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Jan 1, 1534
Jacques Cartier Lands in Canada
In 1534, the king of France sent Jacques Cartier to find a sea route to China. It was on his first voyage across the ocean that he landed in Canada. There he found the Haudenosaunee living. It would be many more years before settlers from France would begin to come and create a colony here. -
Champlain settles Quebec
Youtube Video In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded a settlment in Quebec. French settlers were soon clearing the land and building homes. Samuel also made trade agreements with the First Nations. Champlain became governor of the colony of New France -
Life in New France
Virtual Museum
The way of life in New France was different from both France then and Canada today. Explore the virtual museum to learn all about what it was like to live in New France in the 1600s!! -
Louis Hebert-Canada's first wheat farmers
Ater being promised land near the St. Lawrence Seaway by Champlain, Louis Hebert and his wife moved to Canada from France. They cleared land to grow a garden and vegetables. They would become Canada's first wheat farmers -
The First Coureur des Bois
A man named Etienne Brule lived among the Ouendat people at the request of Champlain, learning their language and ways of life. He became the first Coureur des Bois, trading with the First Nations people. From the Ouendat, he had learned how to sruvive on the lands and use the waterways for travel. -
Hudson's Bay Company Created
In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Comany was formed. -
Pierre de La Verendrye searches for the Pacific Ocean
Map of his TravelsBorn in New France in 1685, he was the first Canadien to travel far into the west. He wanted to try and find the huge Western Sea that he heard about from First Nations people he traded with. On his jouneys, he set up six fur-trading posts for the French. -
British attack Quebec
For many years, Britain and France fought for control over North America. Due to the fur trade, the colonies were great sources of wealth for their mother countries. In 1759, the British attacked Quebec. Within a year, they had taken over control of New France. They renamed the lands along the St. Lawrence River the "Provinces of Quebec". They also created British Laws that took away the rights from Canadiens. -
Quebec Act
YouTube video- Quebec ActIn 1771, the Quebec Act was passed to prevent the Canadiens from rebelling against the French. This act allowed them to keep their land and seigneurial system. They could also practice their religion freely, speak their language, and keep their civil laws. -
American Revolution
United Empire LoyalistsAfter the American Revolution began, thousands of United Empire loyalists moved north. They wanted to live under British rule. Most went to communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. -
Northwest Company
Voyageurs
In the 1780's, a group of Scottish and Montreal businessmen created the North West Company. They hired men called Voyageurs to work for them. -
Francophones move west to Cordillera
In the 1790s, an Explorer named Alexander Mackenzie brought voyageurs to the Cordillera region. By the 1800s, Francophones made up more than half the population of settlers in this region -
Creation of Upper & Lower Canada
The Loyalists were unhappy with many parts of the Quebec Act. To keep everyone happy, the British Government divided the colony into two parts: Upper and Lower Canada. This way, each group could keep its own language, religion and way of life. -
Alexander Mackenzie reaches Pacific Ocean
Alexander Mackenzie was sent by the NWC to find new sources of furs. Canoeing along rivers and travelling across mountains in 1793 he became the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean by travelling across Canada. Simon Fraser also explored this region for the NWC. He build forts such as Fort George. The Simon Fraser river is named after him -
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Francophone communities develop in the Praries
In the 1800s, the population of Francophones grew in Western Canada. Catholic priests and sisters came to settlements to establish missions that had churches, schools and hospitals -
Red River Colony
In 1811, the HBC granted a part of its territory, called Rupert's Land, to an english noblemen called the Earl of Selkirk. He called this territory the "Territory of Assiniboia". He brough homelss farmers and their families over from Scotland over to settle this area in the hopes of establishing a farming community.The Scotish Farmers landed in the Hudson's bay and they travelled to the Red River and built Fort Douglas. . This became the first farming settlement on the Interior Plains. -
David Thompson Maps Canada
David Thompson came to Canada from Britian as a young man. He worked first for the HBC, then for the NWC. During his life, alongside his Metis wife, Charlotte, he mapped almost 4 million square kilometers of North America. In 1814, he drew a map of Western Canada that was so accurate it was still used 100 years later by the government and the railways. -
Great Migration
Between 1815-1850, about 8 million immigrants,mostly from Britian, Scotland and Ireland, came to the British Colonies in Canada. This was called the Great Migration. They faced many hardships when they arrived. Grosse-Ile was an island in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Quebec City where immigrants from Europe comming over on boats were held to try and stop the spread of disease. Many of them died on this island, although efforts were made by doctors to save them. -
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Underground Railroad
Underground to Freedom During the middle of the 1800's, black slaves from the United States would travel in secret to Canada to freedom. Their journies could take up to a year, and many settled in the St. Lawrence lowlands. -
Creation of the North-West Mounted Police
History of NWMPJohn A. Macdonald (Canada's first Prime Minister) wanted a police force to bring law and Canadian authority to the new Territories. Due to the vast distance of the new Territories, a mounted force, or Calvary, would be best. So he created the North-West Mounted Police, who soon became known as the Mounties! -
Building starts on the Canadian Pacific Railway
Video- History of CPR
Building began on the CPR in 1881. The railway helped bring many settlers to the prairies, and allowed the NWMP to move quickly in times of trouble. The railway also changed the way of life for the First Nations & Metis who lived in the Interior Plains. In order to make sure bison stayed off the tracks, railway companies encouraged people to shoot them. Thousands of bison were killed. This caused enormous hardships. -
First Nations begin to live by trading posts
On the praries, by the mid 1900s, many First Nations such as the Dene, began to live in permanent homes near the trading posts. Trapping animals for trade became a daily part of their lives.
