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The Treaty of Utrecht was signed on this date in Utrecht in the Netherlands. It basically marked the end of the War of the Spanish Succession between France and Spain. Through this treaty, France gave up Acadia but gained the Caribbean Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Acadia now basically was a British colony, with the exception of Ile Royale (present day Cape Breton Island). New France now was surrounded by the British.
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On this date, the British announced to the Acadians that they were to be expelled from their land. They had previously signed an oath declaring them to be British subjects, but didn't have to bear arms in the case of war. As tensions increased between the French and British, the British wanted the Acadians to sign a new oath, declaring that they would fight against the French in the event of war. The Acadians refused and thus were ordered expelled from their lands.
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This painting is a depiction of General Wolfe dying in the battle. The French and British fought this battle on the Plains of Abraham just outside of Quebec. The British used a strategy of the "Thin Red Line" and defeated a disorganized French force in a very quick battle. Both the British commander (Wolfe) and the French commander (Montcalm) died as a result of this battle. With the victory, the British had control of Quebec.
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The French, British, and Spanish signed the Treaty of Paris on this date, concluding the Seven Years' War and giving control of New France to the British. Britain also got control of Ile-Royale (Cape Breton Island) from France, and Florida from Spain. France retained fishing rights in Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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Now that Britain had control of New France, it needed to have some rules on how to govern this territory. Some of the key parts of this law included: smaller boundaries for Quebec, more First Nations territory, English civil law replacing French civil law, abolishment of the seigneurial system, those involved in the fur trade would now need a license.
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The Quebec Act of 1774 replaced the Royal Proclamation of 1763. It established French rights, many of which had been lost by the Royal Proclamation. The British realized that they needed to be allies with the French in case of an attack from America.
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The American Revolutionary War, also called the War of Independence, began in 1775 as a result of the anger of some British North Americans to the Quebec Act and new taxes imposed by the British. Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies met in Philadelphia on this date and declared the United States of America to be an independent nation. The American Revolution continued until 1783. Many Loyalists (loyal to Britain) left during this time to start a new life in the north (present-day Canada).
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On this date, Black Loyalists founded the community of Birchtown, near present-day Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, many Blacks were not treated very well by the White Loyalists, and over time became disheartened and eventually many went to Africa in hope of a better life.
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This treaty officially ended the American Revolutionary War, also known as the War of Independence between the Patriots and British. The United States officially gained significant territory as a result of this treaty. All land now owned by the British in North America was called British North America.
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The North West Company was a fur trading company established as a competitor to the Hudson's Bay Company which had a monopoly on fur trading at the time. The two companies competed with each other for a number of years, even having wars with each other, before merging in 1821
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Due to the influx of the Loyalists, the British government passed the Constitutional Act. The Act made some changes to the Quebec Act of 1774, but the British didn't want to give the Loyalists too much power. It divided Quebec into two parts (Upper and Lower Canada), each Canada would have a lieutenant-governor, legislative council, and legislative assembly. Landowners in Lower Canada could have land under the seigneurial or freehold system, but only under the freehold system in Upper Canada.
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The Battle of Tippecanoe was an American victory over the First Nations, during Tecumseh's war before the War of 1812. Tecumseh had a dream of establishing a First Nations confederacy, and he had built a settlement called Prophetstown along the Tippecanoe River. After a number of confrontations with the Americans, Commander William Harrison confronted the First Nations at Prophetstown. The First Nations attacked first, but the Americans held their ground and the First Nations withdrew.
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Tecumseh uses bluff and deception techniques to cause General Hull to surrender at the Battle of Detroit, even though the American forces substantially outnumbered the British forces. This was a good example of how the First Nations and Brock worked together to defeat a common foe (Americans).
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Isaac Brock had come to Canada in 1802 as a soldier. He originally thought that his life in Canada would be boring but it soon changed once the War of 1812 began. Brock was a great leader and worked with the First Nations leader Tecumseh to win the Battle of Detroit in August of 1812. The British also won the Battle of Queenston Heights in October of 1812, but Brock was killed by a sniper during this battle. A battle had been won but a leader was lost.
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The Battle of York was a crushing defeat for the British. In this battle, 16 American ships attacked the shoreline of Lake Ontario, easily taking control of Fort York. The British general, Roger Sheaffe retreated and negotiated the terms of the surrender. This battle showed major problems in the British defences, and also led to another attack in July of 1813, where the Americans landed and burned several buildings and boats, and even made off with a number of supplies.
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The Battle of Stoney Creek occurred during the night of June 5 and 6, 1813. Fort George had been captured by the Americans in May, and they wanted to restart an aggressive campaign in Upper Canada. However, the casual pace and attitude of the Americans allowed a local youth, Billy Green, to share all he heard about the Americans with British Lieutenant Colonel John Harvey. The British were able to defeat the Americans who ended up retreating to Fort George.
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On this date, Laura Secord travelled approximately 32 km on foot to warn British commander James FitzGibbon of an impending American attack at Beaver Dams. The British were able to defeat the Americans as a result of her warning.
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The Battle of Lake Erie (also referred to as the Battle of Put-In-Bay) was fought in Lake Erie, off the coast of Ohio. It was a decisive American victory, as they were able to defeat and capture six vessels of the British navy. It allowed the Americans to have control of Lake Erie for the rest of the War of 1812, and also allowed them to win the Battle of the Thames as well as get back Detroit, which they had lost at the beginning of the war.
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The Battle of Crysler's Farm, fought on muddy ploughed fields beside the St. Lawrence River on November 11, 1813, was a crucial moment in the history of Upper Canada and marked the end of the most serious attempt to that time to invade Canada. British and Canadian commanders William Mulcaster and Joseph Morrison defeated a much larger American force of 8000, forcing them to retreat to the south side of the St. Lawrence River.
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This battle occurred during the final summer of the War of 1812, when the British attempted to divert the frontiers of the American forces from Upper and Lower Canada. On this date, the British captured the city of Washington and burned numerous public buildings, including the White House. The battle was regarded as a retaliation for the Battle of York in April 1813.
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The Battle of Baltimore was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading British forces. The Americans retreated, but the British were not able to inflict the same damage that they had done on Washington a few weeks earlier. The "Star Spangled Banner" originated from the American defence during this battle.
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The War of 1812 officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium on this date. The treaty took five months to negotiate. In the treaty, impressment and the naval blockade were not mentioned, even though these had been among the major reasons the USA had declared war. Boundaries between the USA and British North America went back to the way they were before the war.
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On December 24, 1814, Britain and the USA signed a treaty in Ghent, Belgium that effectively ended the War of 1812. News was slow to cross the ocean, however, and on January 8, 1815, the two sides met in one of the biggest and most decisive engagements. In the bloody Battle of New Orleans, future President Andrew Jackson and his militia fighters, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians and even pirates soundly defeated the British. The British now had to take the terms of the Treaty of Ghent seriously.
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The Hudson's Bay Company was formed on May 2, 1670. It started as a fur trading company, but with the decline of the fur trading industry, the company began to sell other important goods. It originally owned much of Canada (Rupert's Land), but the land later became part of the new Dominion of Canada in 1870 as part of the Northwest Territories. The HBC was in competition with the North West Company from 1783 until 1821, when it merged with the North West Company but kept the HBC name.
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After writing his articles in his newspaper and bringing the issue of responsible government out in the open, Joseph Howe was elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1836. He worked with the Reformers to press for responsible government and eventually succeeded in February 1848. Nova Scotia was granted responsible government and was the first British colony in the world to achieve this.
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Papineau's Ninety-Two Resolutions document contained grievances (complaints) that the Lower Canadian legislative assembly had with the British government. He wanted to make the legislative council into a body elected by the people. He also wanted the executive council to "be responsible to" the legislative assembly. Also, he wanted to abolish the seigneuries and turn them into freehold (privately owned) farms. The British did not want to grant major reform and a rebellion occurred in 1837.
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Mackenzie was angry with the government system and claimed that the officials at the top had all of the power. He used his newspaper, the "Colonial Advocate" to publish articles that insulted his political enemies. His anger eventually led a rebellion in Upper Canada just north of Toronto in December, 1837.
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On this date John Franklin and his crew set sail from England on the beginning of their Northwest Passage expedition during which they would chart the area. His ships ("Erebus" and "Terror") were state-of-the-art and included three years of canned food and a water distillation system. The boats ended up getting trapped in ice in present-day Nunavut, and it is thought that many of the crew died from lead poisoning.
