June 15, 1785
Dear Journal,
Those Loyalists here in Nova Scotia are facing difficult times. They have no idea how to survive the cold winters. We are supplying them with some basic tools and some food only for the winter, but by summer their crops should be fine and they won’t need our help any more. But if they ask, we will be pleased to help. I heard that the Loyalists in Quebec are not getting help at all.
June 1, 1792
Dear Journal,
Slaves, owned by the rebels, had been promised freedom if they help us. When the American Revolution ended there were around 3000 Black Loyalists coming to North Nova Scotia. Their first goal, much like the others, was to build homes but we only had a short supply of tools and wood. Most of them were forced to work and they often had to settle on poor land.
I just got a letter from a friend of mine about an inspiring Black Loyalist Thomas Peters. Here is the letter. Enjoy:
Thomas peers came here to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution. Even by 1791, many people were having a difficult time finding land to build their homes. If they got some land, it would only be around half of a hectare, while the Loyalists got hundreds of hectares.
He wrote many petitions on behalf of the Black Loyalists. I am pretty sure that they got rejected because he always left angry and sad. After, he left North America for a while, probably to show his petitions to the Crown. They were rejected as well, he said when he got back. He told me that while he was in London, he caught the attention of the Sierra Leone Company. As you might already know, they are trying to establish a settlement for freed slaves in Sierra Leone, Africa.
Thomas Peters had few alternatives. He was only offered some poor land in Nova Scotia or he could serve in the army. Most people, like him, decided to go to Sierra Leone to get more freedom. When they got to Sierra Leone, the conditions were almost the same as in Nova Scotia- poor weather, delays in receiving grants and difficult relationships with the local Africans.
It's so horrible that the loyalists have to go through all of this. My good friend Jeffery is a loyalist, and he told me that the rebels burned his house! How crazy is that?! Some of the people where I live treat loyalists badly. I don't. I think that they have already been treated badly enough where they have come from, so why treat them badly here?
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