History of Canada

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History of Canada

Canada is a nation of 31 million inhabitants occupying 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.

New France (Nouvelle-France). Over the next 150 years, Quebec 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 Hurons, the Iroquois, and most importantly the English of the thirteen colonies who waged a series of wars (see French and Indian War) which cost France, first Acadia, then Quebec. 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 in 1759. In 1763, France preferred to keep its Caribbean Islands and leave its North American colony, New France, to Britain.

British regime 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. 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 the Britain and the United States.

The Confederation movement and the Dominion of Canada. 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, the provinces of Lower and Upper Canada were united in one government the Province of Canada in 1840 in a failed attempt to submerge the French. 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 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 and on July 1, 1867 with the passing of the British North America Act, the British government granted virtual independence (except for foreign affairs) to the federation of three of its North American colonies, (Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia) as the Dominion of Canada.

Post-Confederation 1867-present After 1867, other British colonies and territories joined or were incorporated into the 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 three 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 is 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 in two referendums held in 1980 and 1995. In both cases, the referendums were defeated with 60% and 50.6% opposed to independence, respectively. 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.