Early European Settlement
In Atlantic Canada
The settling of Atlantic Canada
Acadia: Key Questions
Players in a Game
 Who were the major players in the early settlement of
Atlantic Canada?
 Why did they choose to settle in Atlantic Canada?
 Where were these first settlements?
 What was life like for these early settlers?
 What happened to Acadia and the Acadians?
 What influences did/do the Acadians have on the culture
of Atlantic Canada now?
Important Terms
 Acadia
 St. Croix Island
 Port Royal
 The Expulsion
 l’Ordre de Bon Temps
Key Players
 Samuel de Champlain
 Pierre Dugua
 Chief Membertou
 Charles Lawrence
 Evangeline
Historical Background
 In the 1600’s the world had three major naval and
economic powers: The English, the French, and
the Dutch.
 At the time, colonization was very important to
these powers.
 The chance to discover new lands and new trade
partners drove these powers to explore the world
in search of unclaimed lands, and faster shipping
routes to the East (China and India)
They came looking for:
Furs, Land, Riches, and
Spices
Two Major Powers
The two most
important
players in the
race for global
dominance
were France
and England
Both had
already began
exploring the
shores of
North America
decades before.
o The flag of England of the time, showing St.
Georges Cross, is not commonly used today.
o The Flag of France, has been unchanged for
many years.
Colonization
 Types of colonialism
 Historians often distinguish between two
forms of colonialism, mainly based on the
number of people from the colonizing
country who settle in the colony, and the
purpose of settling the area. The two types
are:
 Settler colonization
 Exploitation colonization
.
Definitions
of Colonization
 Settler colonization - involves a large number of
colonists, typically seeking fertile land to farm.
 Exploitation colonization - involves fewer colonists,
typically interested in extracting resources to export to
the major centers. This category includes trading posts,
but it applies more to the much larger colonies where
the colonists would provide much of the administration
and own much of the land and other capital, but rely on
indigenous people for labour.
First at bat - France
The French were the
first European people
to attempt to create a
permanent
settlement in the area
now known as
Canada.*
Well, the Vikings too!
March 7, 1604 – Set Sail
 From France, it would take roughly 6-8 weeks to
cross the Atlantic Ocean in the 1600’s.
 Not only was the trip long, there was no where to
go. Up to this point there had been no Europeans
who had permanently settled Atlantic Canada, so
there were many unknowns.
 The ship carried only men and supplies needed for
the trip.
Read the handout given to you to find out what life was like when
crossing the Atlantic onboard a ship in the 1600’s.
Questions
 Give at least 5 reasons that you can find in this reading that
would make the voyage unpleasant.
 What is hard tack?
 What do you think that scurvy is caused by? (hint: think about
their diets)
 Why are many of the rules punishable by lashings and loss of
rations? What purpose do these punishments serve?
The North Atlantic Ocean
Plot the voyage of the 1604 trip taken by Samuel de Champlain and Pierre
Dugua.
(1)Begin in France,(2) cross the North Atlantic Ocean, and follow the
Maritime coastline until you come to a (3)stop at St. Croix Island
So why here? Why did they sail thousands of kilometers to
settle on this lump of rock, sand, and grass?
What features of St. Croix Island attracted the first French
settlers?
In March of 1604 a French
ship set sail for the
Americas. Aboard were
many young men looking for
adventure, riches, or simply
work as sailors.
Among the men was a
wealthy French investor and
business man named Pierre
Dugua, and an ambitious
explorer by the name of
Samuel de Champlain.
Pierre du Gua, also known as Sieur du Monts, who was a
member of the expedition which settled on Saint-Croix Island
in 1604.
The voyage was originally sent to find places for settlement
and set up trading posts along the St. Lawrence River, but
Dugua changed his mind. Instead he decided to go south.
He sailed down and around the coast of
Nova Scotia, where he found groups of
people trading furs and other goods. He
captured some smaller vessels along the
shores and seized all the goods aboard.
He did this because he had been granted a
monopoly over the fur trade for the area by
the King of France, which entitled him to
control over all the fur and related trading
goods coming from the area.
Dugua sailed around the tip of Nova Scotia, and
followed the coast north into the Bay of Fundy.
The explorers investigated the small harbors and
inlets they discovered, and mapped each.
One spot along the Bay caught the explorers
attention in particular, and Champlain asked
Dugua to name it Port Royal. Dugua agreed.
But, Dugua wasn’t satisfied with the site for his
settlement, so the explorers kept searching,
moving north and then west along the coast
finally finding the mouth of a river which seemed
suitable to them for establishing a settlement.
What is a league?
Folk tales refer to a league as a specific distance,
but a league is actually an ancient measurement.
In medieval England it was simply the distance a
person or a horse could walk in one hour.
How far is a league in distance?
which is about three miles, or five kilometres, the
same distance as defined by the Romans.
The league is no longer an official unit of
measurement in any nation.
What is a pace?
A pace is about 30 inches long or 76 cm, which
is the length of an average step. To make sure
your paces are accurate, you need to count how
many paces it takes to walk 100 m.
What is a fathom?
A fathom is roughly 6 feet, or the distance
between the outstretched hands of a typical
sailor.
Why would the use of leagues, paces, and
fathoms be troublesome by today’s standards?
Read the handout from Champlain’s journals to
get an understanding of what it was that he saw
as he entered the mouth of the St. Croix River in
1604.
It was mid-summer when the explorers came to what would
be their winter habitation.
“The [island] might be eight or nine hundred paces in
circumference, raising on all sides in ledges of from three to
four fathoms, excepting at one small spot, where there is a
point of sand and clay from which could be utilized for
making bricks and other needful articles” Samuel de Champlain
Originally the island was
almost totally covered in
trees. These were cut and
used for construction and
fuel wood.
The first task was to set up
defenses to protect their future
settlement.
“we began to erect a barricade
on a small islet a little removed
from [the island], and this
served as a platform for
mounting our cannon…in a
very short time it was
put into a state of defense,
though the mosquitoes
(which are little flies) gave us
great annoyances.”
Next, they set
to work building
houses,
followed by a
storehouse,
bakeries, a
cookhouse, a
common
building,
blacksmith
shop, and
finally
gardens.
Along with many other things that would end up working
against the explorers, the soil was far from ideal for
planting crops. There was not enough space for fields,
and the ground was a mix of sand and clay, so growing
grains was difficult.
“Some gardens were made, both on the mainland and the
island itself, [where grain] came up very well, except on
the island, where the soil was nothing but sand in which
everything was scorched when the sun shone, although
great pains were taken to water the plants.” Voyages p.
279
As a result, many of their more successful crops were the
ones planted upriver on the mainland, and were only
accessible by boat.
After a miserable winter on St. Croix island the
explorers decided to pack up their things and
relocate. The decided to go to the site they had
discovered on their voyage to St. Croix Island the
year before. They would name the site Port Royal.
Upon arriving the explorers constructed their
new homes in nearly the same way they had
on St. Croix island.
Reflecting
Answer the following question in your notes with a star beside it.
What conditions at St. Croix Island made living
there difficult?
The second winter in Canada proved to be much less severe
than the first, making life much more tolerable than before.
Also, the soil was much easier to work than on St. Croix Island
and the crops grew well.
They faired much better
at Port Royal than they
did at St. Croix.
This is Champlain’s drawing
of Port Royal
Port Royal can still be visited today...
At Port Royal the explorers made sure they had a
well for easily accessing fresh water year round.
Close ties with the First Nations of the area were
established quickly, which meant they gained access
to meat, furs, and valuable advise about surviving the
harsh Canadian winters.
After the first full winter at Port Royal, the settlers
began to expand their gardens, clear some roads,
improve their buildings, and entertain themselves.
The most important First Nations leader the
newcomers would meet at Port Royal was Chief
Membertou. He was the head of a local Micmac
tribe which used the area as hunting and fishing
territories, as well as setting up seasonal
settlements.
Membertou welcomed the French to his territory.
In turn, he was trusted and treated as an equal by
the French, and with his help the French settlers
would find life in Canada much easier than before.
Even though the winters were easier to
survive than before, the settlers still faced
many difficulties. Scurvy would claim
more men during the second winter.
Also, there was a lack of social activities
and entertainment. Champlain realized
this and seized the opportunity to create a
very interesting means of making life at
Port Royal more interesting.
Champlain created what he called l’Ordre de Bon
Temps. Periodically, a different settler would be
required to host a dinner for the rest. This involved
making a feast and providing entertainment for the
evening.
The choice foods often included duck, goose, dear,
fish, moose, caribou, partridge, beaver, and much
more. Each settler attempted to prepare a unique
and interesting meal to impress his company.
In addition to the meals, entertainment such as music
and skits were preformed after dinner to continue the
festivities into the evening.
This accomplished two things: First, it required each
man to go out and gather food on a regular basis.
Second, it provided entertainment for the settlers who
often worked long hard days in the fields or woods.
Chief Membertou was often invited to these feasts to
sit amongst the settlers as a friend. The relationship
between the First Nations and the French of Atlantic
Canada would remain an important part of the cultural
make-up of region.
Over the next 20-30 years settlement slowed in Acadia and the
population remained relatively small. Settlements were
established along the Minas Basin at Grand Pre, Windsor,
Annapolis Royal, Truro, on Cape Breton Island at Louisbourg
and Canso, and around the South Shore of Nova Scotia at
LaHave and near Yarmouth.
*On a separate piece of paper, write a heading “Acadian Settlements”
write the place names seen here under this heading.
Along the New Brunswick coast line trading forts were
established at Saint John, Sackville, Miramichi, and along the
North Shore at Bathurst. Forts were also established at
Jemseg and Fredericton.
Eventually the population of Acadia began to grow, and the
people began to convert larger areas of land into fertile
agricultural lands.
Life for the Acadians never seemed dull despite the relatively
simple lifestyles of the small farming communities.
Between 1639 – 1713 Acadia would endure a civil war, as well
as find itself a part of a much larger battle between the British
and French in a struggle for new lands.
Between 1639-1653 three men (Denys, La Tour, and d’Aulnay)
fought for control of Acadia. They burned each others forts
and killed each others soldiers until finally La Tour emerged as
the ‘winner.’
Then, in 1690 the British began periodically attacking Acadian
settlements. They would make several voyages up the
American coastline to attack the French forts, burn the
villages, and destroy crops. Thus beginning a long series of
battles for control of Acadia.
An account from the book Two Beginnings describes
one of the battles that would be fought (page 21)
After the fort at Port Royal fell to the British in 1704 the
Acadians started to spread out to even more areas in the
Maritimes. There were several reasons for this, including
access to new agricultural land and population growth. Most
importantly was that the British took control of most of Acadia
from the French in 1713 as a result of the French loosing a
war. As a result of this, France singed over much of their
territory in Acadia in what is called the Treaty of Utrecht.
Again, the Acadians began to move across the Maritime
Provinces to settle as the British took control of their lands and
began to build their own settlements and forts. One of the new
French settlements was Beaubassin, between what is now
Sackville (NB) and Amherst (NS). Here they established a
large community and built a fort for protection.
Other settlements included Tracadie, Shediac, and Port La
Joie (Charlottetown).
When the British took over control of Acadia, they moved the
capital from Annapolis Royal (Port Royal) to Halifax.
The Acadian people had to make a decision about how they
would choose to live their lives in the new British lands.
They had to choose to either leave their homeland with
everything they had, or stay and swear allegiance to become
British subjects. The British wanted the Acadians to swear
allegiance to the Crown of England. Many Acadians refused
and wanted to exclude themselves from any part in the
French-English conflict. They did not want to take up arms
against their native France and preferred to live peacefully on
their farms. They were neutral. The British feared this
neutrality.
Many Acadians chose to leave their homes and move
to Cape Breton, New Brunswick, and PEI. On Cape
Breton Island they built a large fort, Louisbourg.
Others moved to new settlements and were largely
left alone to live peaceful lives for the next 40 years of
so.
The Acadians were later offered a second chance to
pledge allegiance to the British. Many refused unless
they were promised not to have to fight with the
British army. These conditions were not acceptable
according to the British.
Ultimately the Acadians wanted to remain neutral.
They no longer felt connected to the French who had
virtually abandoned them. The Acadians could not
imagine joining forces with the British, a group who
had forced them from their homeland repeatedly for
the past several decades.
By the 1750’s the British had had enough of the
Acadians refusing to swear their allegiance, and the
order to remove the Acadians was issued. What
followed was a major turning point in Acadian, and
later Canadian history, and is known as the
Expulsion.