Two Sams, based on historical documents and oral history, traces the journey of an African-American family from slavery in Rhode Island and Virginia, through the American Revolution, and on to the hardships of life as Black Loyalists in colonial Nova Scotia. Sam the father tells the story from the family's time in slavery, escape to freedom, and participation on the British side in the American War of Independence. After the war, when the family has moved to the British colony of Nova Scotia, Sam the son takes up the tale, when the Black Loyalists have to try to survive with little food, poor housing, few tools, and persistent white racism.