Canadian Citizenship Preparation

CourseWeek 2/3

▪ Canada’s History ▪ The First Europeans▪ The War of 1812▪ Confederation

Topics

▪ Canada’s History

Important Dates and Events

▪ 1497

First explorations

▪ 1497-

European exploration started by John Cabot

Cabot drew a map of Canada’s East Coast (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland)

▪ 1534-1542

Exploring a river, naming Canada

▪ 1534- 1542 Jacques Cartier

-made three trips across the Atlantic

-claimed lands for France, and

-explored the Lawrence River,

-set eyes on what is Quebec and Montreal cities,

-heard “Kanata” (Iroquoian for village)

▪ 1604-1608

Royal New France

▪ 1604-first European settlement by the French (Pierre de Monts, Samuel de Champlain)in a) St. Croix Island- Maine, b) Port-Royal in Acadia- Nova Scotia

▪ 1608 Champlain- built a fortress (what is now Quebec City)

-connected with the Algonquin, Montagnais, and Huron

Royal New France

-The French and Aboriginals became partners in the fur-trade.

-Jean Talon, Bishop Laval, and Count Frontenac were “outstanding leaders” who built a French empire in North America

▪ 1670

Struggle for a new continent

▪ 1670-King Charles II of England granted the Hudson’s Bay Company exclusive trading rights

-For a century this company competed with Montreal- based traders

-The voyageurs and courers des bois formed alliances with First Nations

-English colonies became richer and more populous than New France

▪ 1700/ 1759

Struggle for a new continent

▪ 1700’s -France and Great Britain fought for control of North America.

▪ 1759-The British defeated the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ end of France’s empire in America ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

-Brigadier James Talon and Marquis de Montcalm are important figures for both armies

The Province of Quebec

-Following the war, the British renamed the colony as “Province of Quebec”.

▪ 1774

A tradition of accommodation

▪ Quebec Act of 1774

-one of the constitutional foundations of Canada

-to better govern the French Roman Catholic majority

-allowed religious freedom for Catholics

-permitted Catholics to hold public office (not allowed in Britain)

-restored French civil law while maintain British criminal law

▪ 1776

United Empire Loyalists

▪ 1776-13 British colonies to the south of Quebec

declared independence forming the US

-The Loyalists--- loyal to the Crown--- left the south to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec

-Joseph Brant led Loyalist Mohawk Indians into Canada

-Black Loyalists came north too; in 1792, they moved to establish Freetown, Sierra Leone

(West Africa), which was a new British colony for freed slaves

▪ 1758-1773-1785

The Beginnings of Democracy

▪ 1758 First representative assembly elected in Halifax,

Nova Scotia

▪ 1773 in Prince Edward Island

▪ 1785 New Brunswick

▪ 1791 “important”

The Beginnings of Democracy (IMPORTANT)

▪ 1791 The Constitutional Act divided the Province of Quebec into: a) Upper Canada what is now Ontario; mainly Loyalist, Protestant &

Anglophone b) Lower Canada what is now Quebec; heavily Catholic & Francophone

▪ The Constitutional Act granted:c) legislative assemblies elected by people d) the name Canada became officiale) Atlantic colonies, Upper & Lower Canada were known as

British North America

The Beginnings of Democracy (IMPORTANT)

▪ 1791 The Constitutional Act divided the Province of Quebec into: a) Upper Canada what is now Ontario; mainly Loyalist, Protestant &

Anglophone b) Lower Canada what is now Quebec; heavily Catholic & Francophone

▪ The Constitutional Act granted:c) legislative assemblies elected by people d) the name Canada became officiale) Atlantic colonies, Upper & Lower Canada were known as

British North America

▪ 1812 – 1815

- U.S. invaded Canada

- Current Canada-USA border is partly the result of the War of 1812

- The border ensures that Canada would remain independent of the USA

1815- ▪ The Treaty of Ghent negotiated on December 24, 1814, and ratified on February 16, 1815, finally ended the War.

DETAILS

▪ 1860

Why Confederation?

▪ 1860 In the 1860s the British colonies were

facing many different kinds of problems:

Why Confederation?

▪ Economic problems

-In order for their economies to do well, the colonies needed to -be able to sell their goods to other markets. -At this time there were very few places that they could sell to. --One solution was to bring all the colonies together. -In this way they could more easily sell their goods to each other.

Why Confederation?

▪ Political problems

-The government of the Province of Canada did not run smoothly because the English-speaking and French-speaking halves had different ideas.

-Leaders from both parts of the province decided that joining the other colonies might help solve their own political problems.

Why Confederation?

▪ Military problems

- The relationship between the British North America and US had never been stable. -Many Americans wanted to take over all of what is now Canada. -Britain didn't want to have to pay for the cost of defending its colonies. -It encouraged the colonies to join together, because US would be less likely to attack Canada if it were a self-governing country rather than separate colonies of Britain.

-The fear of the United States helped to strengthen the call for Confederation.

▪ 1867 “important”

The Beginnings of Democracy (IMPORTANT)

▪ 1867 The British Parliament passed the British North America Act Canada

Changes:

a) Dominion of Canada (celebrated as is until 1982)b) Sir John Alexander Macdonald (considered the Father of

Confederation)until 1873 (A. Mackenzie) (see http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/node/33784)

▪ 1871

▪ 1871 British Columbia joined Canada, after

Ottawa promised to build a railway to the West Coast.

▪ 1885

▪ November 7, 1885 Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was

completed; founded in 1881 (right after NWT joined the Confederation (pg. 18)

Visit:http://www.cpr.ca/en/about-cp/our-history

Canadian Citizenship Preparation

CourseWeek 2/3