Crossing the Border : A Free Black Community in Canada / Sharon A. Roger Hepburn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hepburn, Sharon A. Roger, 1966- author.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Black people.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 252 p., [8] p. of plates ) ill., map, plans, ports. ;

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Urbana, Illinois : Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, [2007]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In 1849, the Reverend William King and fifteen of his former slaves founded the Canadian settlement of Buxton on a nine thousand-acre block of land in Ontario set aside for sale to blacks. Although initially opposed by some neighboring whites, the town located near the shore of Lake Erie grew steadily in population and stature with the backing of the Presbyterian Church of Canada and various philanthropies." "Sharon A. Roger Hepburn's Crossing the Border tells the story of Buxton's settlers, united in their determination to live free from slavery and legal repression. Hepburn's study traces the establishment of educational, commercial, and political structures in Buxton and details how blacks formed tightly knit social and family units in protecting themselves from white hostility. It is the most comprehensive study to address life in a black community in Canada and adds to our understanding of black Canadians, free blacks beyond the South, and of blacks in planned communities established by emancipationists and abolitionists during the antebellum period."--Jacket

Contents:

Canada: Canaan or "a freezing sort of hell"

The Reverend William King

An idea becomes reality

A settlement takes shape

A community arises

Family and community structure

Making a living

A spiritual people

In pursuit of an education

A community transformed.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

American Historical Association Albert B. Corey Prize in Canadian-American Relations, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780252047114

0252047117

OCLC:

1409743536