The History of Canada goes back to thousands of years. The original inhabitants or natives of Canada were living in different parts of the country. They had a rich culture and their main occupation was fishing, hunting and farming. Some of the natives were the Haidas in the west coast and Huron farmers in south Ontario. During the period of colonization which was a turning point in the History of Canada, the natives had a powerful role as middlemen. But during the 19th century they lost this key role and were dependent on the central government. The government at Ottawa guaranteed support to the natives through a series of treaties signed in the late 18th and 19th century.
The word Canada derives from the Huron-Iroquoian 'kanata' which means a village or settlement. The first Europeans to establish a settlement in Canada were the French in the St.Lawrence Valley. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain established the first European permanent settlement at Port Royal in 1605 and later another one in Quebec City in 1608. In 1610 the British established fishing outposts in Newfoundland. By 1760 the French were defeated and the British controlled a major part of Canada.
Another important feature in the History of Canada is the division of the former Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada. This was created through the Constitution Act of 1791. These two provinces were joined together in 1840 to form the Province of Canada. Upper Canada is the precursor to the modern province of Ontario while Lower Canada is the pre cursor to modern Quebec Province. Slowly this led to the Confederation by binding the English colonies together and was a major milestone in the History of Canada. The Act of Confederation was passed in 1867 and created modern Canada which consisted of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Slowly in the early 1870's, the Hudson's Bay Company relinquished its right of the western interior lands which became part of the Canada. This led to the creation of the provinces of Manitoba in 1870 and Saskatchewan in 1905. The province of British Columbia joined the new nation in 1871. United Kingdom transferred its jurisdiction over the land to Ottawa in the 1880's. In 1949 Newfoundland voted to join Canada and so union of all the colonies were complete and Canada became the third largest country in the world.
Canada soon became a highly industrialized nation with development of hydroelectric power, forest and mineral resources and agriculture. It gained complete political autonomy when in 1931 the Statute of Westminster was dissolved and ended subordination to the imperial parliament in London. Modern Canada is now a multi ethnic community due to its large scale immigration.
For further reference on History of Canada, kindly check travel.mapsofworld.com.
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