- Pre-17th century
c. 1-1067 AD
Ancient Ghana, 400 miles (644 km) north of modern-day Ghana, becomes a major trading empire, deriving its power and wealth from gold.
1235-1645
Sundiata Keita comes to power and rules over the Empire of Mali. The city of Timbuktu is transformed into a major city of trade and scholarship. The gold and salt trades formed the economic basis of the Empire.
1324
Mansa Musa, a successor of Sundiata, rules Mali at its height and makes a famous pilgrimage to Mecca, bringing a huge entourage and so much gold that it plummets on the world market.
1464- c. 1550
With the decline of Mali, the Songhay Empire rises to prominence. King Sunni Ali Ber comes to power and he and his successor, Askia Mohammed Toure, extend their rule over an area more vast than Mali or Ghana. Songhay reaches its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries.
c. 1200-1500
The state of Great Zimbabwe flourishes in southern Africa. Its people build the largest medieval stone structure south of the Sahara Desert. It is the centre of a vast international commercial system and covers a huge area between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers.
1500s
The European slave trade begins.
1501
Portuguese explorers enslave 50 Amerindian men and women in Labrador or Newfoundland.
- 17th century
1605
Mathieu Da Costa, an African translator hired by Samuel de Champlain for his expedition from France to Port Royal, is the first Black person to arrive in Canada.
1619
Slavery begins in North America with the arrival in Jamestown, Virginia of a Dutch slave trading ship carrying 20 Africans.
1628
A six-year-old boy from Madagascar is the first Black person to appear in records as being brought directly from Africa and sold as a slave in New France for 50 crowns. He is later baptized and given the name Olivier Le Jeune.
1689
King Louis XIV of France gives limited approval for the importation of slaves into New France in order to fill a shortage of available servants and agricultural workers.
- 18th century
1709
King Louis XIV formally authorizes slavery in New France, thus laying the legal foundation for slavery in the colony.
1734
Marie-Joseph Angélique, a slave born in Portugal, is tortured and hanged in June for causing the fire that burned down a substantial portion of the city of Montreal.
1775-1783
The Thirteen Colonies wage the American War of Independence against Britain and form a new country called the United States of America (1776).
1783
The American Revolution ends and United Empire Loyalists – both white and Black – who wish to remain loyal to Britain move to Canada.
1790
An imperial statute allows Loyalists to enter Upper Canada from the United States without paying duty on their slaves if they obtain a licence from the Lieutenant Governor.
1793
Chloe Cooley, an enslaved woman in Upper Canada, is forced to cross the Niagara River when she is sold to a new owner in New York state. Her resistance leads to the passage of the 1793 Act limiting slavery in Upper Canada that prevents the importation of slaves and allows for the gradual emancipation of children of slaves born after this date.
1793
The first Fugitive Slave Law is passed in the United States, providing for the capture and return of runaway slaves.
- 19th century
1800-1863
After the passage of the 1793 Act to limit slavery in Upper Canada,
enslaved African Americans flee to Canada. By the 1840s, an organized
system of underground assistance evolves – which eventually becomes
known as the Underground Railroad. It is run by abolitionists and
Quakers and is a loosely constructed network of escape routes that
originates in the southern United States, winding its way to the less
restrictive North, and eventually to Canada.
1807
Britain abolishes the transatlantic slave trade.
1808
The United States Congress passes a law prohibiting the importation of slaves from Africa.
1812
Black volunteers fight under the British flag in a separate "Colored
Corps" in the War of 1812 to defend their home in Canada and prevent a
return to slavery.
1819
The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada offers land grants in Oro
Township to Black veterans of the War of 1812, creating an early Black
settlement in the province.
1828
The Amherstburg First African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) is erected.
1829-1830
The enforcement of oppressive Black Codes in Ohio leads former
residents of Cincinnati to found the Wilberforce Settlement near
present-day Lucan, Ontario.
1830
Josiah Henson escapes Kentucky with his wife and four children and
settled near Fort Erie, Ontario. Henson goes on to become a leading
Black abolitionist and important community leader.
1831
Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher, leads the most significant slave
revolt in American history. Dozens of whites are murdered and Turner is
captured and hanged. In response, Virginia enacts even more oppressive
laws against Blacks.
1833
Upper Canada refuses to extradite the fugitive slaves Thornton and
Lucie Blackburn. The case serves as a precedent in the extradition of
fugitive slaves from Upper Canada. The Blackburns are allowed to remain
in Canada because to return them would ensure their re-enslavement.
1834
Slavery is officially abolished throughout the British Empire on
August 1. Emancipation Day celebrations begin to take place in Black
communities across Ontario and are still observed today.
1837
An escaped slave, Solomon Moseby, is arrested in Niagara for stealing
a horse to affect his getaway. During his transportation back to
Kentucky, one of the first race riots in Canada breaks out in
opposition to his extradition. Two men are killed and Moseby escapes.
1837
The 1837 Rebellion breaks out in Upper Canada, led by William Lyon
Mackenzie. Black volunteers, including Josiah Henson, form a number of
"Colored Corps" to defend the government and support Black rights in
the province.
1837
Thornton Blackburn starts the first cab company in Toronto, a red and yellow carriage drawn by a single horse.
1841
The Dawn Settlement near Dresden, Ontario is founded by Josiah Henson and Hiram Wilson.
1842
The British American Institute opens at the Dawn Settlement. It attracts hundreds of Blacks who settle in the area.
1849
The Elgin Settlement and Buxton Mission are founded by Rev. William
King on 9,000 acres (3,642 hectares) in Kent County. The settlement is
an important terminus of the Underground Railroad that attracts
hundreds of free Blacks.
1849
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and repeatedly returns to the
southern United States to assist enslaved people in their escape to
freedom.
1849
Josiah Henson publishes his biography The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.
1850
The second Fugitive Slave Law is enacted by United States Congress.
The severity of the new law results in a flood of enslaved and free
Blacks escaping to the safety of Canada.
1850
The Common Schools Act, enacted by Egerton Ryerson, forces Black
children to attend segregated schools in many communities across the
province.
1851
Henry and Mary Bibb begin publication of the first Black Canadian anti-slavery newspaper – the Voice of the Fugitive – out of Sandwich (Windsor) in Canada West.
1851
The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada is formed in Toronto.
1851
A North American convention is held at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto
with anti-slavery leaders from across the United States and Canada
West to discuss emigration and other related issues.
1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin is published and becomes an international bestseller, drawing attention from all over the world to the horrors of slavery.
1853
The Provincial Freeman, an abolitionist newspaper, is
established by Mary Ann and Isaac Shadd. Mary Ann Shadd becomes the
first Black woman to own and publish a newspaper in North America.
1856
The British Methodist Episcopal Church is founded in Canada West when
some AME branches choose to separate from their parent body. The name
change is partially an expression of acknowledgement and gratitude for
the freedom found in the British colony.
1857
The ruling in the Dred Scott case in Missouri states that enslaved
people in the United States are not humans but property and that
Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in states.
1858
John Brown holds a convention in Chatham to form a constitution and
lay plans to overthrow slavery in the United States, building on
secret meetings held in various centres in Canada West to recruit
followers to join his cause.
1859
John Brown and 21 followers, including Osborne Anderson from Chatham,
raid and capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Brown's attempt to overthrow slavery in the United States fails and he
is tried and hanged.
1860
John Anderson (from the Brantford area) is arrested seven years
after he fled from Missouri, where he had killed a man who tried to
prevent his escape. There is international interest in the case as the
United States seeks to have him extradited. The case is dismissed on a
technicality.
1861
The American Civil War begins. After the ban on Black soldiers is
rescinded in 1862, nearly 1,000 African Canadian men join the Union
Army in different Black regiments.
1863
The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by President Abraham Lincoln, declaring all slaves to be free.
1863
The United States Freemen's Inquiry Commission tours Black
settlements throughout Ontario to conduct interviews and to make
recommendations to assist in planning for the transition from slavery to
freedom.
1865
The Civil War ends and President Lincoln is assassinated.
1865
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution officially abolishes slavery in the United States.
1883
Josiah Henson dies on May 5.
1893
Chatham schools are finally desegregated following a well-organized campaign led by the Kent County Civil Rights League.
1898
R. Nathaniel Dett becomes the organist at the British Methodist
Episcopal Church, now the Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel, in his
hometown of Niagara Falls, Ontario. He goes on to become an
award-winning composer, scholar and choral director.
- 20th century
1901
Talented musician, vaudevillian and prolific composer, Shelton
Brooks, moves from his hometown of Amherstburg, Ontario to the United
States, where he goes on to write hit songs such as "Dark Town
Strutter's Ball" and "Some of these Days." The latter song was
popularized in the 1970s television show "All in the Family."
1915
Hattie Rhue Hatchett, a teacher and composer from North Buxton,
writes "That Sacred Spot." It becomes the Canadian military's official
marching song for the troops during the First World War.
1916
The segregated No. 2 Construction Battalion is formed for Black men
who want to serve during the First World War. Over 600 men join from
across Canada and the United States.
1939-1945
Black volunteers are accepted into the Canadian forces during the
Second World War and hundreds serve alongside whites on the
battlefields of Europe.
1942
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters is organized in Canada. In
1945, it becomes the first all-Black union to sign a collective
agreement with Canadian Pacific Rail.
1948
Hugh Burnett and fellow Blacks from Dresden, Chatham and Buxton
organize the National Unity Association to combat discrimination in
employment, housing and public accommodation.
1951
The Government of Ontario passes the Fair Employment Practices Act
that outlaws discrimination in employment based on race, creed or
national origin.
1954
The Government of Ontario passes the Fair Accommodations Practices Act making discrimination in public facilities illegal.
1955
In an act of resistance, Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a
bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. Her arrest leads to a
year-long bus boycott by the Black community. Buses are desegregated in
December 1956. Rev. Martin Luther King, one of the leaders of the
boycott, emerges as a national civil rights leader in the United
States.
1961
The Ontario Human Rights Commission is established to administer the
Ontario Human Rights Code. Dr. Daniel Hill – a noted Canadian
sociologist, civil servant, human rights specialist and Black Canadian
historian – becomes its first director.
1962
The Ontario Human Rights Code is enacted, the first of its kind in Canada.
1963
Leonard Braithwaite is the first Black Canadian to be elected to a provincial legislature as the member for Etobicoke, Ontario.
1967
Canadian immigration policy is liberalized with the points system
that allows un-sponsored immigrants to enter Canada based on their
skills and education. Hundreds of thousands of Blacks immigrate to
Canada from the Caribbean, Africa and other regions over the next 30
years.
1968
Lincoln Alexander is the first Black Canadian to be elected to the
House of Commons in Ottawa, representing Hamilton West. He later
becomes the federal Minister of Labour in 1979.
1969
The National Black Coalition of Canada is formed in Toronto at a meeting of 28 organizations.
1973
The first national Congress of Black Women is held in Toronto, hosted by the Canadian Negro Women's Association.
1974
Rosemary Brown, Member of the Legislative Assembly in British
Columbia and the first Black woman to be elected to a Canadian
legislature in 1972, becomes the first woman to compete for the
leadership of a national political party (New Democrat Party); she
comes second in a tight race. She later serves as Chief Commissioner of
the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1993 to 1996.
1978
Stanley Grizzle becomes the first appointed Black Canadian judge in the Canadian Court of Citizenship.
1985
Lincoln Alexander is sworn in as Ontario's Lieutenant Governor. He is
the first Black Canadian to be appointed to this vice-regal position.
1993
Jean Augustine becomes the first Black woman in Canada to be elected
to the House of Commons. She is elected in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore
riding and later serves in Cabinet as Minister of State and as
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.
1995
The Government of Canada officially recognizes February as Black History Month, following a motion introduced by the Honourable Jean Augustine: “That this House take note of the important contribution of black Canadians to the settlement, growth and development of Canada, the diversity of the black community in Canada and its importance to the history of this country, and recognize February as black history month.”
- 21st century
2005
Michaëlle Jean is sworn in as Canada's first Black Governor General.
2006
The Hanging of Angélique, The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal, by Dr. Afua Cooper, is shortlisted for the 2006 Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.
2007
People around the British Commonwealth commemorate the 1807 Act to Abolish the Slave Trade.
Commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 25, 1807.
Lawrence Hill wins numerous prizes including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and CBC Radio’s Canada Reads for his novel The Book of Negroes. A six-part television miniseries based on the book is produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Black Entertainment Television (BET).
I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land by author Karolyn Smardz Frost wins the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction.
2008
Barack Obama is elected the first Black President of the United States.
2011
2011 was named by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year for People of African Descent, which aimed to strengthen national action and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent.
London, Ontario native Kathleen Livingstone (1918-1975) is named a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada. Livingstone founded the Canadian Negro Women’s Association, and was its first president from 1951 to 1953.
2013
The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024, is proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. The theme for the International Decade is "People of African descent: recognition, justice and development."
The social media hashtag #BlackLivesMatters develops in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death in Florida of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and expands into an international movement to address violence and systemic racism experienced by the Black community.
2018
The Bank of Canada unveils a new $10 bill featuring Viola Desmond. She is the first Black person to be pictured on Canadian currency.
