Early History

Aboriginal peoples and the first Europeans

Native peoples lived in every region when Europeans arrived. Some hunted and gathered, others grew crops. European diseases killed many of them, but in the first 200 years both sides built strong economic, religious and military ties.

Vikings reached Labrador and Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago. European exploration began in earnest with John Cabot in 1497. Jacques Cartier then explored the St. Lawrence and heard the word that became the name Canada.

Key points

• Explorers called the native peoples “Indians” because they thought they had reached the East Indies.
• The Huron-Wendat (Great Lakes) and the Iroquois were farmers and hunters. The Cree and Dene of the Northwest were hunter-gatherers.
• The Sioux were nomads who followed the bison (buffalo) herds. The Inuit lived off Arctic wildlife. West Coast peoples dried and smoked fish.
• Many Aboriginal people died of European diseases because they had no immunity to them.
• Vikings from Iceland, who had settled Greenland, reached Labrador and Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago.
• The remains of their settlement, l’Anse aux Meadows, are a World Heritage site.
• John Cabot, an Italian immigrant to England, set foot on Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island in 1497 and was the first to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast. He claimed the land for England. English settlement did not begin until 1610.
• Jacques Cartier made three voyages between 1534 and 1542 and claimed the land for King Francis I of France.
• Cartier was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River and to see present-day Québec City and Montreal.
• The name Canada comes from kanata, an Iroquoian word meaning “village”. Cartier heard it from two captured guides. By the 1550s Canada was on maps.

Practice questions: In Discover Canada’s section on the first Europeans, who reached Labrador and the island of Newfoundland 1,000 years ago? · Where are the remains of the Viking settlement in Canada? · Who was the first explorer to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast? · Which explorer made three voyages across the Atlantic and claimed the land for the King of France? · Where does the name “Canada” come from? · Why did large numbers of Aboriginal people die after Europeans arrived? · Which Aboriginal people were nomadic, following the bison (buffalo) herd? · Why did the first European explorers call the native peoples “Indians”? · By which decade had the name “Canada” begun appearing on maps?

Royal New France

In the early 1600s French explorers settled in Acadia and then built a fortress at what is now Québec City. Samuel de Champlain took part in both.

New France allied with some First Nations and fought others. Its leaders built a French empire that reached from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

Key points

• In 1604 Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain founded the first European settlement north of Florida, first on St. Croix Island (now in Maine), then at Port-Royal in Acadia (now Nova Scotia).
• In 1608 Champlain built a fortress at what is now Québec City.
• Champlain allied the colony with the Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron, who were historic enemies of the Iroquois.
• The Iroquois were a confederation of five (later six) First Nations. They fought the French for about 100 years. The French and the Iroquois made peace in 1701.
• The French and Aboriginal peoples worked together in the fur trade, driven by European demand for beaver pelts.
• Jean Talon, Bishop Laval and Count Frontenac built a French empire in North America from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.
• In 1690 Count Frontenac refused to surrender Quebec to the English: “My only reply will be from the mouths of my cannons!”
• Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, was a hero of New France who won many victories over the English, from James Bay to Nevis in the Caribbean.

Practice questions: Who built a fortress in 1608 at what is now Québec City? · Who established the first European settlement north of Florida in 1604? · The French and Aboriginal peoples worked together in which vast economy, driven by European demand for beaver pelts? · Champlain allied New France with which First Nations, historic enemies of the Iroquois? · Which leader of New France refused to surrender Quebec to the English in 1690? · How far did the French Empire in North America reach? · In what year did the French and the Iroquois make peace?

The fur trade and an early economy

Canada’s first companies competed for the fur trade. The Hudson’s Bay Company and traders from Montreal were rivals for about a century, and the traders formed strong alliances with First Nations.

Many western cities began as fur-trade posts. Financial institutions and a stock exchange came later, but for centuries the economy rested on farming and on selling natural resources abroad.

Key points

• In 1670 King Charles II of England gave the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) exclusive trading rights over all land draining into Hudson Bay.
• For the next 100 years the HBC competed with traders based in Montreal.
• The voyageurs and coureurs des bois were skilled, brave traders who travelled by canoe and formed strong alliances with First Nations.
• Canada’s first companies were formed under the French and British regimes and competed for the fur trade.
• The HBC had French, British and Aboriginal employees and came to dominate the trade in the northwest.
• HBC trading posts that later became cities: Fort Garry (Winnipeg), Fort Edmonton, Fort Langley (near Vancouver) and Fort Victoria.
• The first financial institutions opened in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
• The Montreal Stock Exchange opened in 1832.
• For centuries the economy was based mainly on farming and on exporting fur, fish and timber, moved by roads, lakes, rivers and canals.

Practice questions: Who were the voyageurs and coureurs des bois? · In 1670, King Charles II of England granted exclusive trading rights over the Hudson Bay watershed to which company? · For about 100 years after 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company competed with traders based where? · Which cities in the West began as Hudson’s Bay Company trading posts? · When did Canada’s first financial institutions open? · In what year did the Montreal Stock Exchange open? · What did the earliest companies in Canada compete for?

The British conquest and the Quebec Act

The English colonies on the Atlantic coast became richer and more populous than New France. In the 1700s France and Britain fought for North America, and the British victory at Québec City in 1759 ended France’s empire in America.

Britain then governed a French-speaking, Catholic people. The Quebec Act of 1774 allowed Catholics religious freedom and restored French civil law, part of a tradition of accommodation.

Key points

• In 1759 the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Québec City. This ended France’s empire in America.
• The commanders of both armies, Brigadier James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm, were killed leading their troops.
• After the war, Britain renamed the colony the “Province of Quebec”.
• The French-speaking Catholic people were called habitants or Canadiens. They worked to keep their way of life in the English-speaking, Protestant British Empire.
• The Quebec Act of 1774 was passed to govern the French Roman Catholic majority better. It is one of the constitutional foundations of Canada.
• The Quebec Act gave Catholics religious freedom and let them hold public office, which was not then allowed in Britain.
• The Quebec Act restored French civil law and kept British criminal law.
• Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester), Governor of Quebec, defended the rights of the Canadiens and defeated an American invasion of Quebec in 1775.

Practice questions: Which battle in 1759 ended France’s empire in America? · Who led the British and French armies at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham? · What did the Quebec Act of 1774 do? · In the Province of Quebec after 1759, what were the French-speaking Catholic people called? · What did Britain rename New France after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham? · Under the Quebec Act of 1774, which legal system applied to civil matters, and which to criminal matters?

The Loyalists and the beginnings of democracy

During the American Revolution more than 40,000 people loyal to the Crown fled north to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec. They came from many origins and religions.

Democratic institutions grew step by step and peacefully. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created Upper and Lower Canada, gave them elected assemblies and made the name Canada official.

Key points

• In 1776 the 13 British colonies south of Quebec declared independence and formed the United States.
• More than 40,000 Loyalists, people loyal to the Crown, fled the American Revolution and settled in Nova Scotia and Quebec.
• Joseph Brant led thousands of Loyalist Mohawks into Canada.
• Loyalists had Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian, Aboriginal and other origins, and many religions: Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Quaker and Catholic.
• About 3,000 black Loyalists, freedmen and slaves, came north for a better life. In 1792 some black Nova Scotians, given poor land, left to found Freetown, Sierra Leone (West Africa).
• Sir Guy Carleton supervised the Loyalist migration to Nova Scotia and Quebec in 1782–83.
• First elected representative assemblies: Halifax, Nova Scotia (1758); Prince Edward Island (1773); New Brunswick (1785).
• The Constitutional Act of 1791 split the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario: mainly Loyalist, Protestant, English-speaking) and Lower Canada (later Quebec: mainly Catholic, French-speaking).
• The 1791 Act gave the Canadas, for the first time, legislative assemblies elected by the people.
• The name Canada became official in 1791 and has been used ever since.
• The Atlantic colonies and the two Canadas together were called British North America.

Practice questions: Who were the United Empire Loyalists? · Who led thousands of Loyalist Mohawk Indians into Canada? · What did the Constitutional Act of 1791 do? · When did the name “Canada” become official? · Where was the first representative assembly in Canada elected, in 1758? · In 1776, the 13 British colonies south of Quebec declared independence and formed which country? · In 1792, some black Nova Scotians who had been given poor land left to found which city? · What were the Atlantic colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively called? · Which law first gave Upper and Lower Canada legislative assemblies elected by the people?

Ending slavery

Upper Canada was the first province in the British Empire to move toward abolishing slavery. Britain then banned the buying and selling of slaves and later slavery itself.

Thousands of people escaping slavery in the United States settled in Canada, and activists such as Mary Ann (Shadd) Carey worked to abolish slavery in the U.S.A.

Key points

• The first movement to abolish the transatlantic slave trade began in the British Parliament in the late 1700s.
• In 1793 Upper Canada, led by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, became the first province in the Empire to move toward abolishing slavery.
• Simcoe, a Loyalist military officer, was Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor and founded the City of York (now Toronto).
• In 1807 the British Parliament banned the buying and selling of slaves.
• In 1833 Britain abolished slavery throughout the Empire.
• Thousands of slaves escaped from the United States, followed “the North Star” and settled in Canada through the Underground Railroad, a Christian anti-slavery network.
• Mary Ann (Shadd) Carey, an anti-slavery activist, became the first woman publisher in Canada in 1853. She helped found and edit The Provincial Freeman, a weekly newspaper.

Practice questions: Which province was the first in the British Empire to move toward abolishing slavery, in 1793? · Who was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada and founder of the city of Toronto? · When was slavery abolished throughout the British Empire? · What was the Underground Railroad? · Who was the first woman publisher in Canada, who founded The Provincial Freeman in 1853? · In what year did the British Parliament ban the buying and selling of slaves?

The War of 1812

While Britain fought Napoleon, Americans resented British interference with their shipping. The United States invaded Canada in 1812, expecting an easy win. British soldiers, Canadian volunteers and First Nations defeated the invasion by 1814.

The war ensured that Canada would remain independent of the United States.

Key points

• After the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) the Royal Navy ruled the seas. Americans resented British interference with their shipping.
• The United States invaded Canada in June 1812, believing it would be easy to conquer.
• First Nations, including the Shawnee led by Chief Tecumseh, helped British soldiers and Canadian volunteers defend Canada.
• Major-General Sir Isaac Brock captured Detroit but was killed defending Queenston Heights, near Niagara Falls. The Americans lost that battle.
• In 1813 Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry and 460 soldiers, mostly French Canadiens, turned back 4,000 Americans at Châteauguay, south of Montreal.
• In 1813 Laura Secord walked about 30 km (19 miles) to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon of an American attack, helping win the Battle of Beaver Dams.
• In 1813 the Americans burned Government House and the Parliament Buildings in York (now Toronto).
• In 1814 Major-General Robert Ross led an expedition from Nova Scotia that burned the White House in Washington, D.C. He was later buried in Halifax.
• By 1814 the American invasion had failed. The war ensured Canada stayed independent of the United States, and today’s border is partly a result of it.
• Britain paid for defences that are now popular historic sites: the Citadels at Halifax and Québec City, the Halifax naval drydock and Fort Henry at Kingston.
• The Duke of Wellington chose Bytown (Ottawa) as the end of the Rideau Canal, so he played a direct role in founding the national capital.

Practice questions: Which British general captured Detroit and was killed defending Queenston Heights in the War of 1812? · Which Shawnee chief supported the British in the War of 1812? · Who walked 30 km to warn the British of an American attack in 1813? · Who led 460 soldiers to defeat an American force of 4,000 at Châteauguay in 1813? · What was a lasting result of the War of 1812? · In 1814, during the War of 1812, what did British forces burn in Washington, D.C.? · What did American forces burn in York (now Toronto) in 1813? · What led the United States to invade Canada in June 1812? · At Châteauguay in 1813, how large was the American force turned back by de Salaberry’s 460 soldiers?

Rebellions of 1837–38 and responsible government

In the 1830s reformers felt progress toward full democracy was too slow, and armed rebellions broke out in 1837–38. The rebellions failed. Lord Durham then recommended uniting the two Canadas and giving them responsible government.

Responsible government is the system Canada has today: if the government loses a confidence vote in the assembly, it must resign.

Key points

• Reformers in Upper and Lower Canada believed progress toward full democracy was too slow. Some wanted American republican values or even to join the United States.
• Armed rebellions broke out in 1837–38 in the area outside Montreal and in Toronto. They lacked public support and were defeated by British troops and Canadian volunteers.
• Lord Durham, an English reformer sent to report on the rebellions, recommended uniting Upper and Lower Canada and giving them responsible government.
• Durham also said the quickest way for the Canadiens to progress was to assimilate into English-speaking Protestant culture. This showed he did not understand French Canadians, who wanted to keep their identity.
• Responsible government: the ministers of the Crown must have the support of a majority of the elected representatives to govern. A government that loses a confidence vote must resign.
• In 1840 Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada.
• Reformers Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin, and Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, worked with British governors toward responsible government.
• Nova Scotia was the first colony in British North America to gain full responsible government, in 1847–48.
• In 1848–49 Lord Elgin, governor of United Canada, introduced responsible government with encouragement from London.
• In 1849 La Fontaine, a champion of democracy and French language rights, became the first head of a responsible government in Canada (similar to a prime minister).
• Some reformers, such as Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, later became Fathers of Confederation. So did Sir John A. Macdonald, a former member of the voluntary government militia in Upper Canada.

Practice questions: Why did reformers in Upper and Lower Canada rebel in 1837–38? · What is responsible government? · Which was the first British North American colony to attain full responsible government, in 1847–48? · Who was the first head of a responsible government in Canada, in 1849, and a champion of French language rights? · What did Lord Durham recommend after the Rebellions of 1837–38? · What did Lord Durham believe was the quickest path to progress for French Canadians? · Where did the armed rebellions of 1837–38 take place? · In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were united as what? · Which statement about the Prime Minister and Cabinet is true?

Confederation and the Dominion of Canada

Between 1864 and 1867, leaders from three British colonies worked out a plan for a new country with two levels of government. The British Parliament made it law, and Canada was born on July 1, 1867.

The new country was called a Dominion, a term inspired by Psalm 72 in the Bible. Other provinces and territories joined between 1870 and 1999.

Key points

• From 1864 to 1867, representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada, with British support, worked to create a new country. They are the Fathers of Confederation.
• They created two levels of government: federal and provincial. Each province elects its own legislature and controls areas such as education and health.
• The Province of Canada was split into Ontario and Quebec. With Nova Scotia and New Brunswick they formed the Dominion of Canada.
• The British Parliament passed the British North America Act in 1867 (now called the Constitution Act, 1867).
• The Dominion of Canada was officially born on July 1, 1867. Until 1982 July 1 was called Dominion Day. Today it is Canada Day.
• Sir Leonard Tilley, a Father of Confederation from New Brunswick, suggested the name Dominion of Canada in 1864.
• Tilley was inspired by Psalm 72, which speaks of “dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth”. Canada’s motto, A Mari Usque Ad Mare, means “from sea to sea”.
• The title Dominion was written into the Constitution and used officially for about 100 years.
• Joining Canada: 1867 Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick; 1870 Manitoba, Northwest Territories; 1871 British Columbia; 1873 Prince Edward Island.
• Later: 1880 Arctic Islands transferred (to the N.W.T.); 1898 Yukon Territory; 1905 Alberta, Saskatchewan; 1949 Newfoundland and Labrador; 1999 Nunavut.
• In the 1920s some people wanted the British West Indies to join Canada. This did not happen.

Practice questions: On what date did Confederation create the Dominion of Canada? · Which four provinces formed Canada at Confederation in 1867? · Who were the Fathers of Confederation? · Which act of the British Parliament created the Dominion of Canada? · Who suggested the term “Dominion of Canada”, inspired by Psalm 72 of the Bible? · At Confederation, the Province of Canada was divided into which two provinces? · Confederation created a federal state with which two main levels of government? · What was July 1 called before 1982? · In what year was the Dominion of Canada name first suggested by Sir Leonard Tilley? · Which Bible psalm inspired Sir Leonard Tilley to suggest the term “Dominion of Canada”?

Macdonald and Cartier

Sir John A. Macdonald became Canada’s first Prime Minister. His close ally Sir George-Étienne Cartier led Quebec into Confederation.

Key points

• In 1867 Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada’s first Prime Minister.
• Macdonald was born in Scotland on January 11, 1815, and came to Upper Canada as a child. He was a lawyer in Kingston, Ontario.
• Parliament has recognized January 11 as Sir John A. Macdonald Day.
• Macdonald’s portrait was on the $10 bill until 2018, when the Viola Desmond note was issued. Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s portrait is on the $5 bill.
• Sir George-Étienne Cartier, a Montreal railway lawyer and close ally of Macdonald, was the key architect of Confederation from Quebec.
• Cartier led Quebec into Confederation and helped negotiate the entry of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and British Columbia.

Practice questions: Who was Canada’s first Prime Minister? · Who was the key architect of Confederation from Quebec? · Which Prime Minister’s portrait was on the $10 bill before the Viola Desmond note of 2018? · Where and when was Sir John A. Macdonald born?

The West, the Mounties and the railway

When Canada took over the northwest, the Métis were not consulted, and Louis Riel led an armed uprising. A second rebellion in 1885 ended with his execution. Ottawa created the North West Mounted Police to pacify the West and assist in negotiations with the Indians.

British Columbia joined after Ottawa promised a railway to the West Coast. The railway made it possible for many immigrants to settle in the West, but the Chinese who helped build it later faced discrimination.

Key points

• In 1869 Canada took over the northwest from the Hudson’s Bay Company without consulting the 12,000 Métis of the Red River.
• Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry. Ottawa sent soldiers in 1870, Riel fled to the U.S., and Canada created the province of Manitoba.
• A second rebellion in 1885, in today’s Saskatchewan, led to Riel’s trial and execution for high treason, which Quebec strongly opposed. Many see Riel as a hero, a defender of Métis rights and the father of Manitoba.
• Gabriel Dumont was the Métis’ greatest military leader.
• In 1873 Macdonald created the North West Mounted Police (NWMP). It founded Fort Calgary, Fort MacLeod and other centres that are now cities and towns; Regina became its headquarters. Today the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or “the Mounties”) are the national police force.
• British Columbia joined in 1871 after Ottawa promised a railway to the West Coast.
• On November 7, 1885, Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona) drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
• The CPR was built by European and Chinese workers. Chinese immigrants later paid the Head Tax, a race-based entry fee. The Government of Canada apologized in 2006.
• In the boom of the 1890s and early 1900s, one million British and one million Americans immigrated to Canada.
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the first French-Canadian prime minister since Confederation, encouraged immigration to the West.
• Before 1914 the railway made it possible for 170,000 Ukrainians, 115,000 Poles and tens of thousands from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden to settle in the West.

The First World War and women’s right to vote

Canadians fought for the British Empire in South Africa and then in the First World War. Victories in South Africa strengthened national pride, and the capture of Vimy Ridge in 1917 earned Canadians a reputation for valour.

During the same years women won the right to vote, first in Manitoba and then in federal elections. Every November 11 Canadians remember those who served.

Key points

• Over 7,000 Canadians volunteered for the South African (Boer) War, 1899–1902; over 260 died. Canadians fought at Paardeberg and Lillefontein in 1900.
• More than 600,000 Canadians served in the First World War (1914–18), most of them volunteers, out of a population of eight million.
• The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge in April 1917, with 10,000 killed or wounded. April 9 is Vimy Day.
• From 1914 to 1920 Ottawa interned over 8,000 former Austro-Hungarian subjects, mainly Ukrainian men, as “enemy aliens”.
• General Sir Arthur Currie, Canada’s greatest soldier, commanded the Corps in the last hundred days, including the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918.
• The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918. 60,000 Canadians were killed and 170,000 wounded.
• Dr. Emily Stowe, the first Canadian woman to practise medicine in Canada, founded the women’s suffrage movement in Canada.
• Manitoba was the first province to give women the vote, in 1916. In 1917 Sir Robert Borden’s government gave the federal vote first to nurses at the front, then to women related to men in active service.
• In 1918 most female citizens aged 21 and over got the federal vote. Agnes Macphail became the first woman MP in 1921. Quebec gave women the vote in 1940, thanks to Thérèse Casgrain and others.
• On Remembrance Day, November 11, Canadians wear a red poppy and keep a moment of silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer, wrote “In Flanders Fields” in 1915.

Between the wars and the Second World War

After the boom of the “Roaring Twenties”, the Great Depression hit Canada hard, and there was growing demand for a social safety net. Then Canada joined its democratic allies in the Second World War.

More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served. At home, Canadians of Japanese origin were wronged, and the government later apologized.

Key points

• After the First World War the British Empire became the British Commonwealth of Nations. Canada is still a leading member.
• The stock market crash of 1929 began the Great Depression (the “Dirty Thirties”). Unemployment reached 27% in 1933.
• The Bank of Canada was created in 1934. Many refugees were turned away, including Jews fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939.
• The Second World War began in 1939. More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served, out of 11.5 million people; 44,000 were killed.
• Canadians fought in the defence of Hong Kong (1941) and the Dieppe raid (1942), and in the liberation of Italy (1943–44).
• On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 Canadian troops captured Juno Beach in Normandy. About one in ten Allied soldiers that day was Canadian.
• The Canadian Army liberated the Netherlands in 1944–45. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945; Japan on August 14, 1945.
• Over 130,000 Allied air crew trained in Canada. The navy’s finest hour was the Battle of the Atlantic; by 1945 Canada had the world’s third-largest navy.
• Canadians of Japanese origin were forcibly relocated by the federal government and their property sold without compensation. The Government of Canada apologized in 1988 and compensated the victims.