CBWC News

Celebrating Black History Month, we remember Baptist involvement in the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape from the United States to freedom in eastern Canada.

Because slavery in the United States wasn’t abolished until the end of the Civil War in 1865, more than 100,000 slaves managed to find freedom by escaping to Canada. Along with Christians of many other denominations, Baptists were actively involved in helping slaves to freedom.

Read more after the link.

Sandwich First Baptist Church in Windsor, Ontario gave refuge to many slaves who crossed the Detroit River from the US into Canada and actively fought for the abolition of slavery. After crossing the river, slaves made their way to the church using a series of tunnels and then lived in the church or with church families while they needed a safe haven. When bounty hunters invaded church services, special hymns like “Fly Away to Glory” were sung as a warning and black worshippers simply escaped through a trap door in the sanctuary floor that led to a tunnel and let them escape to the river while the congregation created a diversion. Today Sandwich First Baptist is one of the oldest Black Baptist Churches still functioning today. Some of the current members of the church are descendents of the slaves who found freedom there.

First Baptist Church in Toronto was also deeply involved in the Underground Railroad movement and became a terminal for the journey to freedom. The church began when 12 escaped slaves wanted to worship God but were told by white congregations that they had to produce a letter of dismissal from their previous church and repay their former owners for financial losses caused by their escape. Shocked by this, the former slaves decided to form their own congregation in 1926. Not only is this church the oldest black congregation in Toronto, it is the oldest Baptist church in Toronto and one of the oldest in Canada. It is the longest continuing congregation in Toronto.

The Underground Railroad came into being partly because Canada recognized the evils of slavery far sooner than other countries. Canada passed the Upper Canada Act Against Slavery in 1793, becoming the first British Colony to legislate against slavery. Existing slaves were not freed but importing slaves was prohibited and children of slaves had to be freed by the time they turned 25. In 1833, the Imperial Act abolished slavery in all British Territories.

The Underground Railroad was organized by the National Antislavery Society in 1834 and became more formally organized under the leadership of black abolitionist Robert Purvis. This escape network spanned 29 states, eastern Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. More than 100,000 fugitive slaves travelled back roads, swamps, forests and rivers to reach safety between 1834 and 1865 with the help of Christians and others who found slavery repugnant. Many didn’t succeed in their quest. Slaves found their way to freedom following the stars, listening to directions encoded into songs, deciphering patterns in quilts or receiving directions from ‘conductors’ who knew the way. Travelling mostly at night and finding refuge in safe houses provided by Christians and other abolitionists, slaves made their way to Canada and freedom.