Navigating to Freedom: The Legacy of Freedom Ships on the Great Lakes 

By: Jeff Hubbell, Corporate Archivist, PortsToronto 

Did you know that the Great Lakes ports, including here in Toronto, were a part of the anti-slavery movement? Before the American Civil War, part of the journey of the Underground Railroad could take place on vessels called Freedom Ships.   

The Underground Railroad was operated by courageous women and men who risked absolutely everything, including their lives, to help other escaped slaves from the southern U.S. safely make their way to Canada.     

Once formerly enslaved people made it to the border after weeks of walking, running, and hiding, they still had to cross the great waters of North America’s inland seas and waterways.    

Enter the Freedom Ships. For the most part, these were just ordinary vessels, usually the workhorse schooners of the 19th-century Great Lakes, or the faster, larger steamers—with extraordinary sailing masters and crews willing to go along with them. Throughout the 19th century, there were substantial numbers of Black people aboard these vessels, usually working as crew members but sometimes as captains or owners. Arrangements were made in various American ports for these ships to pick up ordinary cargoes, and their smuggled supercargo—the runaways.   

One significant water route was Rochester to Toronto. Toronto’s harbour was by no means the largest entry point for freedom seekers into Canada, narrow crossings such as the Detroit River were preferred. However, the city’s position as the provincial capital and its relative size made it a place where powerful abolitionist societies, escaped former slaves and their supporters made their headquarters, especially in the area around St. Lawrence Hall, and had the resources to help the new arrivals.  

The usual location for them to arrive by water was on the original shoreline on the slope south of St. Lawrence Hall which extended behind what is now the St. Lawrence Market, at either Maitland Wharf or Helliwell’s Wharf. The information about the arriving ships and their cargoes would be duly noted by the Toronto Harbour Master Hugh Richardson (or other Harbour Trust staff). Freed slaves were usually brought to the Hall where they were processed and offered paid employment. From there, they often made their way out of the city to settlements that had grown from earlier groups of runaways, such as those near Collingwood or Windsor.       

The Freedom Ships ended with the winding down of the Underground Railroad after the start of the U.S. Civil War. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 people found their way to freedom aboard these vessels which operated not only on the Great Lakes and attendant rivers but elsewhere along British North America.