This website project is an extension of Natasha Henry’s PhD dissertation research titled “One Too Many: The Enslavement of Africans in Early Ontario, 1760 - 1834” ™.

Henry’s research focuses on the enslavement of African men, women, and children in Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) between 1760 and 1834. It examines the scale and scope of the enslavement of African people in early Ontario, contextualizing this historical reality within the global phenomenon of the Transatlantic slave trade, the French and British colonization of what is now Canada and the “New World”, and the American Revolution, which resulted in the Loyalist exile to British North American and the forced relocation of the Africans they enslaved.

This research aims to disrupt the idea that since the number of enslaved Africans overall was relatively small, the enslavement was insignificant in Canada. No matter the number, the fact that Africans were held in bondage in Canada is important historical knowledge. Gaining a deeper understanding of who these individuals were assists in unpacking the complexities of their lives and the role of enslavement and freedom in shaping them.

The hybrid dissertation includes the creation of an open-access database that will provide a comprehensive enumeration of enslaved Africans held in bondage, the first major scholarly effort to do so. Henry’s employment of Black digital humanities (BDH) involves the development of biographical narratives of a number of subjects of the research, to ensure that their humanity and contributions are honoured and their memory, often denied, is acknowledged.