The Founding Societies of Canada

 

  • North America was first inhabited between 20 000 and 40 000 years ago by people who migrated from northeastern Asia
  • A rich diversity of cultures, legends and myths evolved from these early people
  • They developed systems of agriculture, complex political and social structures
  • Various languages developed
  • The Europeans settled in North America’s “New World” approximately 500 years ago
  • In the following centuries, successive waves of immigrants explored and exploited the continent
  • Overseas expansion in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the establishment of European colonies in North America
  • From the earliest contact to the end of the 18th century, European newcomers engaged in a contest of cultures – North American Indians, French and English – and gradually adjusted their attitudes and values to meet north American conditions
  • See Timeline attachment
  • The expression “The Old World” refers to Europe, Asia and Africa, the three distinct races  of humanity
  • The “The New World” refers to the European expansion and discovery of new lands (aka – North America)

 

Order of Arrivals

1. Amerindians - 25 000 – 40 000 years ago

 

2. Vikings – 9th century   986 AD on the Labrador Coast

 

·        Eric Rauda (the RED) arrived in Greenland

·        Bjarni Herjulfsson was blown off course and arrived in Newfoundland

·        Leif Ericsson set up “booths” or temporary dwellings

·        Thorvold Ericsson was the first to winter over in 1003 AD

·        These people came in search of timber and fish

·        During the second winter at Leif’s booths, Thorvold’s men encountered unidentified Native people who traveled in kayaks

·        8 Natives were killed in an unprovoked attack resulting in a large force of Natives attacking the booths (Thorvold was killed)

·        By 1008 AD, 250 Vikings settled and began farming the booths of Leif and Thorvold

·        They developed friendly relations with the Natives, including a barter system (business transactions)

·        The Norse decided to abandon this settlement, known as Hop, once arguments over trade and women broke out – most returned to Greenland

·        The Vikings were the first to colonize northeastern America

·        The few Norse who remained were gradually assimilated into the Inuit community

          3. Europeans – 10th - 15th centuries  - Cod Fishers and Fur Traders

·        The link between the Vikings and the European “discovery” of North America was the fishery

·        Iceland was the original location for the export of skreid or dried cod in the 10th century

·        English fishers from Bristol fished off the coast of Iceland until 1478, when they were forced to find new fishing grounds and commercial outlets

·        John Cabot ( Giovanni Caboto) arrived in Bristol from Spain and quickly set out to find the “new found land” and to exploit its riches

·        By 1497, reports back to England confirmed that Cabot and his men had caught so many fish they would never need Iceland again (think about the Heritage Moment where the boat was stopped by the density of the fish in the water!)

·        By 1510, cod fish from Newfoundland created a new industry in Rouen, France

·        This location was  chosen to be the chief market in western Europe for cod from the New World

·        The main reason Europe wanted fish? – dietary practices of the Roman Catholic Church (England, France, Spain and Portugal)

·        Two types of fishery developed in Grand Banks Newfoundland:

o       Wet Fishery – packing cod with salt in the holds of the ship (method preferred by fishers from France)

o       Dry Fishery – fish were headed, gutted and placed in stages or flakes fro drying (method preferred by fishers from England as they had a limited salt supply)

Dry Fishery required the building of stages, storehouses and boathouses.  As production increased, fishers built temporary residences on shore.

The Micmac (Gulf of St. Lawrence) people were willing to trade with the Europeans, particularly the French, Spanish and Portuguese, who had more amicable relations then the English

As more and more Europeans desired Atlantic cod fish, workers began building winter shelters than thus, permanent settlement began.

  • By 1504, French fishers began trading fur as a sideline to the cod fisheries
  • Fur became the chief source of revenue for French merchants
  • By 1608, the French government was establishing settlements along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Acadia and Cape Breton
  • As economic relations continued to strengthen from fur and fish, more and more Europeans settles here
  • Competition between the French and English governments grew
  • While the French concentrated on the fur trade and their relations with the Native peoples, the English concentrated on the settlement of British North America – 13 colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
  • As tensions over British rule and taxation grew in the 13 colonies, settlers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia came into favour with the British government
  • Tensions and power struggles increased to the point of conflict between the French, the British and the 13 colonies
  • Fast forward…. The power of numbers prevailed and the British took control of what became Canada, after the trauma of the Acadian expulsion, Loyalists, Seven Year War etc.