Wilberforce Colony
in Lucan, CanadaCategory: Attraction
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6401-6799 Fallon Dr, Lucan, ON N0M 2J0, Canada Print route »
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Wilberforce Colony was a colony established about 1829 by free African American citizens, north of present-day London, Ontario, Canada. It was an effort by American blacks to create a place where they could live in political freedom.When American black communities favored emigration at all (and many did not), they preferred going to a country where free blacks could hold full political control of their destiny. The establishment of what became the Wilberforce Colony in Canada was one such movement. It was planned by blacks from Cincinnati, Ohio, who emigrated following passage of discriminatory laws in 1828 and a destructive riot against them by whites in 1829.
The frontier colony grew quickly upon its founding. Refugee slaves, who had escaped to freedom in Canada, also joined the colony. Internal disputes, lack of funding and the draw of urban jobs led to its decline by 1850. In the 1840s, many Irish immigrants settled in this area after fleeing famine in their homeland. Altogether, the Wilberforce Colony survived as an independent community fewer than 20 years.
