In addition to the Treaty of Paris, the Quebec Act of 1774 confirmed the rights of British citizens to their property, including the enslaved, and the Imperial Act (1790), which encouraged immigration and included the right to import 'Negroes, household furniture, utensils of husbandry or cloathing' [sic], further strengthened the institution of slavery (Winks, 2000, p. 26). In addition, free Black people were not included among those encouraged to immigrate and, according to Winks, '[a]ll white settlers over fourteen years old were to take an oath of allegiance' whereas 'children and Negroes, slave or free, were not expected to do so since they were unable to swear'. Therefore, the racialized hierarchy that animated the exclusion of persons of African descent from claims of citizenship was increasingly obvious (Winks, 2000, p. 26).  
Eighteenth-century historical records show that there were Afrodescendants in the eastern portion of Canada. This included persons involved in the unsuccessful attempt by the French to repel the British conquest of Louisbourg in 1745 and settlers in Nova Scotia who came in response to offers of passage and provisions from the British Government. However, as was the case in Quebec, not all Afrodescendants in the Atlantic Provinces (Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) were free settlers: in 1752, a 'negro servant' named Orange was mentioned in a will and, according to Winks, ‘[i]n 1768 alone, 2,217 Negro slaves valued at $£ 77,595$ sterling were  
imported into the British provinces of North America, Newfoundland, Bahama, and Bermuda'. While most Afrodescendants probably went to the Bahamas and Bermuda, some remained in the Atlantic Provinces and others would be added to their ranks, including in the fisheries of Newfoundland (Fleming, 1953; Mackey, 2004; Riddell, 1919, 1920a, 1920b; Winks, 2000, pp. 26-28). ${ }^{4}$