write or list what you know about African Canadians and then read the historical overview.
Significant Dates in African Canadian Women’s History*
*adapted from Benn-Ireland and Braithwaite’s Some Black Women: Profiles of Black Women in Canada.
| 1608 | Mattheiu da Costa, the first known black slave to land in Canada, arrives at Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal, NS. |
| 1628 | Olive le Jeune, a boy from Madagascar was the first recorded slave purchase in New France |
| 1734 | Marie Joseph Angelique, a slave girl set fire to her mistress’s house in an attempted escape. She was later captured and hung |
| 1777 | Slaves in Canada escaped to Vermont where slavery had been abolished. |
| 1783 | Black Loyalists from the United States establish communities in Nova Scotia |
| 1792 | Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick migrated to Sierra Leone, West Africa because promises of free land and full equality had not been fulfilled in Canada. |
| 1793 | Upper Canada prohibits the "further introduction of slaves," but does not free those already in slavery. |
| 1807 | Simon Fitch of Wolfville purchased a woman named Nelly. It was considered the last slave sale in Nova Scotia. |
| 1829 | The Executive Council of Lower Canada refuses to extradite refuge slave Paul Vallard to the United States. |
| 1830 | Josiah Henson, said to be the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, escapes to what was known as Canada West (now, around Chatham, ON) with his wife and children |
| 1834 | British Parliament abolishes slavery throughout the colonies, freeing nearly 800,00 slaves. |
| 1837 | The anti-slavery society of Canada organizes to press for abolition across the continent. |
| 1841 | Beginning of Dawn settlement in Canada West (now Dresden, ON) |
| 1850 | Fugitive Slave Act enacted in the United States. The act meant that fugitive slaves must be returned to their masters; anyone aiding fugitive slaves were criminally liable. |
| 1851 | Harriet Tubman began her journeys, ferrying slaves across the Canada/ US border on the Underground Railroad. She made 19 return trips and freed as many as 300 slaves. |
| 1851 | Formation of the Toronto Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1852 | Mary Ann Shadd and Family launch the Provincial Freeman in Windsor, ON. It was published sporadically until 1859 |
| 1859 | John Brown launches attack on Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The year before, Brown had visited Chatham, ON where he stayed with the Black poet James Madison Bell. |
| 1859 | Abraham Shadd becomes the first Canadian black elected to public office |
| 1863 | Emancipation Proclamation passed in the United States. |
| 1880 | Mary Ann Shadd Cary organizes the Coloured Women’s Progressive Association to fight for women’s suffrage and equal rights for women. |
| 1901 | Mary Matilda Winslow became the first black woman to enter the University of New Brunswick. |
| 1914 | Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities Leagues launched. |
| 1919 | Women’s Charitable Benevolent Association formed to look after the poor and the sick, to run soup kitchens and to provide temporary homes for returning soldiers |
| 1922 | The Phyliss Wheatley Art club is formed by Lillian Rutherford. It offered cultural development and in the 1930s the club transformed into the Negro Theatre Guild of Montreal. |
| 1934 | The Hour a Day Study Club, founded in Windsor, ON. Their motto was "Working Together for Community Betterment" |
| 1948 | Ruth Bailey and Gwennyth Barton are the first blacks known to graduate from a Canadian school of Nursing. |
| 1954 | Delegation of Black Canadians met with members of the Federal Cabinet to discuss discrimination against West Indians applying to enter Canada. |
| 1960 | Myrtle Blackwood Smith, the first black woman to be called to the Ontario bar. |
| 1968 | Lincoln McCauley Alexander becomes Canada’s first black member of Parliament. |
| 1969 | The National Black Coalition of Canada is formed. |
| 1984 | Anne Clare Cools becomes the first black woman appointed to the Senate of Canada |
| 1984 | Mae Ruth Sarsfield becomes the first Black woman to serve on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. |
| 1985 | Sister Vision Press, the first and only Canadian publishing house dedicated specifically to Black women and women of colour, formed |
| 1987 | Pamela Appelt is the first black woman appointed Citizenship Court Judge in Canada. |
| 1988 | Dr. Glenda Simms is the first Black woman appointed President of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women |
| 1984 | Judge Michelle A. Rawlins becomes the first Black woman to be appointed to an Ontario Court bench. |
Writing prompt: What surprised you? What didn’t you know about African Canadians? Does knowing more about African Canadian history affect your understanding of diversity or the quotations listed above?
Web Research Activity
African Canadian Women and the Underground Railroad
What is the Fugitive Slave Act? How did the American laws regarding slavery have an impact on Canada?
In 1850, the United States passed its second Fugitive Slave law which ordered marshals and deputies in free states to hunt down runaway slaves and return them to their owners. Those who refused could be fined $1,000. Canada was the only place where escaped slaves could live in freedom since they could not be removed from Canada. After 1850, all Underground Railroad routes travelled to Canada. The Fugitive Slave Law was repealed by Congress in 1864 as after the Civil War, there was no longer a need for the Underground Railroad.
What is the Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was not a railroad nor was it underground. It was a covert system of helping American slaves escape to either "free states"(a state north of the Mason Dixon line where slavery was prohibited) or, after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, to Canada. This system was "underground" or secret because the penalties for aiding a slave escape were severe. Black and white abolitionists helped hide slaves, and facilitated their movement on foot, wagon, boat, or train with the help of disguises and secret codes and passwords. The Quakers, a pacifist religious order, were among the first who worked to help fugitive slaves. The Underground Railroad ceased to be needed after the Emancipation Proclaimation of 1863.
Who are the women involved in the Underground Railroad and the welfare of former slaves in Canada?
Mary Ann Shadd, Educator, Editor and Activist (1823-1893). Born a free black, Shadd’s family assisted fugitive slaves escape to freedom;their house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Shadd’s parents believed that education was the way through which Blacks could achieve equality. The family moved from Delaware, where Black children where not able to be educated, to Pennsylvania where they could be. When Shadd completed her education, she returned to Delaware where she opened a school for black children. As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act, thousands of American slaves began to escape to Canada West (now Ontario). Windsor, Ontario is located across the river from Detroit and it was the end of the Underground Railroad for many slaves. The black community in Windsor was poor and lived in overcrowded conditions. There was much work to be done to improve the lives of the former slaves.
Since it was illegal to teach a slave to read and write in the United, many were eager to learn when they arrived in Canada. Canada West needed teachers so Shadd moved to Windsor, ON in 1851 and set up a school. Shadd’s, believing that segregation between whites and blacks would result in blacks being treated as second class citizens, made her school open to everyone.
At this time, there were many myths and lies about life in Canada; to dispel some of these myths, Shadd wrote a 44 page booklet for blacks considering moving to Canada called Notes of Canada West (1852). This booklet contained some basic information about the settlements in Canada West and some of the postives and negatives about living in Canada West.
Understanding the power of the press, Shadd launched a rival newspaper to Henry Bibb’s The Voice of the Fugitive. Her paper, The Provincial Freeman began in 1853. She listed Samuel Ward as the editor knowing that there would not be much support for a newspaper edited by a woman. Shadd did all of the work related to the paper and she is the first woman in North America to edit a weekly newspaper.
The Provincial Freeman addressed many issues related to life in Canada and addressed issues of racial discrimination and also addressed the women’s rights movement. Shadd spent much time attempting to raise the money to keep the paper in production; it remained in print until a depression swept across Canada West in 1857. Shadd also participated in lecture tours where she spoke against slavery, encouraged immigration to Canada West and sought support for her paper.
In 1856, Shadd married Thomas Cary and they had a daughter and a son. Cary died in 1861. When the Civil War ended and when the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, Shadd knew that there would be a great demand for educating the recently emancipated slaves. She returned to the United States and taught for many years. At the age of 60, she became a lawyer and worked for the promotion of women’s rights, particularly the right to vote. She died at age 70.
Harriet Tubman (1820-1913). Called the "Moses of her People," Tubman was the most successful conductor on the Underground Railroad. She was the fourth generation of her family to be born a slave. At the age of 15, Tubman helped another slave to escape and an angry overseer smashed an iron weight on her head, knocking her unconscious for many days. For the rest of her life, Tubman suffered blackouts. Tubman escaped from the slave state of Maryland into Pennsylvania via the Underground Railroad. Finding herself lonely, she set out to rescue the rest of her family. In all she made 19 return trips and rescued as many as 300 people from slavery. Tubman’s work is all the more incredible because of the danger she faced. Roads in the United States were frequently patrolled by slave catchers wanting to claim reward money offered by slave owners for the return of their slaves. Tubman used various disguises, forged documents and used spiritual songs as signals and passwords.
Slave owners knew about Tubman and offered substantial awards for her capture, dead or alive. Wanted posters read: "Harriet Tubman, Wanted Dead or Alive, A Plain Woman, Short of Stature, Upper Front Teeth Missing, With a Habit of Abruptly Falling Asleep, Looks Harmless But Carries A Pistol"
In 1859, slave owners offered a reward of $40,000 (approximately 250 million dollars) for her arrest. Despite their efforts, Tubman was never captured.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Tubman returned to the United States and worked for the Union Army as a nurse, scout, and spy. She is the only woman in American history to plan and conduct an armed expedition against an enemy force. After the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, Tubman struggled to make ends meet by selling vegetables door to door. She continued to lead an activist life by raising money for schools for black children and supported women’s rights. She died at age 93.
Learn more about the Underground Railroad at these websites
Canadian Sites:
American Sites:
Research Activity: Using Knowledge to Facilitate Diversity
"But in order to come together we must recognize each other" - Audre Lorde
As Audre Lorde writes, before we can come together as a society or a community, we need to understand each other’s perspectives and see what makes us different as well as what makes us similar. Knowing about the history of a range of groups in Canada helps us to have a more complex and thorough understand Canadian history and the "cultural mosaic" which Canada strives to maintain.
Choose a group and do some research on another group from this list
Research the following