Carleton's Book of Negroes (sic), 1783, Library and Archives Canada

If you are doing Black genealogy research this offering from the Library and Archives Canada may be helpful. What it offers is the contents of a book listing Black Loyalists who left the United States after the Revolutionary War. Listed is the person's name, age, physical description, and some comments (if you are lucky).

I have given you two links below. The first is to a page at the Library and Archives Canada which gives historical background and an explanation of what the book contains. This is necessary to get the most out of the second link which takes you to the transcription of the book at the Black Loyalists site. You can get to the second link by following directions in the first link, but the trail can be confusing, so I've given you starting and ending points here. When you use the second link (you may have to copy and paste it to your browser), click on "documents" in the left pane of the page, then click on "Official Documents and Proclamations," then you will find a link to the book.

Carleton Papers – Book of Negroes, 1783 - Library and Archives Canada:

http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/ic/can_digital_collections/blackloyalists/index.htm


This note comes from the Libarary and Archives Canada website:
Important Note about Terminology

Since the 1960s, there has been a change in the terminology used to designate people of African descent. Today the term “black” is preferred. Nevertheless, “negro” is used in this research tool for two reasons:

• The term appears frequently in the original documents and is used here only for historical context.
• The Book of Negroes contains references not only to black people, but also to “mulattoes” and others of mixed race; the word “negro” is used to designate both black people and “mulattoes.”