Canada's History

When Europeans explored Canada, they found the regions occupied by Aboriginal peoples. Different groups lived in different ways: Huron-Wendat and Iroquois were farmers and hunters; Cree and Dene were hunter-gatherers; Sioux were nomadic and followed bison; Inuit lived off Arctic wildlife; and West Coast peoples preserved fish by drying and smoking. Warfare was common among Aboriginal groups as they competed for land, resources and prestige. The arrival of European traders, missionaries, soldiers and colonists changed Aboriginal life forever. Large numbers died from European diseases to which they lacked immunity. Aboriginal peoples and Europeans nevertheless formed strong economic, religious and military bonds during the first 200 years of coexistence, helping lay the foundations of Canada.

The Vikings from Iceland, who colonized Greenland about 1,000 years ago, also reached Labrador and Newfoundland. Their settlement at l'Anse aux Meadows is a World Heritage site. John Cabot, an Italian immigrant to England, mapped Canada's Atlantic shore in 1497, setting foot on Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island and claiming the land for England. English settlement did not begin until 1610. Jacques Cartier was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River and see present-day Quebec City and Montreal. Between 1534 and 1542, he made three voyages, claiming land for King Francis I of France. Cartier heard captured guides use the Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village." By the 1550s, "Canada" began appearing on maps.

In 1604, French explorers Pierre de Monts and Samuel de Champlain established the first European settlement north of Florida, first at St. Croix Island and then at Port-Royal in Acadia. In 1608, Champlain built a fortress at what is now Quebec City. The French formed alliances with Algonquin, Montagnais and Huron peoples. They also developed a vast fur-trade economy with Aboriginal peoples, driven by European demand for beaver pelts. Leaders such as Jean Talon, Bishop Laval and Count Frontenac helped build the French Empire in North America.

In 1670, King Charles II granted the Hudson's Bay Company exclusive trading rights over the watershed draining into Hudson Bay. Voyageurs and coureurs des bois travelled by canoe and formed strong alliances with First Nations. In the 1700s, France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. In 1759, the British defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. The commanders, Brigadier James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm, were both killed. This marked the end of France's empire in America.

Great Britain renamed the colony the Province of Quebec. French-speaking Catholic habitants, or Canadiens, worked to preserve their way of life under British rule. The Quebec Act of 1774 accommodated the French Catholic majority. It allowed religious freedom for Catholics and permitted them to hold public office. It restored French civil law while maintaining British criminal law.

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. The Loyalists came from many ethnic and religious backgrounds. About 3,000 Black Loyalists, freedmen and slaves came north seeking a better life.

Democratic institutions developed gradually and peacefully. The first representative assembly was elected in Halifax in 1758, followed by Prince Edward Island in 1773 and New Brunswick in 1785. The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (later Quebec). It also granted the Canadas legislative assemblies elected by the people. The name "Canada" became official at this time.

In 1793, Upper Canada, led by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, became the first province in the British Empire to move toward abolition. In 1807, the British Parliament prohibited the buying and selling of slaves. In 1833, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. Thousands of slaves escaped from the United States and reached Canada through the Underground Railroad, a Christian anti-slavery network.

Canada's early economy was based mainly on farming and exporting natural resources such as fur, fish and timber. The Hudson's Bay Company became dominant in the northwest fur trade. The Montreal Stock Exchange opened in 1832. Early transportation relied on roads, lakes, rivers and canals.

The United States invaded Canada in June 1812, believing it would be easy to conquer. Canadian volunteers and First Nations supported British soldiers. Major-General Sir Isaac Brock captured Detroit but was killed defending Queenston Heights. In 1813, Charles de Salaberry and 460 soldiers, mostly French Canadiens, turned back 4,000 American invaders at Chateauguay. By 1814, the American attempt to conquer Canada had failed. The war helped ensure that Canada would remain independent of the United States and contributed to the present-day Canada-U.S. border.

Reformers in Upper and Lower Canada believed progress toward full democracy was too slow. Armed rebellions occurred in 1837-38, but the rebels lacked enough public support and were defeated. Lord Durham recommended merging Upper and Lower Canada and establishing responsible government. In 1840, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada. Nova Scotia was the first British North American colony to attain full responsible government in 1847-48. Under responsible government, if the government loses a confidence vote in the assembly, it must resign.

From 1864 to 1867, representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada worked together, with British support, to create a new country. They are known as the Fathers of Confederation. They created two levels of government: federal and provincial. Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed the new Dominion of Canada. The British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1867. The Dominion of Canada was officially born on July 1, 1867. Today, July 1 is celebrated as Canada Day.

Sir Leonard Tilley suggested the term "Dominion of Canada" in 1864, inspired by Psalm 72 and the vision of a united country spanning the continent. The title was written into the Constitution, used officially for about 100 years, and remains part of Canada's heritage.

In 1867, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada's first Prime Minister. He was born in Scotland in 1815 and became a lawyer and politician in Kingston, Ontario. His portrait appears on the $10 bill. Sir George-Etienne Cartier was a key architect of Confederation from Quebec and helped negotiate the entry of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and British Columbia into Canada.

When Canada took over the northwest from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869, the Metis of the Red River were not consulted. Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry. In 1870, Canada sent soldiers, Riel fled to the United States, and Canada established Manitoba. A second rebellion in 1885 led to Riel's trial and execution for high treason. Many view him as a hero, defender of Metis rights and father of Manitoba. In 1873, Macdonald established the North West Mounted Police (NWMP). Today, the RCMP is Canada's national police force and one of Canada's best-known symbols.

British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after Ottawa promised to build a railway to the West Coast. On November 7, 1885, Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona) drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The railway was built by European and Chinese labour. Chinese workers later faced discrimination, including the Head Tax. The Government of Canada apologized in 2006 for this discriminatory policy. The economy became more industrialized during the boom of the 1890s and early 1900s. Sir Wilfrid Laurier became the first French-Canadian prime minister since Confederation and encouraged immigration to the West.

More than 600,000 Canadians served in the First World War, most as volunteers, from a population of eight million. The Canadian Corps captured Vimy Ridge in April 1917. About 10,000 were killed or wounded. April 9 is celebrated as Vimy Day. In 1918, under General Sir Arthur Currie, Canadian forces took part in the last hundred days, including the Battle of Amiens. The war ended with the Armistice on November 11, 1918. In total, 60,000 Canadians were killed and 170,000 wounded.

At Confederation, voting was limited to property-owning adult white males. The women's suffrage movement sought voting rights for women. Dr. Emily Stowe was a founder of the movement in Canada. In 1916, Manitoba became the first province to grant voting rights to women. In 1917, the federal government gave certain women the right to vote in federal elections. In 1918, most Canadian female citizens aged 21 and over gained the federal vote. In 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman MP. Quebec granted women the vote in 1940.

Canadians remember veterans and those who died in wars each year on November 11: Remembrance Day. Canadians wear the red poppy and observe a moment of silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The guide states that more than one million Canadians served and 110,000 gave their lives. Canadian medical officer Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae composed "In Flanders Fields" in 1915.

After the First World War, the British Empire evolved into the British Commonwealth of Nations. Canada remains a leading member of the Commonwealth. The "Roaring Twenties" were boom times. The 1929 stock market crash led to the Great Depression, or "Dirty Thirties." Unemployment reached 27% in 1933. Farmers in Western Canada were hit hard by low grain prices and drought. The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 to manage the money supply and bring stability to the financial system.

The Second World War began in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Canada joined its democratic allies. More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served, and 44,000 were killed. Canadians fought at Hong Kong and Dieppe and took part in the Battle of Britain. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, about 15,000 Canadian troops captured Juno Beach. The Canadian Army helped liberate the Netherlands in 1944-45. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.

The Royal Canadian Air Force took part in the Battle of Britain and trained more than 130,000 Allied air crew in Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Royal Canadian Navy protected merchant convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic. By the end of the Second World War, Canada had the third-largest navy in the world.

During the Second World War, the federal government forcibly relocated Canadians of Japanese origin and sold their property without compensation, even though the military and RCMP told Ottawa they posed little danger. The Government of Canada apologized in 1988 for these wartime wrongs and compensated the victims.