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1500
Modes of transportation
The canoe was a primitive mode of transportation made of birch bark. Rivers were the main route of transportation. Snowshoes were made to be able to walk on snow without sinking in it. The natives made these objects with a lot of precision making sure they will last a lifetime. Without these snowshoes, living through winter would have been impossible since nomads wouldn't be able to travel far distances to find animals. -
1500
Barter System
The Barter system was the trading system used between the Iroquois (in the St. Lawrence Lowlands) and the Algonquins (in the Canadian Shield). Since the Iroquois were farmers, they traded agricultural surpluses such as corn and beans. The Algonquins were nomads, so they traded animal fur and animal meat. We know the barter system exists since we find objects in places that it shouldn't be in, proving that goods were traded and moved around. -
Period: 1500 to
Economy and Development
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Fishing
Tones of fish were present in North America, especially in Newfoundland, Labrador and The Gulf of St. Lawrence. There was a high demand for fish in Europe since The Catholic Church restricted its members from eating red meat every friday, so fish was the best alternative. These fish were either smoked, salted or sundried and they were exposed to the long and unsanitary voyages back to Europe. These european fisheries caused the first contacts with the Natives. -
Furs
There was a very high demand for furs in Europe, especially beaver hats. There were a lot of beavers in North America and were very easily killed. The fur trade caused territory discovery and expansion due to the far distances hunters travelled to find new animals to hunt. New France was constantly expanding due to this. Trading posts were created to make trades easier (foundation of the towns of Quebec and Three Rivers). -
The Birth of The Fur Trade
Natives traded furs and high quality coats and hats for metal objects (knives and pots). The europeans qualified furs as much more precious and expensive than metallic objects but the Natives thought the opposite. Trading fur was more profitable than fishing, so fishermen brought metal objects to trade with the Natives. The fur trade created alliances between Europeans and Natives, making it easier for Europeans to colonise the territory and take advantage of its resources -
Company of 100 associates
King of France owed New France. He didn't want to develop the colony himself and wanted to make money, so he granted exclusive rights to the company of 100 associates to hunt in the colonies (monopoly).In return, they had to boost the population.They purposely failed since if the population were to grow, there would be fewer animals to hunt.The King was still getting all of New France’s raw materials and was making money off of taxes ao he didn't mind.The population stayed small and mostly male. -
Agricultural activity
-Was a subsistence activity since the population was low.
-Farmers grew only what they needed to provide for their family.
-Wheat was the main crop
-Children from large families got lands by the lords, so they made contributions by clearing their new lands. -
Economy before 1663
The King of France and the trading companies wanted New France’s role to be to make France prosperous. The settlers and the religious communities were not happy with that, so they tried convincing the King to make New France a settlement colony which would allow New France to be a prosperous colony on its own. Samuel de Champlain sent a document to the king showing him all the profit New France can generate and all the advantages. The colony’s economy stayed centred on the fur trade until 1663. -
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is a way of financial organization theory; It helped the king posses as much riches as he can by taking advantage of its colonies. The King of France takes all of the New France’s natural resources back to France, manufactures them (turn into finished goods), and sells them. This leaves the colony poor, weak, and vulnerable. You would accomplish this by exporting(selling) more than you import(bringing in) -
(Pt 1)Territory of New France Vs 13 Colonies
New France started out small and rapidly grew in size do do a lot of territory exploration due to the fur trade, causing a thinly dispersed population which makes it hard to defend the territory. The great Lakes, the Prairies all the way until the Rocky Mountains, Hudson's Bay, ohio valley and Louisiana were all explored. Discovered regions where most of the time disputed by the French and English. -
(Pt 2)Territory of New France Vs 13 Colonies
The territory of the 13 colonies stayed the same size, however the population was much greater. They focused on diverse farming and fur trading. The British were advancing economically, and french were still playing with mercantilism. The 13 Colonies were able to manufacture finished products in their colony (unlike New France) so they made a lot of money. -
Attempts to diversify the economy after 1663
-Jean Talon tried to diversify the economy by using the triangular trade, but it didn't succeed
-Farming became more diversified by cultivation cereals and hemp.
-Talon wanted small workshops to be built to produce finished goods (wool, leather hemp transformed into rope and sails).
-Ships were built to export all the colony’s surplus (agricultural products, finished products, fur).
-Small external commerce of flour started. Surplus flour was produced and stimulated flour mill construction. -
Timber Industry
-Great Britain got its wood from Northern Europe.
-Empereur Napoleon created a continental blockade against Great Britain in attempt to conquer all of Europe and because of war.
-Starting from 1806, Great Britain got its timber from its Canadian colony.
-This caused a great development of the timber industry in Canada.
-TImber Industry was helped by a preferential treatment from its mother country -
Consequences of Timber development
New jobs were created;
-Lumberjacks cut down trees
-Sawmills cut trees into smaller pieces
-Loggers drove drown river to the mills
-Longshoremen loaded and transported rafts of wood
New ways of transportation;
-Many ships started using the ports
- development of canals, railroads, and steamship
New regions were developed
The Bank of Montreal was created
The economy started diversifying -
Colonization of new regions due to timber
-New regions such as Outaouais, Saguenay, Lac St. Jean and Maurice were colonised due to the development of the timber industries.
-Railroads helped colonisation
-Lots of water streams run past these regions, making timber transportation easier.
- Wheat farming flowered at the same time as the Timber industry -
Company Merge
When the British take control of the colony, the fur trade passes to the british merchants. In 1783, some montreal merchants united to form the Northwest Company, creating a rivalry with the Hudson’s Bay Company. This rivalry was expensive since they both spent a lot of money creating new trading posts while the need and demand for fur was declining. That caused both of the compagnies to merge in 1821 and the fur trade took place in Hudson Bay, no longer in Montreal -
Economic policies
In the early 1800’s, Great Britain made a protectionist policy to Canada in order to financially help the colony. People bringing in to Great Britain wood from everywhere (European countries) except for Canada had to pay customs and duties. Liberals weren't happy with this since they wanted free trade, so when they took control of the government, they ended the protectionist policy. Canadian industries started to fail because there weren't enough people buying their merchandises. -
Reciprocity treaty
-Canada needed to find a new trading partner
-The United States agreed to be their trading partner since they needed timber and agricultural products due to their rapidly expanding economy
-They signed the Reciprocity treaty to stop temporarily all customs and duties.
-This free trade benefited Canada a lot because the States had such a large market.
-Lasted 10 years and was ended by the US -
Population Changes
-From 1871 until 1901, the population of Quebec and Canada grew by 30 to 49 %.
-The birthrate in Quebec was extremely high, however many people left Quebec
-There were new jobs demanding unskilled workers in the cities, Western Canada and the States, so people emigrated there.
-The rich lived well but everyone else didn't (pollution, no piped water, poor sanitation, diseases, little food)
-mortality rate was extremely high because of child labour; 1 of 3 children didn't live past the age of 1. -
National Policy
The National Policy was created by John A. MacDonald. This policy includes:
-Increase custom duties: Encouraged Canadians to develop Canadian industries by only buying Canadian goods
-Building railways: The Canadian Pacific, a railway going from 1 side of Canada to the other helped unify people and increased trade.
-Immigration was encouraged: populating western Canada was important to make the Canadian market bigger and protect the territory from invasion. -
(Pt 1)First Phase of industrialization
The first phase of industrialisation was the transition from artisanal production to factory production. Artisanal production was slow and needed skilled workers to produce goods. Factory production was fast and inexpensive, and unskilled workers who receive salaries were needed. The work was dangerous and boring. This permitted factories to hire almost anyone and pay them a low salary. The capital was mainly from Great Britain -
(Pt 2)First Phase of industrialization
Coal and steam engines powered these industries, but hydraulic energy was being used by some industries with waterways in its territory. Many industries in Montreal concentrated on food processing. The main industries other than food processing were leather, textiles, tobacco,
transportation equipment, and wood. The dairy industry (cheese) was big. -
The Phases of Economic Growth/Recession
1885-1900: The First phase of industrialization
1990-1910: Second phase of industrialization
1910 to 1920: World War I
1920-1930: The Roaring 20s
1930-1940: The Great Depression; all money from roaring 20s disappeared fast
1940-1950: World War II
1950-1960: Maurice Duplessis; brought Quebec down
1960-1970: The Quiet Revolution; Most things done by Duplessis were undone, Quebec developped a lot -
Workers’ demands
Since the working conditions were inhuman and the working class neighbourhoods were overpopulated, had no sewage system and had many epidemics, unions were formed (CTCC, CSN) to improve their lives. Sometimes, workers went on strikes and made lockouts to try and get their wishes accepted. The representative of the union goes to see the bosses and tells them that if they don't improve the conditions and pay, their workers will go on strike and will cost them money. Sometimes, everyone got fired. -
2nd Phase of Industrialization: Urban expansions/opening of new regions
Since during the 2nd phase of industrialisation raw materials were wanted, new regions were opened to acquire its resources. For example, Abitibi, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Mauricie, Côte-Nord et Gaspésie. A concentration of and infrastructures and services in the city such as transportation, hospitals, education and aqueducts and sewers caused urban expansion. (capital mainly from the States). Due to this, the suburbs developed as well. However, there was also rural exodus -
The Great Depression
With the surplus of goods piling up, many lost their jobs since they weren't needed. People bought stocks with money loaned from the banks, and when those stocks plummeted, everyone took their money out at the same time to try to save a little. Companies no longer had money to survive, so they went bankrupt as well as the banks since the people had lost their money in the stock market. 25% of the population went unemployed. Families bought as little as possible so the economy did not develop. -
Solutions to The Great Depression
Because of the great depression, the government started to intervene:
-Public works projects to boost economy
-Work Camps for bachelors
-Direct Aid (food stamps/coupons for buying stuff for basic survival)
-Encouraged Farming
-The start of WWII led to a huge economic boost
The great depression ended because of World War II:
-Men were employed by war and they didn't spend money
-Women were employed since men were at war
-Surplus of money after the war -
Maurice Duplessis
-Leader/Premier of Quebec during the 1950’s
-Has old fashion thoughts on how province should be run; he let the Church run the education
-He supported/loves people living in rural areas; He liked that they worked and that they went to church.
-He brought electricity to the country,
-He made paved roads to the country,
-Made agriculture Quebec's #1 export.
-No modernization in jobs (lots of farmers)
-Quebec was not advancing while the rest of the world was. -
The Quiet Revolution
-During 1960’s (Jean Lesage and his Liberal Party elected).
-Major social, political and economic changes in Quebec.
-Beginning of the welfare state
-Creation/Modernization of jobs
-Development of services (transportation, infrastructures…)
State interventions:
-Nationalization of hydroelectricity (Hydro Quebec)
-Government takes charge of education (Modernized of schooling, free until 16 years old)
-Church's involves less
-Helped/Encouraged Quebecers compete against American companies -
NAFTA
-NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement
-Free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States (got rid of duties and customs).
Good for Canada since it can sell its products in a very big market (300 000 000 people in the States).