Civil War

 Close To Conflict: Canada And The American Civil War is the current special exhibit at the Canadian War Museum, taking place until early January. I had attended the opening night event, and came back in June to properly photograph the exhibit. I found it enlightening and very well put together.

Two neighbours, but different in their approach- the United States and the Canadian colonies in the first half of the 19th century.

The Civil War would be the great cataclysm in American history. And it would be hugely influential on shaping Canada's character.

At the time, Canada was a collection of British colonies and territories. The colonies had their own legislatures and leaders, but Britain still signed off on things.

After the War of 1812, Canadians and Americans started getting along better, and free trade helped move goods and people across the border. The Civil War would change that.

There are a series of videos inside the exhibit featuring current day commentary. Quotes from each are found here at the beginning as to what the Civil War meant for Canada.

The Fugitive Slave Act passed in 1850, creating the circumstances where fugitive slaves in the free north could be the subject of hunters looking for escaped slaves. Even free blacks feared for their safety. The Underground Railroad, which had made a point of helping escaped slaves north, extended north into the British North American colonies, as slavery had been abolished completely throughout the British empire a generation before. Thousands of families headed into Canada.

Harriet Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad and one of the giants of the abolition movement. Josiah Henderson, an escaped slave who became a conductor, established a settlement in Ontario for runaway slaves to build a new life in a state of freedom.

Nowhere in the free north states was there safety for black people. The notice from Boston advises caution, even though the state had formally abolished slavery decades before.

This is perhaps the most haunting artifact of the entire exhibit- shackles to restrain a black child by a slave catcher.