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Juneteenth and Other Lesser Known African-American Historical Culture

Khalid Elhassan June 15, 2020 34 min

Colonel Tye - American Revolutionary War — Colonel Tye as portrayed in a PBS documentary. PBS

33. A Black American Community in Canada

King George III, villain and oppressor to white American patriots, champion and emancipator to black American slaves. Wikimedia

British Freedom and the black community nearby were clinging to more than their hardscrabble acres: they were clinging to a promise of freedom. Some even had that promise printed and signed by British Army officers on behalf of King George III, stating that the bearer was free to go where he or she chose, and to take up what occupation he or she would.

Although technically unnecessary, that piece of signed paper meant something to those who had been born slaves in America. It was, they told themselves, their just dues. Considering their services to the British Crown, it was but a fraction of the just compensation that they were owed.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.