Jim Hornby Questions/Answers (responsible for the test)

1. What percentage of Black Islanders lived in rural areas? What types of jobs did they occupy?
More than 50% of African Islanders (78 people) lived in rural PEI  worked as farmers, fishermen, stone-cutters, and labourers.
2. Explain what John Prevost represents to the Island’s black community.
Prevost represents the impact one person can have on an entire community/population.
Evidence: his family constituted 6% of the Island’s black population in 1881.
3. Outside of Charlottetown, name the community that had the highest black population. What three black families were most prominent?
Kings County
Three most prominent Black families: Sheppard , Suckles, Henry
4. Explain the evolution of the “Suckles/Sickles” family name.
The family name was believed to first be “Suckles”, but had been pronounced “Sickles” and thus the spelling changed accordingly. Anglicization of the name could also be attributed to the change in spelling.
5. What can be attributed to the high proportion of mixed marriages in rural areas in the late 1800s?
Black Islanders were more isolated in rural communities  creates more opportunity to mix with non-blacks.
Rural white Islanders seemed to accept the African Islanders to a high degree “in practice”.
6. Explain the quote “Rural white Islanders also appear to have accepted blacks to a high degree in practice.” What does “in practice” mean? Explain.
Island Blacks were both accepted and whispered about by their white counterparts. They were integrated into the rural society, but there was still an underlying racism present.
7. What was a positive for those living in The Bog? A negative? If you were a Black Islander living during this time, where do you think you would have preferred to live? Explain and support your answer.
Positive: Closer family and community ties
Negative: more visible and conspicuously lower-class suffered victimization