Pre-European Peoples

Long before the arrival of Europeans on North American shores in the late 1400s, the ancestors of our present native peoples had established themselves for centuries in every corner of the country.

Although small in population they had developed rich and varied cultures. These cultures ranged from the semi-sedentary fishers and hunters of the west coast, such as the Haidas with their magnificent totems, to the sedentary Huron farmers of southern Ontario with their villages and sophisticated farming systems.

With little or no immunity to European diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza, many aboriginal peoples died after contact with the Europeans. Mercantile contact with European fur traders changed the Native way of life but it did not reduce them to a state of dependency.

Native peoples played a powerful role as middle men in the fur trade. Not until the nineteenth century did Aboriginal people lose that key, dominant role. But when they did, they were pushed aside, marginalized, and became dependent on support from Ottawa which they had been guaranteed in a series of treaties signed in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With those treaties they ceded their lands and saw their cultures weaken due to half-hearted assimilation policies from Ottawa.

In recent decades the First Nations have rebounded. They have asserted their rights and rediscovered their ancient religion and culture, reminding Canadians that they were the first occupants of this land.

Early Canada

The first Europeans to establish a lasting foothold were the French in the St. Lawrence Valley over three hundred years ago. In fact, the very name Canada (Kanata) was borrowed from the Iroquois and the inhabitants of the French colony became known as Canadiens.

As time passed these settlers became increasingly rooted in the St. Lawrence Valley. They developed new patterns of land survey and land tenure, new farming methods and new attitudes to life, as the traditions and memories of France gradually faded.

By the time the British conquered Canada in 1760 the 60,000 French settlers had become truly North Americans with their own incipient nationalism. That nationalism expressed itself in militant forms both in the Rebellion of 1837 and in the separatist crisis of the early 1970s. They represent a long tradition of Quebec nationalism.

Survival

For a short time after the defeat of France in 1760, the British flag flew all the way from Hudson's Bay in the North to Florida in the south. Canada was one of the smallest and most fragile of the British colonies. Nevertheless, the Canadien distinctive identity remained intact thanks to a rather liberal British policy in which French remained the principal language and Roman Catholicism the main religion.

The most serious challenge to the survival of this fragile political unit came fifteen years later during the American Revolution. Thirteen of the old American colonies (such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania) rebelled against the heavy-handed colonial policy of London. During the armed conflict between 1775 and 1783, the American rebels tried to persuade Canada to join them and become the fourteenth colony in revolt.

Despite their strong appeals and a military invasion of Canada, the American efforts failed largely because of indifference among French Canadians. Thus French Canada survived the upheaval of revolution and became the base on which modern Canada was built.

Origins of English Canada

The northern colonies which had not joined the Revolution (Nova Scotia, the new colony of New Brunswick, and especially Canada) became a haven for refugees, United Empire Loyalists, from the American Revolution in 1783. This was the foundation on which English Canada was built.

In the decades that followed, immigration from Britain increased and the population grew accordingly. Thus, English Canada evolved, surrounding the old French colony and creating a linguistic divide which remains today.

The large colony of Canada was subdivided in 1791 creating two colonies: Upper Canada (today Ontario) and Lower Canada (today Quebec). Stresses and strains between the new English and old French colonists led Lord Durham to express the famous view of two nations warring in the bosom of a single state.

Confederation

In 1841 the two colonies were re-united as Canada East and Canada West to try to reduce, if not eliminate, differences between the English and the French. The movement began to bind the British colonies together that would result in Confederation.

Confederation came slowly, hesitantly, often with opposition and seldom with enthusiasm. The first significant discussions came in the early 1860s as a result of growing apprehension about the intentions of the expansionist Republic to the south and its policy of "Manifest Destiny".

Britain also wished to reduce its responsibilities of defending its surviving North American colonies.

In spite of strong opposition from the Atlantic colonies (Newfoundland and Price Edward Island withdrew from the negotiations) and uneasiness in Canada East (Quebec), the act of Confederation was passed in 1867. Modern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) was born.

Territorial Growth

In the early 1870s, the vast western interior of the continent became part of Canada as the Hudson's Bay Company relinquished its rights over Rupert's Land. This led to the eventual creation of the prairie provinces (Manitoba in 1870, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905).

British Colombia joined in 1871 with the promise of a transcontinental railroad that would link them to the rest of the country.

Britain transferred its jurisdiction over Arctic lands to Ottawa in the 1880s.

By a very narrow margin in a referendum in 1949, Newfoundland voted to join. The union of all the old colonies was finally completed. Canada became the third largest country in the world, embracing an area of just under 10 million square kilometers.

Economic Growth

Whereas Canada was predominantly agrarian in the ninteenth century, it became increasingly industrialized and urbanized in the twentieth century. The census of 1911 revealed for the first time that more Canadians lived in cities than in rural areas.

A remarkable recovery of world economic conditions after 1896 combined with the intensification of the wheat economy on the newly settled praries, the development of hydroelectric power sites, and the exploitation of mineral and forest resources, mainly on the Shield, stimulated economic development very dramatically.

Manufacturing such as textiles, steel, and electrical products grew accordingly as cities expanded. The population of Canada increased from 4.32 million in 1881 to 18.23 million in 1961, with the urbanized share growth from 23% to 70%.

Political Autonomy

Although Canada was a strongly British country, it gradually attained political autonomy. The Statute of Westminster in 1931 dissolved, legally, any subordination to the imperial parliament in London. Heroic participation in both World Wars combined with increasing international realtionships helped define the national significance and independence of Canada

Diversity and Dissension

Over the last half-century, Canada's population has become increasingly diverse. Whereas British and French components accounted for over 90% of the population at Confederation, 80% as late as 1946, they make up less than 50% today.

Although there was significant non-British immigration of Ukrainians, Germans and Jews before World War II, large-scale immigration dates from 1946 and continues today. Over 6 1/2 million have arrived, comprising an incredible diversity.

Although Canada has a relatively prosperous economy and ranks high in the health and well-being of its people, its future is threatened by increasing dissension. Two problems, with deep historical significance, have risen to the surface in the last 30 years.

After years of domination by English Canada, many French Canadians began to consider breaking away from the federation to form their own nation. Worried about their declining significance with Canada, insulted by being referred to as simply another ethnic group, and astonished and saddened by the stubborn and often hostile refusal of English Canadians to grant even a modest amendment to the Constitution to protect their language and culture, they viewed independence as their only option.

A second broad problem concerns native peoples who have questioned, increasingly, their administrative arrangements with the Federal and Provincial Governments. Ressurecting old treaties and analysing areas not covered by treaty, native lawyers have used the courts, often with much success, to argue their rights. Progress has been made but many problems remain.

In summary, modern Canada has been and remains a highly diverse country. After long and often acrimonious discussions, all the fragmented parts of old British North America eventually came together. However, they brought with them their deeply rooted regional characteristics, many of which, not surprisingly, persist today.