The settling of Atlantic Canada

Early European SettlementIn Atlantic Canada

Acadia: Key QuestionsPlayers in a GameWho were the major players in the early

settlement of Atlantic Canada?

Why did they choose to settle in Atlantic

Canada?

Where were these first settlements?

What was life like for these early settlers?

What happened to Acadia and the Acadians?

What influences did/do the Acadians have on

the culture of Atlantic Canada now?

Important Terms

Acadia St. Croix IslandPort RoyalThe Expulsion l’Ordre de Bon Temps

Key Players

Samuel de ChamplainPierre DuguaChief MembertouCharles LawrenceEvangeline

Historical BackgroundIn the 1600’s the world had three major

naval and economic powers: The English, the French, and the Dutch.

At the time, colonization was very important to these powers.

The chance to discover new lands and new trade partners drove these powers to explore the world in search of unclaimed lands, and faster shipping routes to the East (China and India)

They came looking for:Furs, Land, Riches, and Spices

Two Major Powers The two most important players in the race for global dominance were France and EnglandBoth had already began exploring the shores of North America decades before.

o The flag of England of the time, showing St. Georges Cross, is not commonly used today.

o The Flag of France, has been unchanged for many years.

ColonizationTypes of colonialismHistorians often distinguish between two forms of colonialism, mainly based on the number of people from the colonizing country who settle in the colony, and the purpose of settling the area. The two types are:

Settler colonizationExploitation colonization

Definitions of ColonizationSettler colonization - involves a large number

of colonists, typically seeking fertile land to farm.

Exploitation colonization - involves fewer colonists, typically interested in extracting resources to export to the major centers. This category includes trading posts, but it applies more to the much larger colonies where the colonists would provide much of the administration and own much of the land and other capital, but rely on indigenous people for labour.

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First at bat - FranceThe French were

the first European people to

attempt to create a permanent

settlement in the area now known

as Canada.*Well, the Vikings too!

March 7, 1604 – Set SailFrom France, it would take roughly 6-8 weeks

to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the 1600’s.Not only was the trip long, there was no where

to go. Up to this point there had been no Europeans who had permanently settled Atlantic Canada, so there were many unknowns.

The ship carried only men and supplies needed for the trip.

Read the handout given to you to find out what life was like when crossing the Atlantic onboard a ship in the 1600’s.

QuestionsGive at least 5 reasons that you can find in this

reading that would make the voyage unpleasant.

What is hard tack?

What do you think that scurvy is caused by? (hint: think about their diets)

Why are many of the rules punishable by lashings and loss of rations? What purpose do these punishments serve?

The North Atlantic OceanPlot the voyage of the 1604 trip taken by Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua.

(1)Begin in France,(2) cross the North Atlantic Ocean, and follow the Maritime coastline until you come to a (3)stop at St. Croix Island

So why here? Why did they sail thousands of kilometers to settle on this lump of rock, sand, and grass?What features of St. Croix Island attracted the first French settlers?

Pierre du Gua, also known as Sieur du Monts, who was a member of the expedition which settled on Saint-Croix Island in 1604.

In March of 1604 a French ship set sail for the Americas. Aboard were many young men looking for adventure, riches, or simply work as sailors.

Among the men was a wealthy French investor and business man named Pierre Dugua, and an ambitious explorer by the name of Samuel de Champlain.

The voyage was originally sent to find places for settlement and set up trading posts along the St. Lawrence River, but Dugua changed his mind. Instead he decided to go south.

He sailed down and around the coast of Nova Scotia, where he found groups of people trading furs and other goods. He captured some smaller vessels along the shores and seized all the goods aboard.

He did this because he had been granted a monopoly over the fur trade for the area by the King of France, which entitled him to control over all the fur and related trading goods coming from the area.

Dugua sailed around the tip of Nova Scotia, and followed the coast north into the Bay of Fundy. The explorers investigated the small harbors and inlets they discovered, and mapped each. One spot along the Bay caught the explorers attention in particular, and Champlain asked Dugua to name it Port Royal. Dugua agreed.

But, Dugua wasn’t satisfied with the site for his settlement, so the explorers kept searching, moving north and then west along the coast finally finding the mouth of a river which seemed suitable to them for establishing a settlement.

What is a league?Folk tales refer to a league as a specific distance, but a league is actually an ancient measurement.

In medieval England it was simply the distance a person or a horse could walk in one hour.

How far is a league in distance? which is about three miles, or five kilometres, the same distance as defined by the Romans.The league is no longer an official unit of measurement in any nation.

What is a pace?A pace is about 30 inches long or 76 cm, which is the length of an average step. To make sure your paces are accurate, you need to count how many paces it takes to walk 100 m.

What is a fathom?A fathom is roughly 6 feet, or the distance between the outstretched hands of a typical sailor.

Why would the use of leagues, paces, and fathoms be troublesome by today’s standards?

Read the handout from Champlain’s journals to get an understanding of what it was that he saw as he entered the mouth of the St. Croix River in 1604.

It was mid-summer when the explorers came to what would be their winter habitation. “The [island] might be eight or nine hundred paces in circumference, raising on all sides in ledges of from three to four fathoms, excepting at one small spot, where there is a point of sand and clay from which could be utilized for making bricks and other needful articles” Samuel de Champlain

Originally the island was almost totally covered in trees. These were cut and used for construction and fuel wood.

The first task was to set up defenses to protect their future settlement.

“we began to erect a barricade on a small islet a little removed

from [the island], and this served as a platform for

mounting our cannon…in a very short time it was

put into a state of defense, though the mosquitoes

(which are little flies) gave us great annoyances.”

Next, they set to work building houses, followed by a storehouse, bakeries, a cookhouse, a common building, blacksmith shop, and finally gardens.

Along with many other things that would end up working against the explorers, the soil was far from ideal for planting crops. There was not enough space for fields, and the ground was a mix of sand and clay, so growing grains was difficult.

“Some gardens were made, both on the mainland and the island itself, [where grain] came up very well, except on the island, where the soil was nothing but sand in which everything was scorched when the sun shone, although great pains were taken to water the plants.” Voyages p. 279

As a result, many of their more successful crops were the ones planted upriver on the mainland, and were only

accessible by boat.

After a miserable winter on St. Croix island the explorers decided to pack up their things and relocate. The decided to go to the site they had discovered on their voyage to St. Croix Island the year before. They would name the site Port Royal.

Upon arriving the explorers constructed their new homes in nearly the same way they had on St. Croix island.

ReflectingAnswer the following question in your notes with a star beside it.

What conditions at St. Croix Island made living there difficult?

The second winter in Canada proved to be much less severe than the first, making life much more tolerable than before.

Also, the soil was much easier to work than on St. Croix Island and the crops grew well.

They faired much betterat Port Royal than theydid at St. Croix.

This is Champlain’s drawingof Port Royal

Port Royal can still be visited today...

At Port Royal the explorers made sure they had a well for easily accessing fresh water year round.

Close ties with the First Nations of the area were established quickly, which meant they gained access to meat, furs, and valuable advise about surviving the harsh Canadian winters.

After the first full winter at Port Royal, the settlers began to expand their gardens, clear some roads, improve their buildings, and entertain themselves.

The most important First Nations leader the newcomers would meet at Port Royal was Chief Membertou. He was the head of a local Micmac tribe which used the area as hunting and fishing territories, as well as setting up seasonal settlements.

Membertou welcomed the French to his territory. In turn, he was trusted and treated as an equal by the French, and with his help the French settlers would find life in Canada much easier than before.

Even though the winters were easier to survive than before, the settlers still faced many difficulties. Scurvy would claim more men during the second winter. Also, there was a lack of social activities and entertainment. Champlain realized this and seized the opportunity to create a very interesting means of making life at Port Royal more interesting.

Champlain created what he called l’Ordre de Bon Temps. Periodically, a different settler would be required to host a dinner for the rest. This involved making a feast and providing entertainment for the evening.

The choice foods often included duck, goose, dear, fish, moose, caribou, partridge, beaver, and much more. Each settler attempted to prepare a unique and interesting meal to impress his company.

In addition to the meals, entertainment such as music and skits were preformed after dinner to continue the festivities into the evening.

This accomplished two things: First, it required each man to go out and gather food on a regular basis. Second, it provided entertainment for the settlers who often worked long hard days in the fields or woods.

Chief Membertou was often invited to these feasts to sit amongst the settlers as a friend. The relationship between the First Nations and the French of Atlantic Canada would remain an important part of the cultural make-up of region.

Over the next 20-30 years settlement slowed in Acadia and the population remained relatively small. Settlements were established along the Minas Basin at Grand Pre, Windsor, Annapolis Royal, Truro, on Cape Breton Island at Louisbourg and Canso, and around the South Shore of Nova Scotia at LaHave and near Yarmouth.

*On a separate piece of paper, write a heading “Acadian Settlements” write the place names seen here under this heading.

Along the New Brunswick coast line trading forts were established at Saint John, Sackville, Miramichi, and along the North Shore at Bathurst. Forts were also established at Jemseg and Fredericton.

Eventually the population of Acadia began to grow, and the people began to convert larger areas of land into fertile agricultural lands.

Life for the Acadians never seemed dull despite the relatively simple lifestyles of the small farming communities. Between 1639 – 1713 Acadia would endure a civil war, as well as find itself a part of a much larger battle between the British and French in a struggle for new lands.

Between 1639-1653 three men (Denys, La Tour, and d’Aulnay) fought for control of Acadia. They burned each others forts and killed each others soldiers until finally La Tour emerged as the ‘winner.’

Then, in 1690 the British began periodically attacking Acadian settlements. They would make several voyages up the American coastline to attack the French forts, burn the villages, and destroy crops. Thus beginning a long series of battles for control of Acadia.

An account from the book Two Beginnings describes one of the battles that would be fought (page 21)

After the fort at Port Royal fell to the British in 1704 the Acadians started to spread out to even more areas in the Maritimes. There were several reasons for this, including access to new agricultural land and population growth. Most importantly was that the British took control of most of Acadia from the French in 1713 as a result of the French loosing a war. As a result of this, France singed over much of their territory in Acadia in what is called the Treaty of Utrecht.

Again, the Acadians began to move across the Maritime Provinces to settle as the British took control of their lands and began to build their own settlements and forts. One of the new French settlements was Beaubassin, between what is now Sackville (NB) and Amherst (NS). Here they established a large community and built a fort for protection.

Other settlements included Tracadie, Shediac, and Port La Joie (Charlottetown).

When the British took over control of Acadia, they moved the capital from Annapolis Royal (Port Royal) to Halifax.

The Acadian people had to make a decision about how they would choose to live their lives in the new British lands.

They had to choose to either leave their homeland with everything they had, or stay and swear allegiance to become British subjects. The British wanted the Acadians to swear allegiance to the Crown of England. Many Acadians refused and wanted to exclude themselves from any part in the French-English conflict. They did not want to take up arms against their native France and preferred to live peacefully on their farms. They were neutral. The British feared this neutrality.

Many Acadians chose to leave their homes and move to Cape Breton, New Brunswick, and PEI. On Cape Breton Island they built a large fort, Louisbourg. Others moved to new settlements and were largely left alone to live peaceful lives for the next 40 years of so.

The Acadians were later offered a second chance to pledge allegiance to the British. Many refused unless they were promised not to have to fight with the British army. These conditions were not acceptable according to the British.

Ultimately the Acadians wanted to remain neutral. They no longer felt connected to the French who had virtually abandoned them. The Acadians could not imagine joining forces with the British, a group who had forced them from their homeland repeatedly for the past several decades.

By the 1750’s the British had had enough of the Acadians refusing to swear their allegiance, and the order to remove the Acadians was issued. What followed was a major turning point in Acadian, and later Canadian history, and is known as the Expulsion.