1. Minorities in Canada

2. Slavery
Slavery refers to a condition in which individuals are owned by others, who control where they live and at what they work.

3. How Can One Person Own Another?
According to English law, Slaves were not people, they were property
They were not valued as human being, for they were counted as assets to be bold and sold when desired

4. Consequences of This Designation
Unlike a person, property cannot and will not be granted any rights under law.
This means that African slaves had no legal right to challenge the human rights abuses being forced upon them
They were powerless
Labeled property so that owners can ignore their humanity and deny their freedom

6. Slavery in Canada
Supported largely by the wealthy and by loyalists who brought slaves to the Canadian colonies after the American Revolution and the War of 1812
it was a large part of the economy and many people refused to give up “property”
The slave trade was seen as necessary to the success and wealth of Britain

7. Double Standard
Black people in the US were promised land and freedom in exchange for British support during the American Revolution and War of 1812
Led to a large free black population in Upper Canada
YET
Black men , women, and children still being held as slaves by loyalists
Fugitive slaves in Canada could be sent back to owners in the US

8. Arguments Opposing Slavery
The African people were in no way inferior and should be treated as equals.
If something is wrong, it is wrong whether others do it or not.
Violated Christian principles

9. Abolishing Slavery in the British Empire
Slavery was abolished everywhere in the British Empire in 1833
Abolitionists began to implement anti- slavery laws as early as 1793 in Upper Canada

10. The Underground Railway
Between 1840 and 1860 enslaved Black people fled by the Underground Railroad to find freedom in Canada.
It was not an actual railroad but a secret network of routes and safe houses that helped people escape slavery and reach free states or Canada.
Sometimes there were guides available to help
Travelling was dangerous and those caught were severely punished

12. Women’s Rights in Upper Canada
Women were the property of her father until marriage when she became the property of her husband
They did and could not:
Own property
Vote
Run for office
Divorce husbands

13. What’s Love Got To Do With It- NOTHING!
A good marriage was not about love it was about status and economics
Husbands and fathers formed alliances through marriage
A wife’s status was dependent on her husbands of fathers success

14. Marry Up and Down
Among upper classes, a marital match had to be equal or better
Marry up is to marry above your social class or marry down is to marry beneath you
A man could marry down, but a woman could only marry up because she took on the status of her husband

15. Women on the Edge
Widows and unmarried women were pitied for their inability to get a husband
These women had to rely on relatives for support and a place to live
Became a burden

16. Roles and Duties of Women in the Colonies
Upper and Lower class women participated in field labour and domestic work in the colonies
Domestic labour
Cleaning
Cooking
Childcare
Preserve food
Make soap
Field Labour
- Helping settle the land and build the fram

17. Giving Life Women were expected to have large families
Dangerous for women
Medical care was expensive and hard to obtain
Overcrowded cabins and poor sanitation led to risk if infection
Delivery complications could end in death for both mom and baby