A Plea for Emigration: or Notes of Canada West

Mary Ann Shadds pamphlet A Plea for Emigration; or Notes of Canada West is, as the title promises, a settler guide designed to inform prospective immigrants of conditions in their proposed new home. But whereas most such works were addressed to potential white emigrants to North America from Britain or continental Europe, Shadds aimed to entice black Americans to emigrate to Canada.

The introduction and background materials included in the volume situate Shadds pamphlet in its political and cultural context, and in the context of Shadds own remarkable life as an abolitionist, womens rights activist, writer, and educator.