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Africville was a small community located on the southern shore of Bedford Basin, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During the 20th century, the City of Halifax began to encroach on the southern shores of Bedford Basin, and gradually took over this community through municipal amalgamation. Africville was populated almost entirely by Black Nova Scotians from a wide variety of origins. Many of the first settlers were former slaves from the United States, Black Loyalists who were freed by the Crown during the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812. The city neglected the community through the first half of the 20th century, and it struggled with poverty and poor health conditions. Its buildings became badly deteriorated. During the late 1960s, Halifax condemned the area, relocating its residents to newer housing in order to develop the nearby A. Murray MacKay Bridge, related highway construction, and the Port of Halifax facilities at Fairview Cove to the west. The defunct community has become an important symbol of Black Canadian identity and the struggle against racism. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996 as being representative of Black Canadian settlements in the province and as an enduring symbol of the need for vigilance in defence of their communities and institutions. After years of protest and investigations, in 2010 the Halifax Council ratified a proposed "Africville apology," under an arrangement with the federal government, to compensate descendants and their families who had been evicted. In addition, an ''Africville Heritage Trust'' was established to design a museum and build a replica of the community church. A commemorative waterfront park has been renamed as Africville. == History == The earliest colonial settlement of Africville began with the relocation of Black Loyalists, slaves from the Thirteen Colonies who escaped from rebel masters and were freed by the British in the course of the American Revolutionary War. The Crown transported them and other Loyalists to Nova Scotia, promising land and supplies for their service. The Crown also promised land and equal rights to War of 1812 Refugees. In 1836, Campbell Road was constructed creating an access route along the north side of the Halifax Peninsula which may have attracted settlement.〔("1836" Timeline Africville Genealogy Society Website )〕 The community of Africville was never officially established, but the first land transaction documented on paper was dated 1848. Richard Preston established the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church (1832) and went on to establish a network of Black baptist churches throughout Nova Scotia.〔(Canadian Biography - Richard Preston )〕 Five of these churches were established in Halifax: Preston (1842), Beechville (1844), Hammonds Plains (1845), Africville (1849) and Dartmouth. First known as "The Campbell Road Settlement", the community became known as "Africville" about 1900.〔Alfreda Withrow, ''One City, Many Communities'', Nimbus Publishing, Halifax (1999), p. 11〕 Although many people thought it was named Africville because the people who lived there came from Africa, this was not the case. One elderly woman, a resident of Africville, was quoted as saying, "it wasn't Africville out there. None of the people came from Africa…it was part of Richmond (Northern Halifax), just the part where the colour folks lived."〔Africville Genealogy Society. ''The Spirit of Africville.'' (Halifax: Formac Publishing Company Limited, 1992)〕 Africville began as a small and poor, but self-sufficient rural community of about 50 people in the 19th century. In the late 1850s, the Nova Scotia Railway, later to become the Intercolonial Railway, was built from Richmond to the south, bisecting Africville as the railway's mainline along the western shores of Bedford Basin. A second line arrived in 1906 with the arrival of the Halifax and Southwestern Railway, which connected to the Intercolonial at Africville. The Intercolonial Railway, later Canadian National Railways, constructed Basin Yard west of the community, adding more tracks. Trains ran through the area constantly. The Africville Seasides hockey team of the pioneering Colored Hockey League (1894-1930) won the championship in 1901 and 1902. The team beat West End Rangers from PEI to retain their title in a 3-2 single game victory in February 1902, and were led by star goaltender William Carvery, his two brothers on the team, plus three Dixon brothers also on the squad. Beginning in the early 20th century around the Great War, more people moved there, drawn by jobs in industries and related facilities developed nearby. This urban community had a peak population of 400 at the time of the Halifax Explosion in 1917. The community's haphazardly positioned dwellings ranged from small, well maintained and brightly painted homes to tiny ramshackle dwellings converted from sheds.〔Donald H. Clairmont & Dennis William Magill, ''Africville: The Life and Death of a Canadian Black Community,'' Canadian Scholar's Press, Toronto (1999), p. 44-45.〕 Elevated land to the south protected Africville from the direct blast of the explosion and the complete destruction that levelled the neighbouring community of Richmond. But Africville suffered considerable damage. A doctor of a relief train arriving at Halifax noted Africville residents "as they wandered disconsolately around the ruins of their still standing little homes".〔"Personal Narrative Dr. W.B. Moore", ''The Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917'', Graham Metson, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1978, p. 107〕 Four Africville residents (and one Mi'kmaq woman visiting from Queens County, Nova Scotia) were killed by the explosion.〔(''Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance'' )〕 In the aftermath of the disaster, Africville received modest relief assistance from the city, but none of the reconstruction and none of the modernization invested into other parts of the city at that time.〔Michelle Hebert Boyd, ''Enriched by Catastrophe: Social Work and Social Conflict after the Halifax Explosion'' (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing 2007)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Africville」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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