Online Encyclopedia
History of Canada
| History of Canada |
| Pre-Confederation |
| Post-Confederation |
| Military history |
| Economic history |
| Timeline |
Canada is a nation of 31 million inhabitants occupying almost all of the northern half of the North American continent. Because Canada is so vast and the various parts of modern-day Canada were established as separate colonies at different historical periods, it is challenging to tell a unified history of Canada without neglecting one or more regions of the country. Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, did not become part of Canada until 1949.
Canada, which has been inhabited by natives including the First Nations and the Inuit for about 10,000 years, was first visited by Europeans around 1000, when the Vikings briefly settled at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. Basque fishermen from southern Europe began fishing the Grand Banks off Newfoundland as early as the 15th century. More permanent European visits came in the 16th and 17th centuries, as the English and French established settlements in eastern Canada for fishing or the fur trade. French settlement began with Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, first in Acadia in 1604, then Québec in 1608.
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Early Canada "New France" (Nouvelle-France) 1604-1763
Over the next 150 years, Canada and Acadia continued to expand from the heartland of the St Lawrence River into the upper country (pays d'en haut) of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley of North America. Their expansion was opposed by the Wyandot (Hurons), the Iroquois, and most importantly the English, Scots, and Americans of the 13 colonies who waged a series of wars (see French and Indian Wars) which cost France first Acadia, then Canada. The Acadians were expelled in 1755. France was defeated at Louisburg in 1758 and at the decisive Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City in 1759. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France kept its Caribbean island colonies and lost almost all of its North American colonies to Britain and Spain. Only a few small islands off the east coast of Canada, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, were retained by France as fishing outposts.
British Imperial Control and the American Revolution 1763-1840
The American Revolution had the effect of dividing British North America into a strong southern half (the United States of America) and a weak northern British half, consisting of separate colonies with little in common (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec). The British divided Quebec into two provinces, Lower Canada and Upper Canada, in 1791, and created the province of New Brunswick in 1784, to accommodate the many British Loyalists who were persecuted and expelled from the United States during the revolution. Thereafter, for much of the 19th century, many Americans could not understand why the British colonies should not be incorporated into their republic. Disputes arose over trade, fishing, boundaries. The British colonies were drawn into the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.
The Confederation movement and the Dominion of Canada 1840-1867
Agitation for union or confederation of the colonies within what was then called British North America grew in the first half of the nineteenth century. After the rebellions of 1837-8, the provinces of Lower and Upper Canada were united in one government the Province of Canada in 1840 in a failed attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Support for an even greater confederation was strengthened by events such as the Battle of Ridgeway, an invasion into Ontario by some 1500 U.S.-based Irish Fenian nationalists, which was repulsed largely by local militia. British North American politicians held a series of conferences to work out the details of a federal union. On July 1, 1867, with the passing of the British North America Act by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, three colonies of British North America (the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia) became a federation styled the Dominion of Canada.
Post-Confederation 1867-present
After 1867, other British North American colonies and territories joined or were incorporated into the Canadian confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area, including the vast Arctic lands acquired from the Hudson's Bay Company, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador (which joined in 1949). The country now has 10 provinces and 3 territories. Post-confederation history is largely a story of territorial consolidation and the working out of the relative powers of the federal and provincial governments. Full control over its affairs came in 1931 with the Statute of Westminster. The patriation of the Constitution of Canada in 1982 broke the last legal link with the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although Canada chose to retain the British monarch in her right as the Queen of Canada. For all practical purposes, however, the Governor-General of Canada exercises the functions of head of state.
The French language and the status of Quebec In the late second half of the 20th century, many citizens of the French-speaking province of Quebec sought independence or sovereignty for their province. This movement led the federal parliament on July 7, 1969, to make the French language equal to the English throughout the Canadian federal government. This started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation. In 1977 Quebec adopted the Charter of the French Language, which recognized French as the only official language. Two referendums were held on independence or sovereignty in Quebec in 1980 and 1995. In both cases the referendums were defeated, with 60 per cent and 50.6 per cent opposed to independence, respectively. New Brunswick (with 35 per cent of the population francophone Acadians) became officially bilingual in 1969. Other provinces with significant French-speaking minorities like Ontario and Manitoba provide government services in French and guarantee French schools.
See also
- Timeline of Canadian history
- Canada: A People's History
- Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood
- Economic history of Canada
- History of Canadian animation
- History of Chinese immigration to Canada
- History of cinema in Canada
- Military history of Canada
- Postage stamps and postal history of Canada
- History of Alberta
- History of British Columbia
- History of Manitoba
- History of New Brunswick
- History of Newfoundland and Labrador
- History of the Northwest Territories
- History of Nova Scotia
- History of Nunavut
- History of Ontario, Timeline of Ontario history
- History of Prince Edward Island
- History of Quebec, Timeline of Quebec history
- History of Saskatchewan
- History of the Yukon