A Forgotten History: The Significant Contribution of Black Slaves and Soldiers to the Building of Canada (1604 - 1945)

In this book, the historian and researcher Amadou Ba bridges the historical gap. He updates Blacks’ contributions to the building of Canada by dedicating his analysis on Black slaves and soldiers. For this purpose, he relates in the first part of his work the ancient, continuous and geographically diverse Black's migration to Canada since Mathew Da Costa, who is supposed to be the first Black man to set foot in the Canadian Deep Snow in 1604. The author then reviewed certain themes: slavery in New- France, loyalists, refugees, freedom seekers from the United States, the Underground Railroad, economic migrants mostly from the Caribbean during the Glorious Thirties. In the second part of his book, he analyzes and dissects the recruitment of Blacks as soldiers and their contributions in all Canadians both inside and outside of Canada, before and after Confederation (1812-1945). Amadou Ba’s book aims to reconciliate Canadians with their history. It speaks both to the academic world and the public (students, schoolchildren and to all of those who are interested in the history of Canada and Blacks).