THE IMMIGRANTS

CHAPTER 2

THE IMMIGRANTS

In fourteen hundredand ninety two

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

Christopher Columbus wasnot the first European todiscover the Americas

THE IMMIGRANTS

Vikings arrived in the new world 500 years before Columbus

Recent evidence supports this theory

Eric the Red was banished from Iceland under the suspicion that he murdered a member of the community

Eric, his family members and friends traveled to Greenland

THE IMMIGRANTS

Lacking trees on Greenland, Eric sent his son, Leif Ericsson, to find a source of timber

The expedition landed on the north shore of Newfoundland. A settlement was established at L’Ans aux Meadow, NF

Here the Vikings traveled back and forth carrying timber

THE IMMIGRANTS

THE IMMIGRANTS

The Vikings encountered the Beothuk. Although relations were not friendly, the Viking settlement lasted about 20 years

Eventually the Beothuk destroyed the Vikings

THE IMMIGRANTS

The Basques were also in North America before Columbus. About 1350 AD

The Basques are fishermen from Northern Spain who can to North America to fish the Grand Banks

Demand for fish in Europe increased because of religious traditions. The Basques were providing for this demand

THE IMMIGRANTS

THE IMMIGRANTS

Seasonal settlements were established on the southern shore of Newfoundland but nothing permanent

Limited trade was established with the local peopleThe Basques kept their fishing grounds secret and therefore did

not publicize their knowledge of the new world

THE IMMIGRANTS

The Age of Absolutism created political stability in EuropePower was centralized under a King or Queen and the nation-

state emergedOnce a country was stabilized, exploration could be justifiedPortugal was the first to settle their internal problems

THE IMMIGRANTS

Oriental goods were arriving in Europe over-land from the far east

Goods arrived in the eastern Mediterranean and were then shipped into the interior of Europe

With each transfer, these Asian commodities became more and more expensive

A direct sea route was needed to control prices

THE IMMIGRANTS

In 1488, Bartholomew Diazsailed south around the Cape of Africa to the Orient

The Portuguese began to import goods from the Far East with middlemen

THE IMMIGRANTS

Portugal became very wealthy and the balance of power in Europe changed dramatically

Spain was the next to unify its states under one central authorityThe Spanish Christians defeated the Spanish Muslims in 1480’s The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

consolidated power under the King and Queen

THE IMMIGRANTS

Now, Spain can begin to look outwards to exploration and discovery

In 1492, the Italian discoverer, Christopher Columbus is hired to explore his theories of exploration

Columbus based his theories on the work of the ancient geographer Ptolemy

On October 12th, 1492, Columbus is allowed to prove his theory that one can circumnavigate the globe by sailing over the horizon (knowledge that the Greeks and Romans possessed a thousand years earlier)

THE IMMIGRANTS

The real goal for Spain was to find the passage to India therefore Columbus did not expect the massive land mass (North America) to end his westward progress

Columbus claims the entire New World for SpainColumbus landed in the Caribbean thinking he has found India

THE IMMIGRANTS

He names the islands the West Indies to commemorate his discovery. He calls the people Indians

Spain becomes wealthy through the discovery of gold as native possessions are pillaged and slave labor is used in mining the precious ore

THE IMMIGRANTS

Columbus' voyage fueled the rivalry between Spain and Portugal

King John II of Portugal rejected Spanish claims to the Caribbean islands

Each country disputed the rights of the other to explore the new lands

Portuguese explorer, Pedro Cabral, headed south to Africa was blown off course and landed in present-day Brazil

THE IMMIGRANTS

Cabral claimed this territory for the Portugal, angering SpainThe Pope was sought to negotiated a settlementSpain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesilles in 1494The treaty drew a Line of Demarcation that ran north-south for

about 1100 miles west of the AzoresThe treaty gave all newly discovered lands west of the line to

Spain (Caribbean, Mexico, USA, Canada, South America)

THE IMMIGRANTS

Portugal received the right to colonize and trade with any lands east of the line (Africa, Brazil)

The treaty gave Spain the right to claim most of north and south America

A small portion of Brazil is east of the Demarcation Line, Spain tolerated the Portuguese presence in the New World

THE IMMIGRANTS

THE IMMIGRANTS

THE FRENCHFrance is the next European power to participate in the Age of

DiscoveryJacques Cartier explores the north

east (present day Maine to Newfoundland) far away from Spanish territorial claims

THE IMMIGRANTS

Cartier is looking for a sea route to Asia and wealthHe find neither and France abandons its exploration for 75 yearsThe French will eventually establish a naval base at Port Royal

and 1604 and the settlement of Quebec in 1608New France is established

THE IMMIGRANTS

The early development of New France was engineered by the merchants (fur traders) and the missionaries

The colony of New France always had a difficult time to attract settlers despite their various efforts

The fur trade did not create jobs, the colony was isolated, the incentive called “indentured labor” failed and the climate was too severe

THE IMMIGRANTS

The colony grew from within rather than relying on immigrationBy 1760, 10 000 immigrants came to New France but the

population grew to 65 000 due to a high birth rateNew France grew in size to cover much of eastern and central

Canada, south along the Mississippi River valley

THE IMMIGRANTS

THE IMMIGRANTS

New France was lost to Britain following the Seven Years War. This territory was called British North America BNA

THE LOYALISTSFollowing the American Revolution 1776 - 1783, people that

did not support the Revolution were labeled Loyalists and forced out of the newly formed United States of America

These Loyalists traveled north to British North America (Ontario, Canada) rather than return to England

THE IMMIGRANTS

The Loyalists were a hardy group bringing their farming skills with them

They also embedded in British North America a staunch anti-American sentiment

The Loyalists were welcomed by the British government to offset the remnants of the French colonists

THE IMMIGRANTS

British policy favored the Loyalists and the assimilation of the French population was also encouraged

THE GREAT MIGRATIONMore people of British background will arrive in BNA during the

Great Migration 1815 – 1850Irish Potato Famine, Scottish ClearanceThis immigration wave will firmly establish our British roots

THE IMMIGRANTS

PEOPLE FROM MANY LANDS

(SIFTON MIGRATION)During the period 1880 – 1914, 3 million people came to

Canada from many different landsFree land was offered as a way to attract people to the

Canadian westSettlement of the west was important to building the new nation

of Canada

THE IMMIGRANTS

Ukrainians were eager to leave a miserable life in Europe and begin anew in western Canada

Ukrainians were actively recruited – 500 000 eventually relocated to the Canadian prairies

Railway construction attracted oriental immigration as cheap labor

Cities began to grow as immigration increased

THE IMMIGRANTS

Twentieth century immigration saw a decline in European immigration and an increase from the East

Anti-immigration feelings ran high among Canadians especially directed toward the orientals

War created “enemy aliens”Immigration created Canada’s MultiCultural identity

British 2 548 514 3 063 195 3 999 081 4 868 738French 1 298 929 1 649 371 2 061 719 2 452 743Dutch 30 412 33 845 55 961

117 505German 254 319 310 501 403 417 294

635Italian 1 849 10 834 45 963

66 769Jewish 667 16 131 76 199 126

196PolishRussianScandinavianUkrainian

1881 1901 1911 1921