Birchtown, Nova Scotia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Birchtown
Community
Birchtown Location in Nova Scotia
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
County	Shelburne
Municipal district	Shelburne
Population  (2011)	200
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Postal code(s)	B0T 1W0
Area code(s)	902
Access Routes	Trunk 3

Birchtown is a special community and a National Historic Site in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located near Shelburne in Shelburne County. Birchtown was started in 1783. It became the largest settlement of Black Loyalists in North America during the 1700s. These were people of African descent who were free.

Two other important Black Loyalist communities in Nova Scotia were Brindley town and Tracadie. Birchtown got its name from Samuel Birch. He was a British Brigadier General who helped Black Loyalists leave New York.

How Birchtown Began

Birchtown was first settled by Stephen Blucke. Many people call him the "true founder of the Afro-Nova Scotian community". Birchtown was the main place where African Americans known as Black Loyalists settled. These were people who had escaped slavery during the American War of Independence. They fought for the British during the war.

Most of the Black Loyalists who later moved to the new colony of Sierra Leone in 1792 had first lived in Birchtown. Many of these Black Loyalists came to Nova Scotia through a nearby town called Port Roseway. This town was soon renamed Shelburne.

Brigadier General Samuel Birch wrote down the names of these African-American settlers in a book. It was called the Book of Negroes. They were given special passports that proved they were free. General Birch signed these passports, and they became known as General Birch Certificates.

The main group of settlers in Birchtown were five companies of Black Pioneers. These were Black Americans who helped the British forces during the American War of Independence. More than two-thirds of the Black people who came to Canada were from the southern parts of America.

Newspapers in New York City and London said that Birchtown was the largest settlement of free African Americans in the world. Birchtown's population grew even more in July 1784. This happened after white people attacked free Black residents in Shelburne during the Shelburne Riots. Many Black people, like the preacher David George, went to Birchtown to find safety.

A New Journey: Moving to Sierra Leone

Life in Birchtown was hard for many residents. They faced poor land, not enough supplies, and a harsh climate. They also experienced unfair treatment and broken promises of help from the British. Because of these problems, many Birchtown residents decided to ask the British government for help.

As a result, many people from Birchtown chose to accept Britain's offer. They joined a large move in 1792 to start a free settlement for people of African descent in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is in West Africa. Most of the Black people who left for Sierra Leone were from Birchtown.

About 600 people who left for Sierra Leone were from the Birchtown and Digby areas. Another 220 were from Preston. About 200 came from New Brunswick, and 180 were from the Annapolis-Digby area. Fifty-five of them had been born into slavery in Virginia. The families of these settlers are now part of the Sierra Leone Creole people.

Birchtown Today and Its Legacy

Even though many people moved to Sierra Leone, many settlers stayed in Birchtown. Their families became the ancestors of the Black Nova Scotian population in Shelburne County today. Over the years, many families moved to the nearby town of Shelburne for better job opportunities.

Birchtown remained a small rural community with a few hundred people. They worked in farming, fishing, and forestry. A two-room schoolhouse was built in 1829. Later, a new eight-room school was built in 1959.

Birchtown was named a National Historic Site in 1997. In that same year, the Black Loyalist Heritage Society opened a museum complex. It celebrates the history of the Black Loyalists and includes the old Birchtown school and church. Sadly, the museum's offices and archives were mostly destroyed by a fire in 2006. The remaining historical records were moved to a temporary place on the site.

A brand new building, the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, opened in June 2015. It shares the story of the Black Loyalists. Visitors can learn about their journey in America, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone through staff and interactive digital displays.

Birchtown in Books

The history of Birchtown, where the British gave freedom to Black Loyalists, is told in a non-fiction book. It is called Rough Crossings and was written by British historian Simon Schama. This book won an important award called the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Lawrence Hill also wrote a novel called The Book of Negroes. In this story, the main character, Aminata Diallo, lives in Birchtown. She describes how the community was founded.

Important People from Birchtown

• Stephen Blucke – He is known as the "founder of the Afro-Nova Scotian community."
• David George – An African-American Baptist preacher who started the Silver Bluff Baptist Church.
• Boston King – The first Methodist missionary to African Indigenous people.
• John Marrant – The first African-American preacher who was a Methodist.
• Moses Wilkinson – An African-American Methodist preacher.