Chapter 5: Life in British North America (BNA)
Terms:
1. Colony – a territory of the “home” country in another part
of the world
2. Rural – living on farms or in other places outside towns and
cities
3. Urban – living cities or towns
4. Census – the government counts the people and gathers
other information such as their type of work, where they live
and what their heritage is
5. Elite - upper class people with more political, social &
economic power
6. Immigrant – a person who comes to live in a country that is
not his or her original home
7. Prejudice – a dislike or distrust of a person or group based
on biased ideas or information
8. Discrimination – unfair treatment based on prejudice
9. Habitants – farmers who lived in rural areas
10. Racism – a prejudice based on a person’s heritage or skin
color
11. Title – legal record that land belonged to a particular
person
Pg. 76
(BNA)
Life in British North America
~ Introduction
- use various sources to learn about life in
BNA in 1800’s
- England owned land that is Canada today
- political boundaries changed several times
- Nfld. – only place with a French shore
- Rupert’s Land stretched from Canada’s
Quebec to BC
- BC was called New Caledonia in BNA
- only area west of Province of Canada in
BNA that was populated was Vancouver’s
Island
Pg. 77
~ Facts and Figures
- Politics
colonies: territory owned by, but not
attached to, the mother country
Vancouver’s Island, NS NB, PEI, Nfld,
Province of Canada were British Colonies
Rupert’s Land, NWT, New Caledonia
were controlled by British fur trading
company (HBC)
no First Nations land was to be taken over
without agreement
all important decisions about the colonies
were made by Great Britain
French shore is the area covered by a
treaty that was in place from 1783-1904
Pg. 78
~ Population
- 1851 ~ pop 2, 536, 000
- 2003 ~ pop 31, 000, 000
- Montreal was largest city in BNA (58, 000)
- 85% rural by mid 1800’s –mostly farming
- Most of population lived in East BNA
- Europeans=majority/First Nation & Inuit =
minority (in colonies)
- First Nations=majority in territories
-
The British and the Irish (Pg. 82-83)
Loyalists
- The Elite of BNA
- British people who were loyal to the British crown
during the American Revolution
- Rewarded by British crown with
o Land
o Social position
o Business opportunities
o Gov’t jobs
o Money
Religion
- British (mostly Protestants)
- Irish (mostly Roman Catholics)
~ British & Scottish immigrants had advantages when settling
in BNA
~ Irish & others (Russians, Germans, Spanish, Polish)
immigrants had disadvantages when settling
- discrimination
- unfamiliar with controlling gov’t laws / methods
- unfamiliar language
People of French Heritage (Pg. 84-85)
~ French of Canada East
- 1763 Great Britain took control of BNA
- Moved /stayed within an area with other French
(modern Quebec)
- British allowed some privilege
o Own language
o Customs
o Laws
o Religion
~ Acadians
- Strong communities based on farming & fishing
culture
- 1600-1700 had strong settlements
- Expulsion (8,000-10,000)
- Mid 1800’s Acadian communities becoming strong
- Dyke building specialists
- Strong Roman Catholic faith
Aboriginal Peoples (pg. 86-87)
~ Loss of Land
- 2 beliefs systems resulted in Aboriginal Peoples losing
the use of land when British took ownership of it
o British – believed people could own land
o Aboriginal – believed people could not own land
- caused Aboriginals to lose hunting grounds & fishing
areas
- British Loyalists were given land that was needed by
Aboriginals for survival
- left with small areas of bad land
~ Drop in population
- unfamiliar diseases ( eg. Tuberculosis, chicken pox)
caused approx. 400,000 deaths
- starvation because of lack of hunting grounds, fishing
areas, & farm land
- residential schools – loss of generations of families
~ The Métis: Finding Their Place
- Red River Settlement (currently southern Manitoba)
was/is largest Métis settlement in BNA
- Honoured French/English & Aboriginal cultures in
their backgrounds
- Became a unique culture as a result of being
discriminated against by French and Aboriginal
- Most employment was involved in fur trade
o Fur traders
o Supplied food to traders
o Transported goods (by canoe, wagon, foot)
- Discrimination resulted in never being promoted
Black Colonists (Pg. 88-89)
~ Black Loyalists
- Received smaller chunks of land & had problems
getting land titles
- Set up strong communities supplying their own
medical, religious and educational needs
~ Slavery Outlawed in BNA
- 30, 000 black immigrants came 1840-1860 to escape
slavery in US
- Most settled in Canada West (now Ontario) and NS
- Some settled in NB, Rupert’s Land, Vancouver Island
0
