Mary Ann Shadd was born a free woman of African American ancestry on October 9, 1823. She was the oldest of thirteen children. While still a child, Mary came to realize that her father’s shoemaking shop was a stop for fugitive slaves traveling the Underground Railway. These slaves, who were fleeing for their lives from slave owners and bounty hunters, were often hidden in a portion of the shop.
At the time, the education of blacks was strictly forbidden in Delaware. Because they wanted Mary to have the best opportunities possible, her parents took her to Pennsylvania at the age of 10 and placed her in a Quaker boarding school.
In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This Act allowed free northern blacks and escaped southern slaves to be rounded up and sold into slavery. Canada became a refuge for blacks that wished to take advantage of their newly found freedom. Because of the Act, Mary and her brother, Isaac, fled to Canada in 1851. Their father followed, bringing the entire family. The Shadds were known to their white neighbors as a “fine family of color.”
During this period slave owners did all they could to prevent slaves from crossing the border into Canada. Mary wrote a pamphlet called, “Notes on Canada.” It consisted of forty-four pages and listed opportunities available to blacks north of the 49th Parallel.
After arriving in Canada, Mary earned her teacher’s certificate and took a teaching position. She became one of the foremost figures in the abolitionist movement.
Mary felt the time had come for her people to accept integration, though both blacks and whites were secure with the segregated and equal communities. Mary wasn’t to be stopped! She opened a private school for people of all races. It was her belief that every individual, regardless of ancestry, had equal potential and should be given the opportunity to obtain an education. She believed that opportunity could only be obtained by hard work and independence.
To Mary, integration meant being self-reliant and learning to live and work in harmony with people of other races. She realized that both blacks and whites had much to learn about the other’s cultural roots if segregation was to be successful.
The blacks that fled to Canada felt they would be safe because it was a British Colony. Unfortunately, there was prejudice and discrimination in Canada at the time. As Mary had feared, the Canadian government segregated blacks into communities on the edge of cities. Blacks who had safely crossed the border tended to stick together. They settled in small, segregated communities where they felt they could look to each other for help and protection from white communities.
 |
 |
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Mary M. Alward's Canadian Tourism topic, please visit the Discussions page.