Nova Scotia is one of Canada's Maritime provinces and is located in Mi'kma'ki, the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaq. The first European settlement in Nova Scotia was the French colonial outpost founded in 1610 at Port Royal, and for 150 years area, then known as Acadia, was primarily inhabited by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht formally recognized British sovereignty over what is now mainland Nova Scotia. In 1749, the capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax. [1]. With the Treaty of Paris of 1763 most of Acadia became part of Nova Scotia.[2]. In 1784, after the arrival of United Empire Loyalists, New Brunswick (formerly Sunbury County) and Cape Breton Island were created as separate colonies.[3], though with re-annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia the current boundaries of Nova Scotia became final. [4]

The period from 1710 to 1761 involved six wars in which the Mi'kmaq along with the French and some Acadians resisted the British settling the region (see the four French and Indian Wars, Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War). The warfare ended with the Burying the Hatchet Ceremony (Nova Scotia) (1761). After the colonial wars, New England Planters and Foreign Protestants settled Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, the colony was settled by Loyalists. During the nineteenth century, Nova Scotia became self-governing in 1848 and joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867.

On July 1, 1867, Nova Scotia joined the Canada, and New Brunswick as founding provinces of the Dominion of Canada.[5][6]

Early History

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The glaciers began their retreat from in the Maritimes approximately 13,500 years ago, [7] with final deglaciation, post-glacial rebound, and sea level fluctuation ending and leaving the New England-Maritimes region virtually ice free 11,000 years ago. [8][9]. The earliest evidence of Palaeo-Indian settlement in the region follows rapidly after deglaciation. Evidence of settlement found in the Debert Palaeo-Indian Site dates to 10,600 before present, though settlement seems likely to have occurred earlier,[10]following large game animals such as the caribou as they expanded into the land revealed by the retreating glaciers. The record of continuous habitation through the paleo and archaic period over ten thousand years culminated in the development of the culture, traditions, and language now known as the Mi’kmaq.[11]

Mi'kmaq

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For several thousand years the territory of the province has been a part of the territory of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki. Mi'kma'ki includes what is now the Maritimes, parts of Maine, Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula. The Mi'kmaq lived in an annual cycle of seasonal movement between living in dispersed interior winter camps and larger coastal communities during the summer. The climate was unfavourable for agriculture, and small semi-nomadic bands of a few patrilineally related families subsisted on fishing and hunting. [12]

The Mi'kmaq were governed the Santé Mawiómi (Grand Council), lead by the Kji-saqmaw (Grand council leader) and composed of the seven Nikanus (District Chiefs), Kji-Leptin (Grand Captain, or war chief) as well a Putús (recorder/secretery). [13] Mi'kma'ki was divided into seven largely sovereign districts, each governed by a Nikanus and council of Sagamaw (local band chiefs), Elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council enacting lawed, ensured justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, made war and sued for peace. Local bands were lead by a Sagamaw and council of Elders and consisted of several extended family units. [14]

The Mi'kmaq people inhabited region at the time the first European colonists arrived.[15] Mi'kmaq territory was the first portion of North America that Europeans exploited at length for resource extraction. Early European fishermen salted their catch at sea and sailed directly home with it. But they set up camps ashore as early as 1520 for dry-curing cod. During the second half of the century, dry curing became the preferred preservation method.[16] The local Mi'kmaq peoples began trading with European fishermen when the fishermen began landing in their territories as early as the 1520s. In about 1521–22, the Portuguese under João Álvares Fagundes established a fishing colony on the island. Though it's fate is unknownit is mentioned as late as 1570.[17] . By 1578 some 350 European ships were operating around the Saint Lawrence estuary. Most were independent fishermen, but increasing numbers were exploring the fur trade.[18]

On June 24, 1610, Grand Chief Membertou converted to Catholicism and was baptised. A Concordat, or treaty, was signed between the Grand Council and the Pope protecting French settlers and priests and affirmed the right of Mi'kmaq to choose either Catholicism or Mi'kmaq tradition. In signing the Concordat the Catholic church affirmed Mi’kmaq sovereignty as a Catholic nation.[19][20]

French Colonization & Acadia

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In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada (and the first north of Florida) at Port Royal, founding what would become known as Acadia.[21][22] The French, led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts established the first capital for the colony Acadia at Port Royal. Acadia (French: Acadie) was located in the northeastern region of North America comprising what is now the Canadian Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, Gaspé, in Quebec, and to the Kennebec River in southern Maine.

The transition from trading to colonization was slow to shift from being primarily a matter of explorers and traders, of men, to a colony of permanent settlers, with the ships beginning to arrive in 1632 that included women and children. [23] The survival of the Acadian settlements was based on successful cooperation with the Indigenous peoples of the region. [24] [25] In 1654 Acadia was first conquered by English forces out of Boston, occupying the colony the Treaty of Breda, signed 31 July 1667, returned Acadia to France. In 1674, the Dutch briefly conquered Acadia, renaming the colony New Holland.[26] During the last decades of the seventeenth century, Acadians migrated from the capital, Port Royal, and established what would become the other major Acadian settlements:Grand Pré, Chignecto, Cobequid and Pisiguit.

During the Acadian period the British made six attempts to conquer the colony by defeating the capital, ending with the defeat of the French in the Siege of Port Royal (1710). Over the following fifty years, the French and their allies made six unsuccessful military attempts to regain the capital. [27]

First Nations, French, and British Conflict

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The first British conquest of Acadia took place in 1710. The capture of Port Royal marked the end of French rule in peninsular Acadia, and inaugurated a struggle for control of the territory that lasted until the British conquests of the Seven Years' War.[28] The British took formal possession of Port Royal following a ceremony on 16 October 1710, in which they renamed the place Annapolis Royal in honour of their queen. Samuel Vetch was inaugurated as the new governor of Nova Scotia.[29] Massachusetts and New Hampshire proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving.[30] Acadia's border was not formally demarcated by the Treaty of Utrecht, which became a cause of ongoing friction between the British and French, especially on the Isthmus of Chignecto, which both sides eventually fortified. [31] The informal boundary between the British and French in the dispute (the Missaguash River)[32] later became the border between the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.[33]

The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht formally recognized British sovereignty over what is now mainland Nova Scotia, while returning Île Royale and present-day New Brunswick to French control and recognizing French control of Île Saint-Jean.[34]Between 1725 and 1779 the Mí'kmaq signed a series of peace and friendship treaties with Great Britain. In 1725 the British signed a treaty (or "agreement") with the Mi'kmaq, but the rights of the Mi'kmaq defined in it to hunt and fish on their lands have often been disputed by the authorities.[35][36] Acadians were placed in a difficult position by the conquest. The British on numerous occasions demanded they take oaths to the British Crown, but many refused to take oaths requiring them to take arms against the French, preferring to proclaim their neutrality.[37]

In 1749, the capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax. [38] In 1755 the vast majority of the French population (the Acadians) were forcibly removed in the Expulsion of the Acadians.[39] In all, of the 14,100 Acadians in the region, approximately 11,500 Acadians were deported[40][41] (a census of 1764 indicates that 2,600 Acadians remained in the colony, presumably having eluded capture[42]). New England Planters arrived between 1759 and 1768 to replace them. [43]

British Colonization & Nova Scotia

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With the Treaty of Paris of 1763 most of Acadia, including Île-Royale(now Cape Breton Island), Île Saint-Jean (renamed St. John's Island and later Prince Edward Island), and mainland Acadia (now New Brunswick) became part of Nova Scotia.[44] St. John's Island was established as a separate colony on June 28, 1769 [45] In 1784, after the arrival of United Empire Loyalists, New Brunswick (formerly Sunbury County) and Cape Breton Island were created as separate colonies.[46] With the 1820 re-annexation of Cape Breton to Nova Scotia the current boundaries of Nova Scotia became final. [47]

On July 1, 1867, Nova Scotia joined the Canada, and New Brunswick as founding provinces of the Dominion of Canada.[48][49]


SHORT VERSION

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The end of glaciation began 13,500 years ago[50]and ended with the region becoming largely ice free 11,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of Palaeo-Indian settlement in the region follows rapidly after deglaciation.[51]

Several thousand years ago the territory of the province has became known a part of the territory of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki. Mi'kma'ki includes what is now the Maritimes, parts of Maine, Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula. The Mi'kmaq lived in an annual cycle of seasonal movement between living in dispersed interior winter camps and larger coastal communities during the summer, including many cites up and down the south shore of Nova Scotia. The town of Mahone Bay is located in the traditional Mi'kmaw district of Sipekni'katik.

In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada (and the first north of Florida) at Port Royal, founding what would become known as Acadia.[21][52] The survival of the Acadian settlements was based on successful cooperation with the Indigenous peoples of the region. [53] While an attempt was briefly made to found a French colony at LaHave, the effort failed [23] and no significant Acadian communities of more a few families existed on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia during British expansion into the area.[54]

  1. ^ Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2008; Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 7
  2. ^ "Wars and Battles: Treaty of Paris (1763)". www.u-s-history.com.
  3. ^ https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/node/4681
  4. ^ https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/node/4681
  5. ^ "Constitution Act, 1867". Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. March 29, 1867. p. s.9. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  6. ^ Martin, Ged (1995). Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837–67. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0774804875.
  7. ^ Stea, Robert (1998). "Deglaciation of Nova Scotia: Stratigraphy and chronology of lake sediment cores and buried organic sections" (PDF). erudit. Géographie physique et Quaternaire. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. ^ Lothrop, Jonathon. "Early Human Settlement of Northeastern North America". Taylor and Francis. Paleo America. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ^ Stea, Robert (1998). "Deglaciation of Nova Scotia: Stratigraphy and chronology of lake sediment cores and buried organic sections" (PDF). erudit. Géographie physique et Quaternaire. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  10. ^ Lothrop, Jonathon. "Early Human Settlement of Northeastern North America". Taylor and Francis. Paleo America. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  11. ^ "A Mi'kmaw History". Parks Canada. Parks canada. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  12. ^ Brasser, p.78
  13. ^ "Mikmaw Resource Guide" (PDF). http://www.mikmaweydebert.ca/. Tripartite Education Working Committee. Retrieved 30 March 2018. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  14. ^ McMillan, Leslie Jane. "Mi'kmmey Mawio'mi: Changing Roles of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council From the Early Seventeenth Century to the Present" (PDF). Library & Archives Canada. Dalhousie University. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  15. ^ Info Sheet – The Mi'kmaq Archived November 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Museum.gov.ns.ca. Retrieved on July 12, 2013.
  16. ^ Brasser, pp.79&80
  17. ^ de Souza, Francisco; Tratado das Ilhas Novas, 1570
  18. ^ Costain, Thomas B. (1954). The White and The Gold. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. p. 54.
  19. ^ Welcher, J. "Mi'kmaq Spirituality and the Concordat of 1610" (PDF). J Welcher. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Mi'kmaw Timeline". Cape Breton University. Cape Breton University. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  21. ^ a b Morton, Desmond (November 30, 1999). Canada: A Millennium Portrait. Dundurn. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4597-1085-6.
  22. ^ Nova Scotia Archives – An Acadian Parish Remembered. Gov.ns.ca (December 1, 2009). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  23. ^ a b Naomi Griffiths, From Migrant to Acadian: a North American border people, 1604-1755, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. p. 54-55
  24. ^ Buckner, P. and Reid J. (eds), The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History, Toronto University Press. 1994.
  25. ^ Griffiths, N.E.S. "From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604-1755" McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2005. p. 36.
  26. ^ Francis Champernowne: The Dutch Conquest of Acadie and Other Historical Papers, edited by Charles W. Tuttle and Albert H. Hoyt. ISBN 0-7884-1695-2.
  27. ^ Brenda Dunn. A History of Port Royal, Annapolis Royal: 1605-1800. Nimbus Publishing, 2004
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference P84 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Reid et al, pp. 11–12
  30. ^ Donald Chard. Canso, 1710–1721: Focal Point of New England-Cape Breton Rivalry. Nova Scotia Historical Society. 1975. p. 50.
  31. ^ W.J. Eccles, France in America, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd. p. 107
  32. ^ Fryer, p. 50
  33. ^ Ells, p. 8
  34. ^ Article XII
  35. ^ [1]
  36. ^ [2]
  37. ^ MacVicar, pp. 69–70
  38. ^ Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2008; Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 7
  39. ^ Plank, Geoffrey (2003). An Unsettled Conquest: The British Campaign Against the Peoples of Acadia. Early American Studies. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-8122-1869-5.
  40. ^ Plank, Geoffrey (2003). An Unsettled Conquest: The British Campaign Against the Peoples of Acadia. Early American Studies. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-8122-1869-5.
  41. ^ Stephen White calculated the number of Acadians in 1755 (See Stephen White. The True Number of Acadians. In Rene Gilles-LeBlanc. Du Grand Derangement a la Deportation. pp. 21–56
  42. ^ p. 82
  43. ^ Gwyn, Julian (2010). Planter Nova Scotia 1760-1815: Falmouth Township. Wolfville: Kings-Hants Heritage Connection. p. 17.
  44. ^ "Wars and Battles: Treaty of Paris (1763)". www.u-s-history.com.
  45. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/prince-edward-island/
  46. ^ https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/node/4681
  47. ^ https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/node/4681
  48. ^ "Constitution Act, 1867". Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. March 29, 1867. p. s.9. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  49. ^ Martin, Ged (1995). Britain and the Origins of Canadian Confederation, 1837–67. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0774804875.
  50. ^ Stea, Robert (1998). "Deglaciation of Nova Scotia: Stratigraphy and chronology of lake sediment cores and buried organic sections" (PDF). erudit. Géographie physique et Quaternaire. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  51. ^ Lothrop, Jonathon. "Early Human Settlement of Northeastern North America". Taylor and Francis. Paleo America. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  52. ^ Nova Scotia Archives – An Acadian Parish Remembered. Gov.ns.ca (December 1, 2009). Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  53. ^ Buckner, P. and Reid J. (eds), The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History, Toronto University Press. 1994.
  54. ^ New York Colonial Manuscripts, IX, p. 10