The blacks in Nova Scotia were chiefly former African-American slaves relocated there after the Revolutionary War known as Black Loyalists. They had escaped to the British and fought with them to secure their own freedom. The British promised resettlement, land and provisions for the first year. Despite promises from the military, the settlements were underfunded, and authorities tended to favor white Loyalists, especially those from the South who had brought slaves with them to Nova Scotia, complicating the social situation. They competed with the freedmen for land and power.