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