Many of the black Loyalists performed military service in the British Army , particularly as part of the only black regiment of the war , the Black Pioneers , while others served non-military roles . The soldiers of the Black Pioneers settled in Digby and were given small compensation in comparison to the white Loyalist soldiers . Many of the blacks settled under the leadership of Stephen Blucke , a prominent black leader of the Black Pioneers . Historian Barry Moody has referred to Blucke as " the true founder of the Afro-Nova Scotian community . " Blucke led the founding of Birchtown , Nova Scotia in 1783 . The community was the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th century . The community was named after British Brigadier General Samuel Birch , an official who assisted in the evacuation of Black Loyalists from New York . ( Also named after the general was a much smaller settlement of Black Loyalists in Guysborough County , Nova Scotia called Birchtown . ) The two other significant Black Loyalist communities established in Nova Scotia were Brindley town ( present-day Jordantown ) and Tracadie . Birchtown was located near the larger town of Shelburne , with a majority white population . Racial tensions in Shelburne erupted into the 1784 Shelburne riots , when white Loyalist residents drove black residents out of Shelburne and into Birchtown . In the years after the riot , Shelbourne county lost population due to economic factors , and at least half of the families in Birchtown abandoned the settlement and emigrated to Sierra Leone in 1792 . To accommodate these British subjects , the British government approved 16,000 pounds for the emigration , three times the total annual budget for Nova Scotia . They were led to Sierra Leone by John Clarkson ( abolitionist ) and became known as the Nova Scotian Settlers
Shelburne riots
Shelburne riots
Black Nova Scotians