Settlement of Canada

Canada is one of the multicultural countries that have been conquered by two European countries, France and England. Both countries having different languages, religions, rules, etc. were struggling for Canada as well for United States. Canadian history talks about settlements and economy in Canada since the fist occupants came to this land. We will talk merely of how first occupants, the French people, and the British people settled in this country.

-First Occupants:

The first occupants of Quebec’s territory arrived many thousands of years before the Europeans. They came from Asian through the Bering land bridge about 30,000 years after glaciations lowered the ocean’s level. They slowly occupied the entire North American continent. Other theories suggest an arrival by the Pacific Ocean by Aleutian Islands. Native people reached Quebec’s territory about 12,000 years ago. They formed different groups; their cultures reflected their different lifestyles. The Iroquoians practiced a sedentary lifestyle and lived in villages with hundreds of people who periodically moved from one region to another. They lived a life that relied on agriculture. The Algonquians were nomadic people; they traveled in small groups according to the seasons. They lived by hunting and fishing.

-French Regime:

In 1534, Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, explored the St. Lawrence River region in search of a route to Asia and precious metals. France lost interest when Jacques Cartier couldn’t find the way to Asia, but fishermen who frequently sailed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence negotiated with the Native nations and traded different objects for fur. Fur trade began to be more effective, so the French decided to settle in Canada. They founded trading posts in the St. Lawrence Valley after establishing some settlements in Acadia.

-British Regime:

In the middle of the ...

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-French Regime:

-British Regime:

In the middle of the 18th century, the British wanted to expel the French from North America. In the latest 1700s the British expelled the Acadians. Then they took over New France in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. By the Treaty of Paris, France gave New France to the British, later after the British changed its name to Quebec. British Immigrants increasingly joined the first nations and French Canadians. When the revolutionaries won their independence, the Loyalists, who were loyal to the British King, moved to British colonies such as Quebec for refuge. Later, because of conflicts between Loyalists and the French-Canadians, the British government divided Quebec into two separate territories as Lower Canada (French-Canadians) and Upper Canada (English-Canadians).

-Contemporary Period:

In 1867, immigration became a mixed jurisdiction shared between the federal and provincial governments. Between 1870 and 1930, French Canadians settled as farmers in Ontario or in new provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. These provinces were accessible due to the railroad that now crossed Canada, reaching all the way to British Columbia. Quebec’s immigration was low; departures outnumbered arrivals, and approximately 700,000 French-Canadians emigrated from 1870 to 1930. At the end of the 19th century government encouraged very big immigrant settlements to Western Canada; many came from Eastern Europe. From 1901 to 1931 Canada accepted 4,600,000 immigrants. Up to the 1950s, most immigrants were Europeans from France, Great Britain, and Italy. Of course Canada accepted Jews because of destruction from both world wars. In the 1960s, the government put an end on discrimination based on ethnic origin. By the 1970s, immigrants were arriving from all the continents.

By :

Sergio Franco Soto