LIFE IN CANADA.
CONDITION OF THE BLACKS IN CANADA.--A TOUR OF
EXPLORATION.--APPEAL TO THE LEGISLATURE.--IMPROVEMENTS.
After about three years had passed, I improved my condition again
by taking service with a gentleman by the name of Riseley, whose
residence was only a few miles distant, and who was a man of more
elevation of mind than Mr. Hibbard, and of superior abilities. At his
place I began to reflect, more and more, upon the circumstances of
the blacks, who were already somewhat numerous in this region. I was
not the only one who had escaped from the States, and had settled on
the first spot in Canada which they had reached. Several hundreds of
colored persons were in the neighborhood; and, in the first joy of
their deliverance, were going on in a way which, I could see, led to
little or no progress in improvement. They were content to have the
proceeds of their labor at their own command, and had not the ambition
for, or the perception of what was within their easy reach, if they
did but know it. They were generally working for hire upon the lands
of others, and had not yet dreamed of becoming independent proprietors
themselves. It soon became my great object to awaken them to a sense
of the advantages which were within their grasp; and Mr. Riseley,
seeing clearly the justness of my views, and willing to coöperate
with me in the attempt to make them generally known among the blacks,
permitted me to call meetings at his house of those who were known to
be among the most intelligent and successful of our class. At these
meetings we considered and discussed the subject, till we were all
of one mind; and it was agreed, among the ten or twelve of us who
assembled at them, that we would invest our earnings in land, and
undertake the task--which, though no light one certainly would yet
soon reward us for our effort--of settling upon wild lands which we
could call our own; and where every tree which we felled, and every
bushel of corn we raised, would be for ourselves; in other words,
where we could secure all the profits of our own labor.
The advantages of this course need not be dwelt upon, in a country
which is every day exemplifying it, and has done so for two
hundred years and more; and has, by this very means, acquired an
indestructible character for energy, enterprise, and self-reliance.
It was precisely the Yankee spirit which I wished to instill into
my fellow-slaves, if possible; and I was not deterred from the task
by the perception of the immense contrast in all the habits and
character generated by long ages of freedom and servitude, activity
and sloth, independence and subjection. My associates agreed with me,
and we resolved to select some spot among the many offered to our
choice, where we could colonize, and raise our own crops, eat our own
bread, and be, in short, our own masters. I was deputed to explore
the country, and find a place to which I would be willing to migrate
myself; and they all said they would go with me, whenever such a one
should be found. I set out accordingly in the autumn of 1834, and
travelled on foot all over the extensive region between lakes Ontario,
Erie, and Huron. When I came to the territory east of Lake St. Clair
and Detroit River, I was strongly impressed with its fertility, its
convenience, and, indeed, its superiority, for our purposes, to any
other spot I had seen. I determined this should be the place; and so
reported, on my return, to my future companions. They were wisely
cautious, however, and sent me off again in the summer, that I might
see it at the opposite seasons of the year, and be better able to
judge of its advantages. I found no reason to change my opinion, but
upon going farther towards the head of Lake Erie, I discovered an
extensive tract of government land, which, for some years, had been
granted to a Mr. McCormick upon certain conditions, and which he
had rented out to settlers upon such terms as he could obtain. This
land being already cleared, offered some advantages for the immediate
raising of crops, which were not to be overlooked by persons whose
resources were so limited as ours; and we determined to go there
first, for a time, and with the proceeds of what we could earn there,
to make our purchases in Dawn afterwards. This plan was followed,
and some dozen or more of us settled upon these lands the following
spring, and accumulated something by the crops of wheat and tobacco we
were able to raise.
I discovered, before long, that McCormick had not complied with the
conditions of his grant, and was not, therefore, entitled to the rent
he exacted from the settlers. I was advised by Sir John Cockburn,
to whom I applied on the subject, to appeal to the legislature for
relief. We did so; and though McCormick was able, by the aid of his
friends, to defeat us for one year, yet we succeeded the next, upon a
second appeal, and were freed from all rent thereafter, so long as we
remained. Still, this was not our own land. The government, though it
demanded no rent, might set up the land for sale at any time, and then
we should, probably, be driven off by wealthier purchasers, with the
entire loss of all our improvements, and with no retreat provided. It
was manifest that it was altogether better for us to purchase before
competition was invited; and we kept this fully in mind during the
time we stayed here. We remained in this position six or seven years;
and all this while the colored population was increasing rapidly
around us, and spreading very fast into the interior settlements and
the large towns. The immigration from the United Sates was incessant,
and some, I am not unwilling to admit, were brought hither with my
knowledge and connivance; and I will now proceed to give a short
account of the plans and operations I had arranged for the liberation
of some of my brethren, which I hope may prove interesting to the
reader.