The whole process of historical development in Canada is about the countrys striving to recognize and preserve its historical values and to establish its clear political, economic, and social position in the world. The period between 1783 and 1867 was the period of multiple rapid changes which left their traces to influence the subsequent growth in Canada over the 19th and the 20th centuries. Loyalists, the fur trade, the division of Quebec, the merger of the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company, as well as the war between Canada and America and Quebec Conference altogether predetermined the direction of Canadas transformation into one of the largest and the most successful states in the world. All those events actually created the general picture of slow but steady historical evolution in Canada which could be briefly called the process of redefining the historical consciousness in Canada in the 18-19th centuries.
The discussion of Canadas history between 1783 and 1867 would be incomplete without evaluating the contribution which Loyalists made to the development of Canada in its present form. Everything began with Pontiacs uprising, which confirmed that neither colonists nor their leaders could control their territories (Lecture Notes, 2009). In 1763, Royal Proclamation laid the foundation for negotiating territories with aboriginal peoples, while Quebec Act 1774 sought to strengthen traditional elites and to reinforce the meaning of Royal Proclamation of 1763 (Lecture Notes, 2009). However, the Thirteen Colonies continued to be a topic of hot political and territorial debate the debate which was partially responsible for the outbreak of the Revolution in America in 1776 and which also led Loyalists to flee to Canada seeking refuge. Highly disorganized, without any administrative structures, and socially unstable, loyalists nevertheless laid the foundation for the major administrative reorganization in Canada, which first divided Nova Scotia, and later Quebec. Constitutional Act (1791) was passed to satisfy the urgent social and political needs of Loyalists and to retain French culture in Lower Canada (Lecture Notes, 2009). In this sense, Loyalists predetermined the fate of the Lower Canada as the center of the French politics among the British American colonial states, while the discovery of northwestern Canada by William Lyon Mackenzie that followed added to the process of redefinition in the Canadian cultural and political mentality, which gradually brought the country to its current position.
The process of Canadas redefinition is difficult to separate from the fur trade which dominated national politics, economy, trade, social, and cultural thinking, which gave birth to numerous mixed populations including the Mtis, which was responsible for the founding of Red River Settlement, and which was the critical element of Canadas development between 1783 and up to the 1821 when the merger between the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company took place (Lecture Notes, 2009). Given the impact, which the fur trade produced on all aspects of Canadian life, such merger, on the one hand, set the stage for peace and stability in the Canadian provinces and, on the other hand, reinforced the effects of other peace-making attempts between Canada and America. Although the new fur trade monopoly resulted in the growing racist tensions, and although Natives under the new monopoly threw into resource overexploitation, the North lured European explorers and the relevance of scientific research together with the gold rush (1858) added to the process of social and cultural redefinition in Canada and created a new vision of Canada as of a multicultural state.
How strong Canada could have been in its striving to redefine its status from within, it could not escape the influence of external political changes, especially of those coming from Europe, and neither Parti Canadien nor Joseph Howes political leadership and Responsible Government in 1848 could minimize them (Lecture Notes, 2009). The war of 1812 between the United States and Britain led hundreds of Canadians and Aboriginal people to protect the territories which at that times belonged to the British. The reciprocity treaty of 1854 opened the way to establishing closer trade relationships with America. The growing revolutionary changes and the political tensions in France showed the true order of things in Canada and led Canadian populations to realize the pressure of the British imperial rule. The unification of Canadian provinces seemed the best decision the British Crown could take, but because of the conflict between French and British immigrants such unification was gradually losing its sense. To avoid further conflicts, and to make sure that both English- and French-speaking populations in Canada had their rights and responsibilities, the new Confederation (1867) under the rule of the British Crown was created, and the Dominion of Canada came to exist as the culminating point in the process of Canadas historical and political redefinition.
Everything that happened in Canada between 1783 and 1867 could be briefly called as the process of redefining Canadas social, political, economic, and cultural position. Beginning with the arrival of Loyalists to the Canadian provinces, through the division of Quebec, the merger of the Hudson Bay and the North West Companies, the new frontier between America and Canada, and up to the creation of the new Dominion of Canada, the Canadian state steadily moved to its new social and political position. All events that were discussed in this paper actually created a general picture of slow but steady movement of Canada to its current, stable, and prominent position in the world.
The discussion of Canadas history between 1783 and 1867 would be incomplete without evaluating the contribution which Loyalists made to the development of Canada in its present form. Everything began with Pontiacs uprising, which confirmed that neither colonists nor their leaders could control their territories (Lecture Notes, 2009). In 1763, Royal Proclamation laid the foundation for negotiating territories with aboriginal peoples, while Quebec Act 1774 sought to strengthen traditional elites and to reinforce the meaning of Royal Proclamation of 1763 (Lecture Notes, 2009). However, the Thirteen Colonies continued to be a topic of hot political and territorial debate the debate which was partially responsible for the outbreak of the Revolution in America in 1776 and which also led Loyalists to flee to Canada seeking refuge. Highly disorganized, without any administrative structures, and socially unstable, loyalists nevertheless laid the foundation for the major administrative reorganization in Canada, which first divided Nova Scotia, and later Quebec. Constitutional Act (1791) was passed to satisfy the urgent social and political needs of Loyalists and to retain French culture in Lower Canada (Lecture Notes, 2009). In this sense, Loyalists predetermined the fate of the Lower Canada as the center of the French politics among the British American colonial states, while the discovery of northwestern Canada by William Lyon Mackenzie that followed added to the process of redefinition in the Canadian cultural and political mentality, which gradually brought the country to its current position.
The process of Canadas redefinition is difficult to separate from the fur trade which dominated national politics, economy, trade, social, and cultural thinking, which gave birth to numerous mixed populations including the Mtis, which was responsible for the founding of Red River Settlement, and which was the critical element of Canadas development between 1783 and up to the 1821 when the merger between the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company took place (Lecture Notes, 2009). Given the impact, which the fur trade produced on all aspects of Canadian life, such merger, on the one hand, set the stage for peace and stability in the Canadian provinces and, on the other hand, reinforced the effects of other peace-making attempts between Canada and America. Although the new fur trade monopoly resulted in the growing racist tensions, and although Natives under the new monopoly threw into resource overexploitation, the North lured European explorers and the relevance of scientific research together with the gold rush (1858) added to the process of social and cultural redefinition in Canada and created a new vision of Canada as of a multicultural state.
How strong Canada could have been in its striving to redefine its status from within, it could not escape the influence of external political changes, especially of those coming from Europe, and neither Parti Canadien nor Joseph Howes political leadership and Responsible Government in 1848 could minimize them (Lecture Notes, 2009). The war of 1812 between the United States and Britain led hundreds of Canadians and Aboriginal people to protect the territories which at that times belonged to the British. The reciprocity treaty of 1854 opened the way to establishing closer trade relationships with America. The growing revolutionary changes and the political tensions in France showed the true order of things in Canada and led Canadian populations to realize the pressure of the British imperial rule. The unification of Canadian provinces seemed the best decision the British Crown could take, but because of the conflict between French and British immigrants such unification was gradually losing its sense. To avoid further conflicts, and to make sure that both English- and French-speaking populations in Canada had their rights and responsibilities, the new Confederation (1867) under the rule of the British Crown was created, and the Dominion of Canada came to exist as the culminating point in the process of Canadas historical and political redefinition.
Everything that happened in Canada between 1783 and 1867 could be briefly called as the process of redefining Canadas social, political, economic, and cultural position. Beginning with the arrival of Loyalists to the Canadian provinces, through the division of Quebec, the merger of the Hudson Bay and the North West Companies, the new frontier between America and Canada, and up to the creation of the new Dominion of Canada, the Canadian state steadily moved to its new social and political position. All events that were discussed in this paper actually created a general picture of slow but steady movement of Canada to its current, stable, and prominent position in the world.
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