Many Canadians believe their nation fell on the right side of history in harbouring escaped slaves from the United States. In fact, in the wake of the American Revolution, many Loyalist families brought slaves with them when they settled in the Maritime colonies of British North America. Once there, slaves used their traditions of survival, resistance, and kinship networks to negotiate their new reality. This book, the first on slavery in the Maritimes, is a startling corrective to the enduring and triumphant narrative of Canada as a land of freedom at the end of the Underground Railroad.

Introduction: slavery in the Maritime colonies -- Slavery and the American context -- Maritime slavery and the Loyalist settlement -- Slave work -- The world of Maritime slaves and slaveholders -- Ending slavery.