Weather: Partly Cloudy, 57/75F
Route: From Buffalo 210 miles on I-190 N, ON-403 N, ON-401 W.
Significance: The goal for many fugitive enslaved people on the Underground Railroad was Canada, as there were no fugitive slave laws there. In 1849, William King a former slave owner turned abolitionist in Louisiana, bought 9,000 acres in southwest Ontario and worked with the Governor General of Canada Lord Elgin to make it a haven for African Americans from the United States.
Although Canada was the goal for many enslaved people, they didn't always find open arms on the northern side of the border. Canada may have been the first country to make slavery illegal in 1793, but there was still widespread racism - which in many places in Canada was codified in laws which made it difficult for Black people to make a living. In North Buxton Black people were free to make a community on their own, without many of the restrictions they found in other places in Canada. The result was a successful farming community. There are still many descendants of the original settlers living in the area - although many people moved to larger cities in the early 20th century for better jobs just as happened in rural areas throughout North America.
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