S&S Timeline

1535: Cartier's Second Voyage

S&S Timeline

1754-1758: The Early Years of The Seven Years War

1497: Discovery of Canada's Supply of Fish by John Cabot

1534: Jacques Cartier's First Voyage

Biography: Isaac Brock (1769-1812)

1813-1815: Part II of the War of 1812

Bibliography

Biography: John Cabot

1812-1813: Part I of the War of 1812

Louisburg

1603 & 1604: French Settlement at Ile St. Croix

1541: Cartier's Third Voyage

1775-1783: The American Revolution

The Loyalists

1608: Habitation at Quebec

September 1759: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham

1763: Chief Pontiac's Rebellion

1697: Treaty of Ryswick and French Takeover of Acadia

1605: Habitation at Port Royal

Biography: Samuel de Champlain (1574-1635)

Biography: James Wolfe (1727-1759)

Spring 1760: Battle of Ste. Foy

1774: The Quebec Act

1713: The Treaty of Utrecht and the British Takeover of Acadia and Newfoundland

The Transitional Period under Jean Talon (1665-1672)

(1450-1498?)

1672-1698: The Frontenac Era in New France

Part II: British North America (1763-1815)

1760-1763: The Treaties of Kahnawake and Paris and the Aftermath of the Seven Years War

1. "The American Revolution, " University of Ottawa. Last accessed 1 May 2014

http://www.slmc.uottawa.ca/?q=american_revolution

In 1603, Frenchman Pierre Du Gua de Monts received permission from the King of France to establish the first ever permanent settlement in New France, at Ile St. Croix. This was the first attempted settlement by the French in New France in nearly 70 years. De Monts became the first explorer to be given a monopoly over the fur trade in North America, which was becoming a lucrative way to make money because of the high demand for furs in Europe. He set out to Acadia, where he would establish his settlement on the island of Ile St. Croix in New Brunswick which was on the St. Croix river. Though the island seemed easy to defend in case of attacks from the First Nations peoples, it unfortunately lacked adequate supplies of firewood and water which effectively led to its failure. Of the 79 men who set out with De Monts, after a harsh winter of 1604 when many men from died scurvy only 44 remained in the spring. Without contact or help from the nearby Micmac or Passamaquoddy First Nations, in the summer of 1604 de Monts and his remaining 44 men set out to establish a new settlement with better supplies and clean water.

Although many records state that the war officially started in 1754, it was 1756 that Britain officially declared war on France in North America. Britain began to plan on how to defeat the French in North America included taking French forts in the Ohio Valley and capturing Louisburg. They were also planning to capture Quebec and Montreal in the later stages of the war if they had been successful in the first few years. In December of 1755, to many Canadiens dismay French commander Marquis de Montcalm was sent to command french troops in North America. Many Canadiens believed that it was time for a Canadian born commander of the French Army, but the king of France ignored their request. In August of 1756, Montcalm led his first major attack on the British fort on Lake Ontario, Fort Oswego. The 3000 French soldiers succeeded in their mission to capture Oswego thus creating a wave of French momentum. The French then took other English forts on Lake Ontario like Fort George and Fort Ontario by the end of 1756. But after just 2 more French victories in 1757 and 1758 (both near Lake Champlain) the tide began to turn in favor of the British as they sent around 15,000 soldiers to North America, a new record. The British then won fort after fort over the next 18 months of the war, including Fort Frontenac, Fort Levis and Fort Carillon. Now in the early months of 1759 having almost complete control of North America the English would launch attacks on the heart of New France.

2. "Louisburg, " Historica Canada. Last accessed 30 April 2014

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/louisbourg/

Heading into an extremely cold Canadian winter, the British knew they needed to delay the attacks and use the French to survive the harsh winter. Therefore they cooperated with the French yet still half their army was dead or too weak to stand guard by the spring. The new general of French forces Duke de Levis led a French army of 7000 to try to regain Quebec, this battle in the Spring of 1760 is now known as the Battle of Ste. Foy. Levis expected another 4000 to come from France as reinforcements but unexpectedly they never showed up. The British had more militia than France and prevailed in the battle. It meant that the British had achieved a decisive victory and now only needed to capture Montreal.

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the habitation on the St. Lawrence river that would be known as the city of Quebec. He founded it on the land that used to be the Iroquois settlement of Stadacona, but was abandoned possibly because of climate change sometime in the early 1600's. Many settlers including Champlain thought it would be an excellent site for the fur trade since it gave easy interior access to the St. Lawrence River. The site was also ideal for settlers who could reach Acadia by sailing down the Chaudiere River. However like many other settlements in North America at this time Quebec suffered from the extremely cold winters. Despite the problems of the winter, there were some very successful settlers like Louis Hebert and his wife Marie Rollet (the first woman in New France). By 1627, nearly 20 years after the beginning of the habitation of Quebec only 80 settlers inhabited the area of present day Quebec City. Cardinal Richelieu, an important and powerful official to the king of France attempted to grow the population of Quebec by giving the current settlers of Quebec a monopoly over the fur trade to increase migration there. However, it had little success compared to Jean Talon's "filles de roi" plan nearly 40 years later.

In 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick, Dutch Republic not only gave the French control of Acadia but it also marked the end of fighting on all of the North American continent between the British, French, Spanish and Dutch. The French also received Cape Breton Island and the rest of Nova Scotia. It was on the island of Cape Breton that the French decided to build the fortress of Louisburg (more on slide 17) and spend heavily in assuring the defense of the island was not broken (although it later was). Despite reclaiming much of their land they still was an ongoing dispute for the land between them, the agriculturally rich land of the Ohio Valley. As for the Acadian's who wanted the continue their lives normally and not be entangled in European conflict, they could most likely care less who is in control of their land but instead that they are able to remain in control of their land. This long term possibility of the Acadian's keeping their land seemed to get more and more unlikely because of the Britain's interest in the land because of its agricultural potential.

Louisburg was a fortified French town that took nearly 2 and a half decades to build and was strategically important to the French's interests in North America. Located on present day Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Louisburg was strategically important because it overlooked any British soldiers who could sail up the nearby St. Lawrence River and attack major settlements like Quebec & Montreal. When Britain heard of Louisburg's building, they found it would be an economic and strategical threat to the British. Because of this, they decided to build their own fortress in Nova Scotia, Halifax, in 1749 to balance the power in the Eastern Canada area. In 1745, 1 year after its completion and 4 years before the building of Halifax Louisburg was attacked the New England soldiers. After the successful attack on Louisburg, French settlers at Louisburg were forced to return home to France and the reamining French surrendered. Then again in 1758 during the Seven Years war Britain took Louisburg permanently and burned much of it to the ground, ending nearly half a century of Louisburg being controlled by the French.

Jacques Cartier made his third and final voyage to new France in 1541, 6 years after his 1535 voyage. By this time only 1 of the 9 Iroquois people he captured were alive in France. After taking a similar route compared to his 1535 journey he landed, settled, and founded Charlesbourg-Royal, a habitation 14 kilometres north of Stadacona. This time he set sail with 1500 men and 5 ships, 14 times the men he set out with in 1535. It was the first European settlement at the time in all of North America. Stadacona's new chief Agona was extremely mad upon the return of the French peoples. The Iroquois agreed that the French were not welcome on their territory so they launched a number of attacks on Charlesbourg-Royal, Cartier's settlement. Cartier promised to the king of France that New France had many resources like gold and diamonds and promised to bring these goods back to France in the spring of 1542. He returned in the spring of 1542 only to figure out that the "gold" and "diamonds" were actually fool's gold and quartz. Because of the cold and the worthless materials that Cartier had brought back even after a third journey, France lost interest in expeditions to Canada until nearly 70 years later, when Champlain set sail. They may have not found any lucrative trade goods yet, but later in the 17th century they would discover what seemed to be an unlimited supply of beaver skins.

As early as 1761, many First Nations peoples and chiefs were unhappy about the way the British had treated them in contrast to the French, who respected them much more than the British who saw them as an obstacle to growing the Thirteen Colonies. This lead the chief of the Odawa Nation in Southern Ontario named Pontiac to encourage a rebellion against the British. Their war cries scared off many British people before they even began their attacks which gave them a large advantage. In 1763, because of various reasons Pontiac and his alliance of various First Nations tribes attacked several British trading points and forts close to the Ohio River, including the largest of all forts in that region, Detroit. However their control over the forts only lasted for a few months after many First Nations returned to their original tribes and signed a peace act with the British which also gave them a large chunk of land in the Ohio Valley. In retaliation the British would use an effective strategy to decimate the First Nations population by using germ warfare (killing F.N. with jars contaminated with smallpox).

After another war began in Europe in 1701 and many First Nations peoples continued attacking British settlers in the Ohio Valley. It triggered another war in Acadia with the English this time around the winners. With the war of Spanish Succession continuing in Europe the British invaded Port Royal, Acadia in 1710. This spot had a significant importance to the French because it was their first successful habitation in New France's history. After the attack was a success, the British continued to control Acadia unofficially until 1713 when the Treaty of Utrecht, Germany was signed. The treaty gave Britain Acadia, a large amount of land around Hudson's Bay, and Newfoundland. Now New France was sandwiched between Rupert's Land and the Thirteen Colonies which made New France significantly harder to protect. This was one of the first signs of a war developing in North America once again, it was just a matter of how many years it took until the war would begin.

After capturing the two sons of Donnacona in 1534, Cartier had proof of life in North America and became optimistic that he could go on a second voyage to the new world. So with confidence that he could succeed on his second voyage, Cartier set sail in May of 1535 with 110 men and 3 ships. This was many more people than the 61 men who set sail in 1534 and the 2 ships that they traveled on. Unlike in 1534, with the help of the 2 Iroquois captives, he found his way into the St. Lawrence River unlike any European explorer before him. When Cartier recahed Stadaconna (around present day Montreal) he set up a small European settlement and experienced the Canadian winter for the first time. Many of Cartier's men became weakened from a lack of Vitamin C (or scurvy). The Iroquois had a cure for this disease, which the French took advantage of. Although it was horribly tasting the cure (made by boiling bark and needles of certain trees) was very high in Vitamin C. After the harsh winter of 1535 Cartier prepared to sail up the St. Lawrence and through the Atlantic to France during the spring. Along with his crew that had survived the long winter Cartier also captured 9 Iroquois members (4 who were children) and the chief of the Iroquois Donnacona who he took to France. The actions of the French started a long standing rivalry between the Iroquois and French. To make matters worse the French allied with the Iroquois' largest First Nations enemies the Huron.

After a miserable failure at Ile St. Croix, de Monts and his 44 remaining men set out across the Bay of Fundy and established Port Royal in the summer of 1605. Port Royal was situated on the western coast of Nova Scotia and had better firewood and water supplies than Ile St. Croix. Along with de Monts, young mapmaker Samuel de Champlain also was part of the establishment at Port Royal. In the next 30 years to come Champlain would have a huge role in the development of New France as well as its success in the fur trade. The settlers had much better luck at Port Royal and actually prospered for several years and began to trade their supplies for the much needed beaver furs of the Micmac First Nation's people living in the area. Though they prospered in many ways, many men suffered from boredom and depression while living at Port Royal. To fight the boredom and depression of these men Champlain founded the Order of Good Cheer social club to try to lift the spirits of these men. Sometimes even the Micmac leaders joined these celebrations and the great feasts after wards. Meanwhile, De Monts' company began to struggle immensely because of the jealously of other fur traders who believed he didn't deserve a monopoly. And so these other fur traders begged the King of France to end De Monts monopoly, and so he did just that in 1607 which made De Monts and many settlers return back to France that year. Because of the many men who returned home, the settlement was abandoned and eventually led to the settlement of Quebec in 1608.

Jean Talon was born in Chalons-en-Champagne France in 1628. He served as the intendant of New France from 1665 to 1668 and then again from 1670 to 1672. Not only were his visionary ideas smart, but they also made a huge difference in developing the colony of New France. His two most effective ideas were his "filles de roi" plans and his new defence system to prevent attacks from the First Nations peoples (in particular the Iroquois). First there was his revolutionary idea to bring poor young women from France (the filles de roi) with no future there to new France. In New Frnce they could bear children and increase the population of New France dramatically. This revolutionary idea eventually increased the population of New France by 300 % in just 15 years. Then he found a way to halt Iroquois attacks on the long and narrow vulnerable strips of land that the seigneurs owned. Instead of the long and narrow land, he allocated pie shaped lots that formed circles so that attacks on the lands of the New France people were near impossible. He also aided the defense of the colony by employing around 1200 soldiers in his first year as intendant in 1665.

3. "The Treaty of Ryswick, " Canada History. Last accessed 27 April 2014

http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/england%20arrives/Treaty

It marked the first time in history that any European explorer entered the gulf of St. Lawrence and discovered it, and also the first time that the French had sent an expedition to North America. Cartier set sail nearly 40 years after Cabot mysteriously disappeared while discovering Canada. He passed through a strait of water in Northern Newfoundland and continued on the Eastern coast of Newfoundland. He then sailed through the open water of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for 100's of kilometres before passing the Northern tip of Prince Edward Island. He then continued his first voyage by reaching Chaleur Bay which seperates Gaspésie from Northern New Brunswick. Finally, he sailed around the eastern tip of Anticosti Island and through the same strait that he entered Eastern Canada from before crossing the Atlantic to France. During thsi trip he encountered the Iroquois tribe and their chief Donnacona. Cartier captured Donnacona's two sons and brought them to France before returning them in 1535. He entered the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the St. Lawrence River and the East Canadian region 2 times more in 1535 and 1541.

After Talon finished his second term as intendant in 1672, another colorful leader named Louis de Buade (or Count Frontenac) began his term as governor of New France. Although he was deemed a great leader by the king of France, many seigneurs and habitants disliked his attitude towards his position. Instead of spending money on the defense of the new and growing areas of New France, he turned his attention towards the fur trade. In 1673 Frontenac ordered the building of his self named Fort Frontenac (present day Kingston, Ontario) because he thought its position at the eastern tip of Lake Ontario and the western tip of the St. Lawrence River the spot would be ideal for trading. He continued to try to expand the fur trade by building 5 other forts located in southern and western Ontario. After countless complaints that the king received of Frontenac, he was recalled to France in 1682 after a decade as governor of New France. After spending 7 years in New France in dismay, he controversially returned for a second term as governor in 1689. That same year England and France went to war in North America. It was uncertain why he returned as governor of New France, but he proved he was worthy of the position in 1690, the second year of war. In October 1690, commander Phips of the British had sailed close to Quebec and ordered for the French to surrender within an hour. Frontenac responded with one of the most famous and frankly idiotic quotes in Canadian history. He said "I have no reply to make to your general other than from the mouths of my cannon and muskets. This extreme act of defiance caused commander Phips not to launch an attack on Quebec and saved the lives of thousands of French Canadians. After saving Canada Frontenac remained the governor of New France for 8 more years before his death in 1698.

After winning Louisburg and boasting a much larger army than the French, the British were the favorites to capture Quebec over the French retaining it. On September 13th 1759 James Wolfe and the British army invaded Quebec in what became the most famous battle in Canadian history. It only lasted between 15 and 30 minutes yet the total of deaths on both sides (1300 in total) were brutal for a battle that lasted so short. Because the vast majority of British trained in open style combat, the field of farmer Abraham Martin was ideal for fighting on. In Quebec, around 3 km away from the Plains, french commander Montcalm heard a small sound of gunfire as a small French force met the British forces on the Plains. Montcalm's first impression was that this was not the major battle that he had been waiting for. However, he was wrong. The French initially made a huge mistake in awakening the British and firing at them when they weren't within their range. After the French continued to march towards the British, the British fired at them when they were just 45 metres away. The British then advanced and fired again forcing the French militia to retreat to Quebec and attempt to save it for the next few days. During the British's first round of firing Montcalm was injured and later died from his injuries at age 47. British general James Wolfe was also killed during the battle at just age 32. After the French retreated to Quebec the British followed them and bombarded the city for 5 days and forced the French to surrender on 18 September 1759. The English had now achieved their goal of capturing Quebec but still needed to capture another great New France habitation, Montreal.

The First Nations were granted a huge amount of land in the royal proclamation of 1763. The land stretched from Lake Superior to West Florida. In other words, this was the land that American settlers were promised in the Ohio Valley years earlier that had never been granted to them. This may have very well led or been a contributing factor to the breakout of the American Revolution. In contrast the land that was taken away from the First Nations in the Quebec Act at was not given to American settlers but instead the settlers of Quebec. The expansion of Quebec expanded as far west as the western tip of Lake Superior, as far south as where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet and as far north as Labrador. This new land given to Quebec settlers further enraged the Americans to one year later rebel against the British. Another important area that was given to Quebec in the act was the vast majority of the Ohio Valley, another huge blow to the Thirteen Colonies. As for the First Nations peoples, they now only controlled a fraction of the land that was granted to them in the royal proclamation 11 years earlier. They now only controlled all land south of the Ohio Valley that was given to them in the royal proclamation of 1763. This was the beginning of the end and the downfall of the First Nations peoples of North America, who in the next century continued to have their lands taken away from them until they were left with very little.

After what seemed to be the turning point in the war the Americans won 2 pivotal battles at York in April of 1813 and Fort George one month later in May 1813. These battles were huge successes for the Americans who had suffered in the early stages of the war between 1812-1813. Then in October of 1813 the first battle in Lower Canada was fought in the French town of Chateauguay. Along with Lower Canada British militia, many First Nations peoples also fought for the British in the battle. In the larger picture the Americans wanted to invade Montreal but knew they would need to get through Chateauguay first. However at the battle the Americans had poor communication as well as any experienced leaders. However the Americans had more troops, yet they were famously tricked by the British that the British had more troops. The Canadians blew horns in the woods and made various sounds to try to convince the Americans that they were outnumbered. Surprisingly this strategy worked and forced the Americans to retreat. After the battle of Chateauguay it was evident that both sides needed to regroup and prepare for the battles to come over the next year. It wasn't for another 7 months after Chateauguay that there was another major battle between the Americans and Canadians, this time at Oswego, a former British fort on the South shore of Lake Ontario. At Oswego it was again the British who prevailed despite having a much smaller army than the Americans. Then after the battle of Sackets Harbor which was won by the Americans the battle of Lundy's Lane took place in July of 1814. Neither the Americans nor British prevailed in the only inconclusive (draw,tie) battle in the war of 1812. Then after another minor victory for the Americans at Fort Erie which had minimal influence on the war. The Canadians ended the war by capturing and burning Washington in August of 1814. The war offcially ended with the treaty of Ghent, Belgium in 1815. The treaty took 5 months to negotiate but an agreement was finally reached between the 2 sides in that year.

After the American Revolution ended in 1783, tensions between the British and Americans continued. The War Hawks group of America were most likely the primary reason why the war started. In 1811 they had stated that "America had to expand its borders". However, they were having trouble doing that because they were surrounded by the Canadians in the north and the First Nations peoples to their west. Along with the War Hawks, President of the United States James Madison also believed that it was necessary to expand the United States borders also. Because of this, he declared war on Britain in North America on June 19th 1812. With a population 10 times the size of Canada's, Madison was confident that the British could be driven out of the continent by them since they had already beat them once before in the American Revolution. The first invasion of the war began on July 12th 1812, and was carried out by American general William Hull and his 2000 troops at the site of present day Windsor, Ontario. However the brilliant James Wolfe of this era known as Isaac Brock knew that the war was coming and had been preparing for the attacks for almost a decade. Brock also wanted to join the fight against Napoleon Bonarte, the leader of the French forces in Europe who had captured all of Continental Europe. But he would have to wait for his initial plan to stop Napoleon because of the American invasions. In August of 1812 the British successfully captured Detroit which was just across the river from Windsor. 5 months later most likely the most famous battle of the war occurred at Queenston Heights. In October 1812, the Americans attacked Queenston Heights, Lower Canada. The sound of gunfire 10 kilometres away woke General Isaac Brock early in the morning on October 13th 1812. He led his unprepared and much smaller army compared to the American ones to Queenston Heights that morning but was shot by an American musket ball ending his 43 year life. All of his troops withdrew until further support from the British came in the mid-afternoon. By this time of the day British Major General Roger Sheaffe led the British to what seemed to be an improbable victory considering they took around 900 American troops prisoners with very few British Casualties. 11 months later the British won another battle at Put-in-Bay which marked the turning point in the war in favor of the British.

September 1760: The Fall of New France

Samuel was truly the father of New France. Because of his efforts at developing New France, he made a huge difference in Canadian history. Born in France in 1574, he participated in the establishment at Port Royal in 1605 at 31 years of age. After 3 years of relative success at Port Royal, he decided to establish Quebec in 1608 after many settlers left Port Royal in the spring of 1607. Quebec used to be the site of Stadacona, but Stadacona was abandoned by the Iroquois possibly due to the disease brought by Cartier 70 years earlier. After staying in Quebec for 2 winters, he returned to New France in 1610 after the assasination of King Henry. He returned because the new ruler of France, Henry's wife, was a catholic and denied his protestant funder's access to the court which prevented him to travel to North America for the moment. He then returned to Quebec in 1611 and continued to sail back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean to try to bring new settlers to New France. In total he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean a grand total of 23 times compared to Cartier's 3. Finally, after being entangled in some serious lawsuits in France he returned to Quebec (retired) one last time in the spring of 1635. He then died 6 months after his arrival on Christmas Day 1635 in Quebec City.

The Loyalists were the group of people that had been loyal to England during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The Loyalists in America were forced from their homes after the American Patriots won the revolution in 1782 (officially in 1783). Most of these Loyalist refugees with no where else to go in the Thirteen Colonies headed north to Canada and settled heavily around the Bay of Quinte, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. In addition there were many Loyalists that settled in Western Quebec around the same time. The economic backgrounds of the Loyalists varied, some were extremely wealthy and had important positions in the Thirteen Colonies, while others had just immigrated from Britain, Ireland any many other European countries and had very little money. There were also other reasons why the Loyalists chose to leave the Thirteen Colonies such as harassment from Patriots before the Patriots had won the war. They were also a minority in the Thirteen Colonies and made up only 30 % of the Thirteen Colonies population. Apart from the white Loyalists who immigrated, there were also around 2500 Iroquois who had been allied with the British who made the trip. Another group of refugees were the Black Loyalists who were of African descent. Many of these Black Loyalists had been enslaved but were promised freedom if they fought for Britain. Thus they decided to immigrate alongside the white Loyalists to Canada. 95 % of these Black Loyalists settled in towns across Nova Scotia including Digby, Halifax and Sydney. Unfortunately they were granted much less land than white loyalists which made them leave Canada for Sierra Leone, West Africa. Sierra Leone was a country that was trying to establish the first ever settlement for freed slaves. In 1792, around 1100 Black Loyalists reached Sierra Leone and settled in Freetown, the current capital. Many of these Loyalists struggled in their first years but around 1800 they found themselves in the upper class of Sierra Leone. As for the White Loyalists, they almost all have remained in Upper and Lower Canada to this day and have had a deep influence on these regions.

James Wolfe was born in Westerham, England on 2 January 1727. His style of fighting and impressive strategical awareness helped the British win at Louisburg and of course on the Plains of Abraham, where his heroics got him killed by the French. Wolfe is one of the most important and well known figures in Canadian history. Wolfe took over the British forces in North America at just 31, a rarity now and back then. Unlike most military generals of his time, Wolfe believed in taking risks and was extremely charismatic. He officially took over the British forces in September 1758 after he contributed to the British's victory at Louisburg.

Before heading to North America in 1757 he saw fighting in

Flanders, Belgium and Scotland where he was virtually unknown

and had a much lower position. Then in 1759 he was in control

of 8000 British troops during the battle of the Plains of Abraham.

He encouraged open field fignhting and was able to fight on a

perfect battle field that fit his soldiers strengths. A major French

error to attack the British from too far away led to a large victory

for Wolfe and his troops. However Wolfe was shot by the French

on 13 September 1759 and didn't see the French surrender in his life.

He died at just 32 years of age and to this day remains one of

the most influential British generals ever.

Sir Isaac Brock's strategical advances were essential for Britain to reclaim Canada over the invading Americans. He was one of the many important figures in the war along with Laura Second, Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and American general William Hull. Isaac Brock was born on the British Isle of Guersney in the English Channel in 1769. He was the 8th sibling born in to the middle class Brock family. Brock was known to work hard and study in school earning him the the reputation of a hard worker and selfless individual. Many people that he knew well including his family were surprised that he chose a military career, one that he started in 1802. The same year he joined a British Regiment his regiment was shipped to Canada. Brock had several postings across both Upper and Lower Canada in the early stages of his military career. These postings included Quebec City, Fort George, York (present day Toronto) and Montreal. As he shot up through the ranks over the next few years, he then assumed the large role of defending the colony from American invaders. 5 years later in 1807 Brock became a major general and presided over all British forces in North America. Knowing that a war was coming, Brock began to repair and build new style forts all across British North America over the next half decade. Brock's preparedness may be why Britain prevailed in the war of 1812 despite having 10 times less people than America. Finally after 5 years of preparation the war broke out in June of 1812. Before the war in 1811 he expressed that he was bored in Canada through a letter to his brother who lived in London at the time. He said "You can hardly imagine the the uninteresting and boring life I am doomed to lead in this position". After taking Fort Detroit (Detroit) in August 1812, 2 months after the battle of Detroit the battle of Queenston Heights began. After hearing American cannons in the distance he lead his outnumbered troops to Queenston where he was killed (as shown in slide 23) at just 43 years of age. However, even after the death of their leader and an obvious insufficiency in their number of troops the British still prevailed. It seems that his job wasn't so boring after all considering he was killed just 2 months into the war. Today we see his influence on Canada including the honour of having Brock University and Brockville, Ontario named after him.

For the past decade, the British had struggled to keep their North American empire intact, especially the Thirteen Colonies. Rising taxes in the area infuriated inhabitants and made them believe that Britain was harming their economy. Another reason for the Thirteen Colonies rebellion was Britain's ignorance in giving them the sparsely yet fertile Ohio Valley, who Britain instead gave to Quebec in the Quebec Act (see slide 25). One year after the Boston Tea Party, where several Americans threw bags of tea into the Boston Harbor because their taxation was too high, the Americans were on the brink of starting a revolution. To discuss their plans of attack, the Americans held a meeting known as the Continental Congress. What many people don't know is that the Americans attempted to "liberate" the province of Quebec which was at the time was still 90 % Roman Catholic and French. They successfully attacked and captured Montreal in 1775 but failed to take Quebec City. Because of another American defeat near Lake Champlain, the Americans were forced to withdraw from Montreal and retreat back to New England. In April of 1776, 3 months before the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin headed to Quebec and tried to persuade Quebec to join the Americans and rebel against the British. However, the British sent 10,000 troops to maintain stability in the province to avoid a rebellion there. Franklin soon realized that he would have to buy Quebec from the British instead of taking it by force. After failed agreements to purchase Quebec, the American Revolution saw no more action in Canada ever again. In July 1776, the declaration of independence was signed by the founding fathers of America (Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin etc.) yet one third of the people in the Thirteen Colonies opposed it. This lead to the war between the Patriots (Americans) and Loyalists (British) from 1776-1782 that ended with an American victory in 1782 and the official British surrender in the treaty of Paris II in 1783.The future for the hundreds of thousands of Loyalists was grim, almost all were expelled from their homes in the Thirteen Colonies and many came to the nearest part of the British empire, Canada.

1755: The Expulsion of The Acadians

The treaty of Kahnawake, Quebec was a treaty signed between the Iroquois First Nation and the British in September 1760, the same month as New France's surrender. The agreement agreed to so call "bury the hatchet" between the Iroquois and British forces. The treaty allowed Iroquois people to visit their families that lived south of the Canada-New York border freely. Then in 1763 the Treaty of Paris, France was signed and marked the end of war between England and France on all continents of the world.

The treaty of Paris also officially marked the end of French rule in North America after 250 years and 5-8 generations of people of French descent living there. The treaty was also signed by other European nations such as Portugal and Spain, who owned Brazil and Louisiana respectively in the Americas. During the negotiations of the treaty, the French tempted the British with the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, which were very rich in sugar and could supply all of Britain with a significant amount of sugar. In contrast, these 2 tiny islands exports were worth twice and much as Canada's exports because at this time much of the beaver population had been killed by the fur traders. Surprisingly the British chose cold and snowy Canada over beautiful, sunny and profitable Martinique and Guadeloupe. In the aftermath of the war the French Canadiens were treated equally among the British settlers in Quebec, again another huge rarity for a part of the British empire.

1642: Habitation at Ville-Marie (Montreal)

John Cabot was born in Naples Kingdom, Italy in 1450 during the renaissance in Europe when many great thinkers found new ideas never before thought to exist or make sense. John (in Italy then called Giovanni) wanted to sail to North America on an Italian expedition but there were not enough funds to send an Italian ship there. So, still desperate to set sail to North America he traveled to London, England to ask if he could sail for the British to North America.The British agreed to send him to North America and as we see he changes his name from Giovanni to John (the English version of Giovanni). Then, in 1497 he set sail to North America and landed in Newfoundland (which he named). He also found the great supplies of fish along the shore of Newfoundland. Then on his second voyage to North America in 1498, he mysteriously disappeared forever and was never seen again.

4. "James Wolfe (1727-1759), " The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last accessed 1 May 2014

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/james-wolfe/

In 1497, the first European voyage to Canada since the age of the vikings began and was made by John Cabot (or Giovanni Caboto). He landed in present day Cape Bauld, Newfoundland. On that same journey he found unlimited amounts of fish and attempted to get fishermen to come to Newfoundland to discover the unlimited resources of fish. He then disappeared on his second voyage to North America in 1498 and was never seen again. This voyage marked the important beginning in European Canadian history and was also the first known voyage that anybody sailing for Britain made to North America. He also encouraged around 12,000 European fishers to head to the Grand Banks every year after his amazing discovery.

5. "Battle of Ste. Foy, " CBC. Last accessed 4 May 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP4CH10PA1LE.html

As the "neutral" Acadian's continued to supply the French with firewood the British believed they were being disloyal to them. Because the British felt that the land that the Acadians cultivated was lucrative because of its vast range of fruits and vegetables, the British felt that they needed the Acadian's land. Even though the Acadians had signed an oath of allegiance to Britain under their terms in 1730, this still didn't satisfy them. This lead to the deportation, or expulsion of 8,000 Acadians from Acadia in August of 1755. They were shipped to the Thirteen Colonies of America as well as England. Because of their culture they struggled to adapt to the foreign land that they were forcibly brought to by the British.

For the next 6 months, now with complete control over Quebec Britain marched towards Montreal during the summer months. Levis and his troops also quickly retreated to Montreal, hoping to keep their only major city in North America at this time. On 7 September 1760, the last great city of New France (Montreal) fell to the British army led by General Amherst. On 8 September 1760, Levis and the French troops officially surrendered to the British. As part of their agreement the Canadiens could keep their Roman Catholic religion, French troops could return to France or stay and swear an oath to the King of England and the Canadiens were allowed to keep their language, property and civil law. This battle changed North America's future and was notable because the Canadiens were not forced to convert to Protestantism, a first for any part of the British Empire.

In 1642, 7 years after the death of Champlain and 34 years before he founded Quebec, Montreal (Ville-Marie at the time) was founded. Not only would it grow to become a thriving French Canadian community but also in present day the second largest french speaking city in the world behind Paris. Like Quebec it was the site of a former Iroquois settlement that had been abandoned. Eventually from philanthropists in France there was enough money to build a school, mission and a hospital in Montreal. Also like Quebec, Montreal was the ideal spot for trading beaver furs because it was situated where the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers meet. It eventually dominated the lucrative and growing western fur trade in North America. Unfortunately after first half century it had a mere 1000 people, not nearly as many settlers expected to settle there.

6. "The Pontiac Rebellion 1763, " Canada's First Peoples. Last accessed 4 May 2014

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_furtrade/fp_contact_pontiac.html

Cartier's failed settlement of Charlesbourg-Royal

Pierre du Gua de Monts was the first person to be granted a monopoly over the fur trade in New France

Here in Ryswick, Dutch Republic was where the treaty of Ryswick was signed in 1697

The boastful intendant of New France (above) Talon revolutionized the way of life in New France dramatically with his impressive ideas