The African Slave Trade was not only a segment of US history, it also played a part in Canadian history. Canadians, however, did not use the term “slave,” preferring the term “servant.”
By the Steam Age, enslaved Black people in Canada were already emancipated, but a strong and pervasive racism and prejudice against Black people still raged throughout the country.
By Royal Mandate
A popular impression that the first slaves in Canada were introduced into the Maritime Provinces by the Loyalists in 1783 is false. Historical records indicated that slavery was established in Quebec, by the French, through a royal mandate issued by Louis XIV, in 1689.
This mandate not only gave permission to “Canadians to avail themselves of the services of African slaves,” but declared as well that all Black people who had been so bought or held should belong to the person so owning them, in full proprietorship. This system was given further legal recognition through a number of royal declarations regarding slavery and slaves in 1721, 1742 and 1745, making it possible for slaves to be listed often with “effects and merchandise” in parish records, legal notices and the official documents of the times. As time passed it was not unusual to see ads appear in the newspaper for slaves. From the royal mandate in 1689, it took approximately sixty years for the practice of slavery to reach Nova Scotia. When the Loyalists arrived in 1783, slavery was already flourishing.
Thirty-five hundred Black people who fled from Southern States during the American Revolutionary War arrived in Canada with the Loyalists. The British had promised them protection, land, and a better life.
Between 1783 and 1784, some 1232 Black slaves were brought by British masters into Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Of this number, 26 went to Prince Edward Island and 441 went to New Brunswick. The number of slaves in Upper Canada during the Loyalist immigration was estimated to be about 500 while Lower Canada accounted for 304. Of a total of some 2000 slaves who entered Canada in 1783-1784, more than half that number were distributed in the Atlantic Provinces, with Nova Scotia receiving the largest consignment, Annapolis Royal leading with 230 and Digby second with 152.
Under the command of Colonel Bluck, an African Corps was established known as the Black Pioneers. This corps consisted of runaway slaves. In the majority of Loyalist Corps, there were men of African descent serving as buglers, musicians and servants. These people settled in the Shelburne and Birchtown areas in January 1784 with the white settlers. However, they soon realized they had not escaped their harsh, painful life of slavery. By 1785 Shelburne was largely known as a place with slave labour and approximately 1,269 “servants.”
The treatment of slaves in Canada was just as severe as their treatment in the United States. They were punished when they disobeyed their master and in some cases they were whipped, tortured or murdered. Eventually laws were passed which made killing slaves as serious a crime as killing a freedman.
Emancipation
Slavery began to decline in the opening decades of the nineteenth century due to a combination of factors that made slavery uneconomic in Canada, including the opposition of the law courts throughout British North America from the third quarter of the eighteenth century. When slaves were legally emancipated on August 1, 1834, there were very few enslaved Black people in British North America who had not already obtained their legal freedom.
On that date, 781,000 slaves were set free in the British Empire and a hundred million dollars was distributed by the British Government to compensate slave owners. Not a single dollar was paid in Canada since no claims for compensation were submitted. In the Steamfunkateers universe, this leads Canada to secede from Great Britain, sparking the Canadian-British Conflict of 1838 and the alliance between British North America with French North America.
Mexico
Territorial disputes between the United States and the newly independent nation of Mexico led the countries to an inevitable war in 1846. The war was short and, unfortunately for the fiercely proud Mexican people, unsuccessful. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo was signed, ending the war. Mexico lost large pieces of territory, which were settled by Americans and soon became the states of Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and most of the New Mexico and Arizona territories. A federal republic was established after several internal wars, with Benito Juárez finally installed as President. In the 1860s Mexico was under the military occupation of France. Napoleon III installed Maximilian I as King of Mexico, under his control. The largely Conservative government of Mexico found the policies of Maximillian too conservative, and the liberals refused to acknowledge the King as their monarch. This led to much political unrest. Forces loyal to President Benito Juárez, who kept the federal government functioning during the French intervention that put Maximilian in power, captured Maximilian and executed him in 1867.
Like much of Central and South America, Mexico was dotted with ancient ruins, lost Aztec cities, and enough adventures to keep anyone busy for many years.
South and Central America
This region was both an unexplored wilderness full of ancient ruins waiting to be discovered and a hotbed of military actions throughout the era. For adventurers seeking ancient ruins and lost civilizations, the Incas and Aztecs had left behind more than enough to keep even the most active adventurer busy.
Argentina
The United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata was formed in 1816 from the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the last short lived Viceroyalty of the region. The United Provinces comprised the area of present day Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Political turmoil in the region caused the Provinces to split apart, forming the four separate countries.
Argentina is a largely agrarian country, with a smattering of farms and a large number of cattle ranches. This stable economy helped to unite the mostly Spanish population. Exporting of cattle, sheep, and wheat kept the nation from suffering the effects of the worldwide depressions of the mid-1800s, but it did not make them wealthy either.
While the immigrants to Argentina were a united people, they still suffered from attacks by the Indian tribes of the region. Argentina inherited the problems of the Spanish Viceroy when it came to dealing with the local tribes to the south, and they did not handle this problem any better than the Spanish.
Buenos Aires still had a colonial feel, even after its independence. The influx of Spanish and Italian immigrants, along with a healthy dose of financial backing from the banks of London, gave the capital city a definite European feel. The rich plains of the Pampas in northern half of the country and the rolling plateau of the south, contrast sharply with the rugged Andes along western border. This gave the country a definitely exotic feel, with a certain air of mystery.
Bolivia
Of all the countries of South America, Bolivia was the most unstable politically, economically, and even geographically. The European wars of Napoleon had their effects felt in far off South America. The Spanish colonial territory known as Upper Peru declared their independence in 1809. Sixteen years of bitter war began, until finally the Spanish were defeated and a new Republic was created. Calling themselves the Republic of Bolivia, they joined forces with neighboring Peru to form the Peru-Bolivian Confederation. Wars with Chile and Argentina, while at first victorious, turned disastrous. By 1840 the Confederation had dissolved, Peru had found its independence, and Bolivia entered a period of political and economic upheaval. Wars with Peru, Chile, and Brazil over the next few decades saw Bolivia lose much of the land it once controlled, including access to the Pacific Ocean and the fertile lands of the west.
Rising silver prices around the world had brought about a rise of prosperity in Bolivia near the end of this century. Prospecting, mining, and treasure seeking have all become profitable forms of employment in Bolivia. With governments constantly teetering on the edge of disaster, Bolivia was a land of adventure, intrigue, and danger. The Andean Mountains of Bolivia hold many secrets and treasures. Perhaps
even the remains of the Empire of the Inca.
Brazil
Once a colony of Portugal, Brazil—the largest nation of South America—went through many changes. For three centuries, the colony of Brazil was a powerful, though often neglected, colony of Portugal. The invasion of Portugal by the army of Napoleon caused great uproar in the Portuguese court, with the King and his retinue flying by airship to Brazil and setting up in Rio de Janeiro. The capital of the Portuguese Empire lay in Rio for several years, with the colony formally becoming the Kingdom of Brazil in 1815. The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, was ruled from Rio until 1822, when Brazil, led by the Brushed escaped slave and Capoeira mestre turned revolucionário, Vicente “Escorpião” Santana, proclaimed its independence and the King of Portugal fled back to Lisbon. A now independent Brazil installed Dom Pedro as its first Emperor. Emperor Pedro I and later his son Pedro II, ruled the Brazilian Empire through the late part of the 19th century. Turmoil and revolution resulted in the abdication of Emperor Pedro II in 1889 and the Republic of the United States of Brazil was formed.
In the Steamfunkateers universe, Brazil is sparsely populated, with heavy rainforests and the largest river system in the world. The great and mysterious Amazon River is the heart of Brazil. Many European expeditions go into the Amazon Basin to explore and bring back the natural treasures of the region. Most of them never return. It is believed that a horde of tree-dwelling, flesh-eating ghuls, called “A Fome”—The Hungry—roam the rainforests.
Chile
Like many of its neighbors, Chile was a colony of Spain until the forces of France’s Napoleon invaded Spain in the early 1800s. This led the people of Chile to break away from Spain. After a brief attempt by the Spanish to re-conquer Chile, the Republic of Chile proclaimed their independence in 1818.
This declaration did little to change the colonial lifestyle of Chile, where social stratification, family politics, and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church strongly dictated the course of the Republic. Chilean culture changed very little over most of the 19th century, and the generally stable government was a change of pace in the otherwise turbulent history of South America.
In the late 1870s, wars with the new countries of Peru and Bolivia, culminating in the War of the Pacific, brought great expansion to the lands of Chile. Territories rich in nitrate deposits, which were part of their treaty settlements with Bolivia and Peru, lead to an era of national affluence. In 1886, José Manuel Balmaceda was elected president. His economic policies were radically different than those of previous presidents. He began to violate the constitution and slowly began to establish a dictatorship. These actions were not tolerated by the Congress, who voted on deposing him. Balmaceda’s refusal to step down led to the beginning of the Chilean Civil War of 1891. The President’s forces were quickly defeated, and Balmaceda fled to refuge in the Argentinean Embassy. There he committed suicide, ending his reign.
During the Age of Steam, Chile was a highly regimented, tightly controlled, and predominately Catholic republic. While it may have looked calm and orderly, underneath was a hotbed of subterfuge. The mountains of Chile were large, dangerous, and full of raw gold, silver, and the lost treasures of the Inca and Aztecs.
In the Steamfunkateers universe, Vicente Santana, the Black, Brushed hero of Brazil, flees to Chile after the newly installed Emperor of Brazil tried to have him assassinated, fearing Escorpião would one day take the throne from him. Escorpião now lives among the indigenous people of Chile and is slowly convincing them to seek revenge for wrongs done to them by the Chilean government and to one day help him bring down the Brazilian Empire.
Africa
During Queen Victoria’s reign, the British Empire expanded across the globe, strengthening its title as a world superpower. The main area of colonization for Britain was Africa, which had large amounts of human and material resources that the power hungry, brutal and greedy Brits craved. Specifically, Britain focused on Egypt, West Africa, and South Africa during the nineteenth century.
Quicker trade routes, cash crops, and global power were reasons for the quick colonization of these areas. Britain became the undeniable global power and the country experienced major economic growth. However, most people neglected to think about—or simply didn’t care about—the effects that colonialism had on Africa and Africans.
JPL and Sarah Davies
Stories of these periods are often framed to be that Europe developed Africa and not that Europe was developed by Africa. Validating it is the narrative of Joseph Comrade whose book Heart of Darkness projected Africans darkly and Europeans as the light bearer of the “dark continent.”
Through this time, one silent narrative which hasn’t been expounded much on Africa’s development is how Africans of that time helped to develop Africa; establishing trade ventures, building structures and institutions that have larger impact on citizens much more than any skewed colonial intervention did. In this, the contribution of notable Africans whose effort has continued to sustain the Africa of today is swept beneath a rug.
James Pinson Labulo (JPL”) Davies, a Brushed hero who resided in Lagos, Nigeria, was an Entrepreneur, philanthropist and Naval Officer, renowned for his contributions in the modernization of Lagos; West Africa’s sea side city.
In support of Oba Dosunmu, he played a significant role in the Lagos Treaty of Cession ensuring that the development of Africa’s largest city was done with diplomacy. He pioneered cocoa export which eventually spread prosperity across Southwestern Nigeria and sustained their free education policy for generations. He contributed to building a significant town library and his founding role in the first secondary school in Nigeria—CMS grammar school in Lagos—went a long way in advancing education.
Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a Brushed Yoruba of Royal blood, was orphaned and a captive of the dreadful slave trade. In a twist of fate, she became a goddaughter to Queen Victoria.
Europeans called Sarah “a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites.” In reality, she was taken captive by Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy who convinced King Ghezo of Dahomey to offer her to the Queen.
With permission from Queen Victoria in 1862, Sarah entered into a marriage with JPL Davies in a royal ceremony in Brighton. Their daughter, Victoria Davies (named after Queen Victoria) also enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen.
In the Steamfunkateers universe, Sarah is also Brushed—a powerful telepath—who convinces King Ghezo to give her to the Queen as a “gift.” She knew she would meet and marry JPL Davies and they would give birth to their daughter, Victoria, who would one day be a key in bringing down the British Empire.
The Battle of Adwa
The Battle of Adwa was fought on March 1, 1896 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray.
This climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, was a decisive defeat for Italy and secured Ethiopian sovereignty.
In the Age of Steam, Africa had been carved up among the European powers at the Berlin Conference. The two independent exceptions were the Republic of Liberia on the west coast and Ethiopia, then still commonly known as Abyssinia, in the eastern Horn of Africa. The newly unified Kingdom of Italy was a relative newcomer to the imperialist scramble for Africa and had recently obtained two African territories: Eritrea and Italian Somalia, both near Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa. Italy sought to improve its position in Africa by conquering Ethiopia and joining it with its two territories.
Menelik II, ruler of Ethiopia, pitted Italy against its European rivals while stockpiling weapons to defend Ethiopia against the Italians.
The Italian government decided on a military solution to force Ethiopia to submit to Italian rule. As a result, Italy and Ethiopia faced off in what was later to be known as the Italo-Ethiopian War. In December 1894, Bahta Hagos led a rebellion against the Italians in Akkele Guzay, in what was then Italian controlled Eritrea. Units of General Oreste Baratieri’s ar
my under Major Pietro Toselli crushed the rebellion and killed Bahta. The Italian army then occupied the Tigrayan capital, Adwa. In January 1895, Baratieri’s army went on to defeat Ras Mengesha Yohannes in the Battle of Coatit, forcing Mengesha to retreat further south.
By late 1895, Italian forces had advanced deep into Ethiopian territory.
On December 7, 1895, Ras Makonnen, Ras Welle Betul and Ras Mengesha Yohannes, commanding a larger Ethiopian group of Menelik’s vanguard annihilated a small Italian unit at the Battle of Amba Alagi.
The Italians were forced to withdraw to more defensible positions in Tigray, where the two main armies faced each other.
By late February 1896, supplies on both sides were running low. General Oreste Baratieri, commander of the Italian forces, knew the Ethiopian forces had been living off the land, and once the supplies of the local peasants were exhausted, Emperor Menelik the Second’s army would begin to melt away. However, the Italian government insisted that General Baratieri act.
On the evening of February 29, Baratieri, about to be replaced by a new governor, met with his brigadiers, Matteo Albertone, Giuseppe Arimondi, Vittorio Dabormida, and Giuseppe Ellena, concerning their next steps. He opened the meeting on a negative note, revealing to his brigadiers that provisions would be exhausted in less than five days, and suggested retreating, perhaps as far back as Asmara. His subordinates argued forcefully for an attack, insisting that to retreat at this point would only worsen the poor morale. Dabormida exclaimed, “Italy would prefer the loss of two or three thousand men to a dishonorable retreat.” Baratieri delayed making a decision for a few more hours, claiming that he needed to wait for some last-minute intelligence, but in the end announced that the attack would start the next morning at 9:00. His troops began their march to their starting positions shortly after midnight.
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