The world war : $b a history of the nations and empires involved and a study of the events culminating in the great conflictMarshall, Logan
History
The world war : $b a history of the nations and empires involved and a study of the events culminating in the great conflict
Marshall, Logan
Europe -- History -- 1789-1900; Europe -- History -- 1871-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Causes
Upper Canada, at the opening of the eighteenth century, was only
slightly developed, the country being a vast forest, without towns,
without roads, and practically shut out from the remainder of the
world. The sparse population was made up largely of United Empire
Loyalists—refugees from the successful revolution in the Thirteen
Colonies. But it began to grow with the new century, numbers crossed
the Niagara River from the States to the fertile lands beyond,
immigrants crossed the waters from Great Britain and France, Toronto
was made the capital city, ad the population of the province soon rose
to 30,000 in number. Lower Canada, however, with its old cities of
Quebec and Montreal, and its flourishing settlements along the St.
Lawrence River, continued the most populous section of the country,
though its people were almost exclusively of French origin. The
strength of the British population lay in the upper province.
In time the union which existed between the two larger provinces of
Canada became unfitted to serve the purposes of the entire colony. The
maritime provinces began to discuss the question of local federation,
and it was finally proposed to unite all British North America into one
general union. This was done in 1867, the British Parliament passing an
act which created the “Dominion of Canada.” The new confederation
included Ontario (Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia. Four years later Manitoba and British Columbia were
included, and Prince Edward Island in 1874. Since then other additions
have been made. A parliament was formed consisting of a Senate of life
members appointed by the Crown and an Assembly elected by the people.
Some important questions which have arisen in Canada since the dates
above given had largely to do with its relations to the United States
and its people. One of the most troublesome of these was that relating
to the productive fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland and the coasts
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. For years the problem of the rights
of American fishermen in these regions excited controversy. Several
partial settlements have been made and in 1877 the sum of $5,000,000
was awarded to Great Britain in payment for the privileges granted to
the United States. A treaty was signed in 1888 for the settlement of
other branches of this vexatious question.
The discovery of gold on the Klondike River in 1896 developed another
problem, that of the true boundary between Alaska and Canada. At first,
under the belief that the gold region was in Alaska, it brought a rush
of American miners to that region. But it was soon found that the
mining region was in Canada and the mining laws imposed by the Canadian
authorities were bitterly objected to by the American miners. The
question of boundary has since been definitely settled by an
international tribunal of British and American jurists and the present
boundary line marked out by a scientific commission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account