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Red River Settlement created
A colonization set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas in the Red River Valley where is now southern Manitoba. A large number of Metis had settled in here and gradually developed a way of life that was a combination of European and Aboriginal traditions. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was a widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the conflict. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Natives American removal and war with Mexico. Manifest Destiny is also an external factor that led to Confederation in British North America. -
The War of 1812
A millitary conflict, lasting for two and a half years, fought by the United Stated against Great Britain as the colony of Britain, Canada, was invaded a number of times by the Americans. The United States declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of Indian tribes against American expansion. -
The Pemmican Proclamation
The Pemmican Proclamation is a decree that forbade the export of pemmican and other provisions from the Red River Colony. This and further proclamations reflect the tense rivalries between competing fur trade companies, as well as the attitudes of colonial administrators toward Métis suppliers. The proclamation ultimately led to violence in the Seven Oaks Incident. -
The Battle of Seven Oaks
The Battle of Seven Oaks was a violent confrontation in what was known as the Pemmican War between the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest company. About 21 Baymen and one Metis were killed. The remaining settlers left their houses the next day. Each side claimed self-defense, and a Canadian commission determined that it was a private war between two rival companies and condemned both sides.The so-called massacre of Seven Oaks provoked retaliation and led to a merger of the 2 companies. -
The Merger of the HBC and NWC
The struggle between the HBC and NWC for controlling of the fur trade had brought both companies to the verge of bankruptcy. There were simply not enough furs for two rival company. The British government, which feared loss of control of the Northwest if both companies failed, forced the HBC and the NWC to agree to a merger of their two companies. A new company was formed, under the name of the HBC, with 100 shares. -
The Rebellion of 1837
Two armed uprisings that took place in Lower and Upper Canada.The Rebellion in Lower Canada was led by Louis Joseph Papineau and his patriotes. The Rebellion in Upper Canada was led by William Lyon Mackenzie who was a fierce critic of the Family Compact. -
Durham Report issued
Lord Durham was sent to North America to investigate the causes of the twin rebellions in the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Durham's famous report led to a series of reforms and changes including the union of the two Canada's into a single colony. -
The Act of Union
The Act of Union made Lower Canada and Upper Canada became the province of Canada, with Montreal as its capital. The Act's main provisions were the establishment of a single parliament with equal representation from each constituent section – now called Canada East and Canada West. -
The California Gold Rush
In 1848, gold was discovered along the Sacramento River in California. By the following year, thousands of people had travelled to the area. The vast majority of these gold seekers never struck it rich, and many never returned home which increased Canada's population. -
Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty
The Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 was a trade treaty between Great Britain and the United States, applying to British possessions in North America including the United Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland Colony. It covered raw materials and was in effect from 1854 to 1865. It represented a move toward free trade, and was opposed by protectionist elements in the United States. -
The Fraser River Gold Rush
In late 1857, an HBC trader arrived in Fort Victoria carrying gold dust and nuggets he had panned along the banks of the Thompson River. He presented what he found to Governor Douglas. Douglas feared that if news of gold strike become known, the colony of Vancouver Island might be invaded by thousands of American miners. Douglas's fears came true during the winter of 1857-1858, over 10000 men, mostly American, were came to the colony of Vancouver Island by ships. -
The American Civil War
The American Civil War determined the survival of the Union or independence for the Confederacy. The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states. Northern victory in the war preserved the United States as one nation and ended the institution of slavery that had divided the country from its beginning. -
The Charlottetown Conference
The conference was already underway and discussion for Maritime union were not making much progress. So the Canadians were invited to submit their own proposals for a union of all the British North America colonies. -
The Quebec Conference
At the Quebec Conference, the delegates passed 72 Resolutions, including a constitutional framework for a new country. The Resolutions outlined the concept of federalism, with powers and responsibilities strictly divided between the provinces and the federal government. The Resolutions also outlined the shape of national federal. -
The Confederation
The union of the British North American colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the province of Canada was the first step in a slow but steady nation-building exercise that would come to encompass other territories, and eventually fulfill the dream of a country. -
The Manitoba Act
The Manitoba Act made the lands surrounding the Red River the new province of Manitoba. It stated that Metis' land would be protected but all other lands were the property of the Dominion of Canada. It also gave constitutional guarantees for the French language and publicly funded Roman Catholic schools. It was a remarkable achievement for Louis Riel and his provisional governement, as it showed their influence on Canadian legislation. -
The CPR Company formed
In1871, Allan formed the CPR Company, a company that seemed to be Canadian but was actually controlled by Jay Cooke. Also, Allan's railway would not be a truly transcontinental railway but a branch line of the American Northern Pacific Railway. Allan concealed these facts from the government. -
The North West Mounted Police
In 1873, the government created the North West Mounted Police. The North-West Mounted Police was a paramilitary police force established in 1873 to maintain law and order, and to be a visible symbol of Canadian sovereignty, in the newly acquired North-West Territories. -
The laws of St. Laurent
In 1873, the Metis of St. Laurent, a community on the shore of Lake Manitoba, wrote down and formalized the Laws of St. Laurent. These laws, based on the informal “laws of the Prairies,” governed all aspects of life in the community, including the regulation of the bison hunt. -
The Cypress Hills Massacre
In June of 1873, a group of Nakoda campng in Cypress Hills was attacked by a party of American" wolfers, trappers who put out poisoned bison meat to kill wolves and coyotes. More than twenty Nakoda were killed, and the incident came to be known as the Cypress Hills Massacre. -
The Indian Act
The Canadian government introduced the Indian Act in 1876. This act formalized the assimilation of First Nations, providing government administration of reserves and treaty rights across the Dominion. The act changed through time, with new regulations being applied as Canada developed. The Indian Act had an enormous impact on the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. -
Canadian Pacific Railway was incorporated
The Canadian Pacific Railway company was incorporated in 1881. Its original purpose was the construction of a transcontinental railway, a promise to British Columbia upon its entry into Confederation. -
Louis Riel Returned
In the Spring of 1884, the Metis decided that they needed a leader who could get the government to pay attentiion to their petitions. They chose Louis Riel. That fall, Riel and William Henry Jackson, a representative of the local European farmers, collaborated on the Metis Bill of Rights. They hoped this document would address the Metis grievances. -
The Northwest Uprising
The Northwest Uprising of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people under Louis Riel against the government of Canada. During a time of great social change in Western Canada, the Métis believed that the Canadians had failed to address the protection of their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct group of people. -
CPR was completed
The railway completed in 1885, connected Eastern Canada to British Columbia and played an important role in the development of the nation. Built in dangerous conditions by thousands of labourers, including 15000 Chinese temporary workers. The railway facilitated communications and transportation across the country.
