A BRIEF HISTORY

OF CANADA

Geopolitic map of Canada

1st discovery:
Paleo-Indian Migration to the North
and South Americas
10,000 years
ago
Bering Strait
Land Bridge and
the Migration of
Early Indians
As many as 10
million people
may have
crossed
Even when the
ice melted, the
crossing was ca
80 km wide
easily crossable

 Directions of
migration across
the North
American
continent
250 500
thousand people
roamed the
present-day
Canada
11 linguistic
families, 53
distinct languages
Nomadic life-style

Linguistic map of Canada

Linguistic map of North America

2nd discovery: Norse peoples

Late 10th and early 11th
century, in search of
farmland, Vikings
discover Newfoundland
They call it Vinland
Leif Eriksson, son of Eric
the Red
Exploits described in
Norse sagas:
Greenlanders Saga and
Erik the Reds Saga

LAnse aux Meadows

Originally, LAnse-aux-Mduses, Jellyfish Cove

Is the only confirmed site of the Viking landing to Canada
and North American territory (outside of Greenland)
Discovered in the 1960s; its on the northernmost tip of
Newfoundland

Reconstructions of the Viking

settlement

3rd (re)discovery:
accidental discovery
Late 15th-century Europe
No knowledge of the New World
(Natives left no written trace,
Norse sagas lost until the end of
the 16th century)
Search for the Northwest
passage to the Indies (India and
China)
Rivalry by Portugal and Spain
Portugal: Bartholomeu Diaz and
Vasco da Gama Eastern routes
Spain: Christopher Columbus
Western route

Reconstruction of Santa
Maria

Search for the Northwest Passage

Ferryland was one of the most popular

fishing harbours in Newfoundland.
Established as a station for migratory

1497 Givanni Caboto =

John Cabot is the 1st
European to land on
the coast of North
America, New-foundland
He found: a) rich cod
fishing grounds; whales
b) the Gulf of St.
Lawrence
Throughout the 16th
century the Spanish,
Portuguese, French,
English and Basque
fishing fleets visit the
area
French and English
fleets build temporary
huts and trade with
the Native peoples

16th century France: Jacques

Cartier
1520s Europes
disillusionment: this is
not China the search
continues
America is a distinct
continent that needs to
be explored
1535 Jacques Cartier
explores the Gulf of St.
Lawrence in search of a
passage to Asia
Iroquoian Chief
Donnacona
Canada gets its name
from the Iroquoian
word kanata, meaning
village, settlement

Englands Quest for Arctic

Passage

1576 Martin Frobisher looked for a passage to Asia through

the uncharted Arctic waters
Strayed into the Mistaken Strait, later known as the Hudson
Strait
1610 Henry Hudson discovered Hudson Bay and James Bay
1615 William Baffin continues to search for northwest passage
Unsuccessful expeditions, conclusion: Canada is an
inhospitable land

William Baffins explorations

2 voyages:
1st v.
explores
Hudson Strait
2nd v.
reaches
Lancaster
Sound, almost
finds the Arctic
passage

The Rise of New France,17th

century
17th and 18th centuries imperial rivalry between
France and England, both in Europe and colonies

Until mid18th c.
France
dominates
in the
exploratio
n of North
America

New France fur trade and

colonies
Main reason for
exploration/exploitation of Canada:
beaver
Beaver felt hat became fashionable
in late 16th-century Europe
Intense competition royal charters
of monopoly issued
16th c.: new doctrine of
imperialism: discovery,
conquest and settlement
Establishment of colony necessary
to retain exclusive rights to the
resources of Canada

Samuel de Champlain
French explorer of the 17th century, the Father
of Canada
Explored the St. Lawrence River and Atlantic coast
1604 first French colony in North America in
Acadia (today Nova Scotia)
Acadia ~ Arcadia, mythical , idyllic French
settlement
In reality, at first it was a struggling colony
The 1st European agricultural settlement on
Canadian soil

 Founded Quebec - kebec,

Algonquian for where the
river narrows
Quebec important
strategic point, controls
access to the interior, and
fur trade
1609 trade relations with
the Huron and Algonquin
tribes
And war alliance against
the Iroquois bad
consequences
Iroquois imperil French
colonization throughout
the 17th c.
The Dutch (later English)
colonizers ally with the
Iroquois, supplying them
with firearms in exchange
for furs via the Hudson
and Mohawk rivers

Five Nations Federation = Iroquois

Confederacy
One of the strongest alliances on the North American continent

the League was formed sometime between about 1450 and 1600
The Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Mohawk
1720 Tuscarora joined Six Nations Confederacy

Coureurs de bois

Woodsmen, runners of the woods, voyagers, trappers

Champlain instituted the practice
early settlers,
young men sent
to live with the
Native peoples
to learn
language and
customs,
survival in the
bush

Hired by large European companies seeking trade

monopolies

tienne Brul coureur de bois

1610
tienne
Brul lived
with the
Huron one
of the first
European
explorers
to see the
Great
Lakes
Discovered
pathway to
Humber
(Toronto
lies on it)

Early 17th century world

Jesuit Missionaries arrive to New

Champlains 1st task inFrance
Canada: build a colony

2nd task: regularisation of the fur trade

3rd task: Christianization of the native population, i.e.
conversion of the heathens
Champlain invites missionaries 1632-1652 the
golden years for the missions in Canada
Father Jean de Brbeuf set out to convert the Iroquois,
was tortured and killed
Made famous by E. J. Pratts poem Brbeuf and his
Brethren (1941)
Jesuits become the main recruiting force for colonists
Quebec university founded in 1635

Development of New France

mid-17th to mid-18th
century
Mid-17th century, New France under virtual siege by the
Iroquois
The English are closing in they capture New Amsterdam from
the Dutch and rename it New York (1664)
Acadia is lost to the English (one of many times)
The New France colony has ca 1000 settlers in mid-17th c., but
more than 60 000 by mid-18th c.
Reform needed: mercantilism Jean Baptiste Colbert (late
17th c.)
Habitants and the seigneurial system, emphasis on
agricultural economy, reduces the dominance of the fur trade

Canadien Identity

By mid 18th c. distinct Canadien identity

Distinctly hierarchical and Catholic society
(Catholic Church will remain a strong force in the
Quebec province until 1960s Quiet Revolution)
Three major centres: Quebec, Trois-Rivieres and
Montreal
The beaver aristocracy
Mtis community