FORT LEE, Va. (Feb. 27, 2019) -- African American emigration to Africa might be considered extreme by some, but it is probably not the most daring and not an isolated case for blacks leaving this country in search of liberty.
● A few hundred black Americans – some espousing communist ideology – emigrated to Russia during the 1930s and many remained, according the 2014 documentary “Black Russians: The Red Experience.”
● During the 1800s, there were several Haitian emigration movements, most notably during 1824-26. Roughly 20 percent of free black Americans emigrated to the island nation in the 19th Century, according to Matthew Clavin, author of “African American Migration to Haiti.”
● A researcher, Maria Hammack of the University of Texas, noted the Underground Railroad also led to Mexico, estimating 5,000-10,000 slaves opted for routes south rather than those well-travelled northward.
● Finally, the southeastern provinces of Canada, especially Nova Scotia, are inhabited by thousands of blacks who are descended from African Americans. Roughly 3,000 departed for Canada during the Revolutionary War when the British offered freedom in exchange for military service, and an untold number came via the Underground Railroad. Of note, a third who sided with the Brits ended up in the colony of Sierra Leone, which borders Liberia to the north.
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2019 08:50 |
| Story ID: | 312113 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Untold: Liberia not an isolated case for black migration, by Terrance Bell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
