47:, enacted in 1833, was a day when people could celebrate their freedom. A deep community spirit, called "True Bands", meant that people would look after each other and build up schools, churches, and other resources to support one another. Chatham had become the center for black activism in Canada, partly due to
68:
American slave-hunters came into Canada to find fugitive enslaved people. At times, they took blacks to sell into slavery, such as if they could not find the person that they were looking for. Vigilance committees were organized by black men and women in southwestern
Ontario to counter American slave
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reported that Merwin was his slaveholder from St. Louis, but it was found that Merwin had intended on selling
Demarest, and he had never owned him. Demarest was found to have been born free. Even so, there were some white Canadians that were outraged about how the train was stormed to find Demarest.
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and leader of the
Chatham Vigilance Committee, led the rescue and was arrested in 1858 for his role. Another four blacks and two whites, who were also members of the committee, were arrested as well. They were charged by railroad officials for having caused a riot and "(indirectly) abduction". They
132:, who had been the mayor of London, Ontario, spotted the two travelers and had a telegraph sent ahead to Chatham. The train, making its scheduled stop for water in Chatham, was met by 100 people who entered the train and removed Demarest. Some of the people were armed.
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were found guilty of rioting. Some of the people were able to pay assigned fines, and others were unable to do so and remained in jail for some time. It is also said that the case was dismissed when it was learned that
Demarest was not a fugitive slave.
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to be returned to slavery. As a result, as many as 20,000 blacks moved to Canada between 1850 and 1860, making a total of 60,000 black citizens in the country. Between 1850 and 1865, there were 25,000 black residents in
Chatham, Ontario.
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The fear was that
Demarest was being kidnapped from Canada and into slavery in the United States. When they initially boarded the train, Merwin stated that Demarest was his slave.
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Contemporary newspapers stated that there were 300 to 400 people who came to the train station for
Demarest and that Demarest did not want to leave the train.
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The largest waves of
African Americans seeking freedom in Canada began in 1841 and continued through to 1865. Thousands came to and through Chatham.
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Members of the
Chatham community were notified in September 1858 that a white man was traveling with a black boy through Canada and to
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169:. Residents of his community, including Oberlin College faculty and students, liberated him in what was called the
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in Ohio. It is most well known for its rescue of
Sylvanus Demarest, but the Committee rescued other people.
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area to save people from being sold into slavery. Some of the members of the group were graduates of
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510:
Freedom by Any Means: Con Games, Voodoo Schemes, True Love and Lawsuits on the Underground Railroad
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121:, Michigan. W. R. Merwin transported a 10-year-old boy or teen Sylvanus Demarest on a train from
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At about the same time, slave catchers had taken John Price, a former slave and resident of
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44:
8:
106:
455:
The Making of "Mammy Pleasant": A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-century San Francisco
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We're Rooted Here and They Can't Pull Us Up: Essays in African Canadian Women's History
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82:
24:
546:
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is a historical fiction set in 1858 with Sylvanus Demarest as one of the characters.
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Back to Africa: Benjamin Coates and the Colonization Movement in America, 1848-1880
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129:
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125:, to Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. He was also known as Venus.
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Mary Ann Shadd Cary: The Black Press and Protest in the Nineteenth Century
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After the event, he met up with his mother in Chatham and lived with the
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118:
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Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J.; Bacon, Margaret Hope (2010-11-01).
185:(2018), from the Buxton Chronicles series, volume 3 by
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273:"Chatham Vigilance Committee and the Demarest Rescue"
60:, which made it easier for former slaves living in
56:The group was founded following the passage of the
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477:
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483:"A Negro Boy Taken From His Master in Canada"
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458:. University of Illinois Press. p. 39.
370:. University of Toronto Press. p. 117.
364:Bristow, Peggy; Brand, Dionne (1994-01-01).
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663:Organizations that combat human trafficking
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338:"A People's History: Underground Railroad"
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545:. Indiana University Press. p. 132.
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598:"Slave Excitement - Forcible Abduction"
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303:Henry, Natasha L. (February 10, 2015).
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513:. Simon and Schuster. p. 219.
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16:Canadian abolitionist organization
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673:Black Canadian culture in Ontario
569:Maroney, Nina Reid (2019-05-29).
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571:"Finding 'Phantoms of the Past'"
623:"The Journey of Little Charlie"
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396:www.huronantislaveryhistory.ca
27:by black abolitionists in the
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507:DeRamus, Betty (2009-02-03).
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183:The Journey of Little Charlie
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678:Black Canadian organizations
305:"Fugitive Slave Act of 1850"
235:"Reframing Resistance: 1858"
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452:Hudson, Lynn Maria (2003).
157:before moving to Windsor.
105:, John James Pleasant, and
21:Chatham Vigilance Committee
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658:Abolitionist organizations
487:The Buffalo Daily Republic
135:Isaac Shadd, publisher of
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58:Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
23:was formulated before the
309:The Canadian Encyclopedia
171:Oberlin–Wellington Rescue
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668:19th century in Ontario
604:. 1858-09-30. p. 4
489:. 1858-09-30. p. 2
187:Christopher Paul Curtis
653:Canadian abolitionists
155:Isaac and Amelia Shadd
137:The Provincial Freeman
103:Osborne Perry Anderson
50:The Provincial Freeman
539:Rhodes, Jane (1999).
107:Mary Ellen Pleasant
392:"Lucy Stanton Day"
95:William Howard Day
83:James Henry Harris
25:American Civil War
552:978-0-253-21350-1
520:978-1-4391-5648-3
465:978-0-252-02771-0
438:978-0-271-04571-9
377:978-0-8020-6881-1
113:Sylvanus Demarest
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62:Free states
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647:Categories
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608:2021-04-11
580:2021-04-11
493:2021-04-11
406:2021-04-11
347:2021-04-12
342:CBC Canada
314:2021-04-11
282:2021-04-11
245:2021-04-11
214:References
161:John Price
69:catchers.
39:Background
119:Detroit
73:Members
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194:Notes
547:ISBN
515:ISBN
460:ISBN
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277:Clio
143:The
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