Aboriginal Peoples
- Three groups: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
- First Nations: Diverse nations across Canada (Cree, Mohawk, Haida, Dene, etc.)
- Inuit: Arctic peoples ("Inuit" means "the people")
- Métis: Mixed First Nations and European (mainly French) heritage
- Aboriginal peoples governed themselves for thousands of years before European contact
⚠️ TRAP: "Indian" refers to First Nations people under the Indian Act. "Inuit" are NOT Indians. Métis are a distinct group.
European Exploration and Early Settlement
- Vikings: Reached Labrador and Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago; L'Anse aux Meadows (World Heritage site) is evidence of their settlement
- John Cabot (1497): Italian-born (Giovanni Caboto) explorer sailing for England; first to map Canada's Atlantic coast; claimed "New Founde Land" for England
- Jacques Cartier (1534–1542): Made three voyages; claimed land for King Francis I of France; name "Canada" comes from Iroquoian word "kanata" (village)
- Samuel de Champlain (1608): Founded Quebec City; "Father of New France"; allied with Algonquin, Montagnais, and Huron peoples
- Fur trade: Drove early European settlement; Hudson's Bay Company (1670), granted trading rights by King Charles II, is one of the world's oldest companies
- Voyageurs and coureurs des bois: Skilled canoemen who formed alliances with First Nations and opened up the interior
The Conquest and Quebec Act
- Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759): British defeated French at Quebec City; both commanders killed, Major-General James Wolfe (British) and Marquis de Montcalm (French)
- Treaty of Paris (1763): France ceded New France to Britain
- Quebec Act (1774): Allowed religious freedom for Catholics, restored French civil law while maintaining British criminal law, a constitutional foundation of Canada
🧠 MEMORY HOOK: "1759, French decline" (near-rhyme to aid memory)
The United Empire Loyalists
- After the American Revolution (1776), 40,000+ Loyalists fled to Nova Scotia and Quebec
- Came from diverse backgrounds: Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian, Aboriginal origins
- Joseph Brant led thousands of Loyalist Mohawk Indians to Canada
- About 3,000 Black Loyalists (freedmen and slaves) also came north
- Helped establish British institutions and culture in Canada
Rebellions of 1837–1838 and Responsible Government
- Rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada (1837–1838): Armed uprisings demanding democratic reform and responsible government
- Lord Durham's Report (1839): Recommended responsible government (the executive must have the confidence of the elected assembly) and the union of Upper and Lower Canada
- Act of Union (1840): United Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada
- Responsible government achieved (1848): First in Nova Scotia, then the Province of Canada, a key milestone on the road to Confederation
The Abolition of Slavery
- 1793: Upper Canada (Lt. Gov. John Graves Simcoe) became one of the first jurisdictions in the British Empire to move toward abolition
- 1807: British Parliament prohibited buying and selling slaves
- 1833: Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire
- Underground Railroad: A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved Black people to escape to freedom in Canada before the American Civil War
Confederation
- July 1, 1867: The British North America Act created the Dominion of Canada
- Four original provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
- Sir John A. Macdonald: First Prime Minister of Canada; born in Scotland (Jan 11, 1815); the $10 bill formerly featured his portrait (now Viola Desmond since 2018)
- Sir George-Étienne Cartier: Key architect of Confederation from Quebec; led Quebec into the union
- Sir Leonard Tilley: Suggested the name "Dominion of Canada," inspired by Psalm 72
- Fathers of Confederation: Leaders from the colonies who negotiated the union
🧠 MEMORY HOOK, "ON-Q-NS-NB": Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
Expansion After Confederation
- Manitoba (1870), Red River Settlement; Louis Riel led the Métis
- British Columbia (1871), Joined on promise of transcontinental railway
- Prince Edward Island (1873)
- Transcontinental railway completed (November 7, 1885): Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona) drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, linking east and west; built by European and Chinese labour
- Chinese Head Tax: After the railway, Chinese workers faced discrimination including a race-based entry fee; Government of Canada apologized in 2006
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier: First French-Canadian PM since Confederation; encouraged immigration to the West; portrait on the $5 bill
- Saskatchewan and Alberta (1905)
- Newfoundland and Labrador (1949), Last province to join
Louis Riel and the North-West Rebellion
- Red River Resistance (1869–1870): Louis Riel led the Métis to negotiate Manitoba's entry into Confederation, securing land rights, French-language schools, and Catholic schools
- North-West Rebellion (1885): Riel returned to lead a second Métis uprising in Saskatchewan; the rebellion was defeated by federal troops
- Riel was tried and hanged for treason (1885): His execution remains one of the most divisive events in Canadian history, a hero to many Métis and francophones, a traitor to others
- Riel was elected to Parliament but never took his seat
- Riel is now recognized as a Father of Manitoba
- North West Mounted Police (NWMP): Established by PM Macdonald in 1873 to pacify the West; founded Fort Calgary and Fort MacLeod; headquarters in Regina; today known as the RCMP
Residential Schools
- Government-funded, church-run boarding schools for Indigenous children (operated from the 1880s to 1996)
- Children were forcibly separated from families and communities; many suffered abuse and neglect
- Purpose was to assimilate Indigenous children by suppressing their languages and cultures
- 2008: Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology on behalf of Canada
- Recognized as a tragic chapter in Canadian history; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented the history and called for action
The War of 1812
- Fought between British/Canadian forces and the United States (1812–1814)
- Major-General Sir Isaac Brock: Captured Detroit; hero of Queenston Heights (killed in battle)
- Laura Secord: Made a dangerous 30 km journey on foot (1813) to warn of an American attack; contributed to victory at Battle of Beaver Dams
- Lt.-Col. Charles de Salaberry: Led 460 soldiers (mostly French Canadiens) to turn back 4,000 Americans at Châteauguay (1813)
- Americans burned York (now Toronto) in 1813; British forces burned Washington D.C. in 1814
- Outcome: Confirmed that Canada would remain separate from the United States
Women's Suffrage
- Dr. Emily Stowe: Founder of the women's suffrage movement in Canada; first Canadian woman to practise medicine
- 1916: Manitoba became the first province to grant women voting rights
- 1917: Federal vote extended to nurses at the front and women related to servicemen
- 1918: Most Canadian female citizens aged 21+ gained federal voting rights
- 1921: Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected to Parliament
- 1940: Quebec was the last province to grant women the provincial vote
World War I (1914–1918)
- 600,000+ Canadians served out of a population of 8 million
- Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9, 1917): All four Canadian divisions fought together for the first time; 10,000 killed or wounded; considered the birth of Canadian national identity; April 9 = Vimy Day
- Battle of Ypres (1915): Canadians faced first large-scale poison gas attack
- General Sir Arthur Currie: Canada's greatest soldier; led Canadian Corps in the last hundred days
- 60,000 Canadians killed; 170,000 wounded
- Remembrance Day: November 11 honours those who died in service; the poppy is the symbol (from "In Flanders Fields" by Lt. Col. John McCrae, 1915)
- Canada entered as part of the British Empire but emerged with greater autonomy
🧠 MEMORY HOOK: "Vimy = Victory + Identity" (1917)
World War II (1939–1945)
- More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served (population 11.5 million); 44,000+ killed
- Battle of the Atlantic: Canadian Navy helped protect convoy routes; by war's end, Canada had the third-largest navy in the world
- D-Day / Juno Beach (June 6, 1944): 15,000 Canadian troops stormed Juno Beach in Normandy, approximately 1 in 10 Allied soldiers on D-Day was Canadian
- Liberation of the Netherlands: Canadians liberated Holland in 1944–45; the Netherlands sends tulips to Ottawa every year in gratitude
- Japanese-Canadian internment: Canadians of Japanese origin were forcibly relocated during the war; Government of Canada apologized in 1988
Post-War and Modern Canada
- Universal health care: Introduced in Saskatchewan in 1947 by Tommy Douglas; eventually adopted nationally
- 1948: Japanese-Canadians gained the right to vote
- Korean War (1950–1953): 26,000+ Canadians served; 500 died, 1,000 wounded
- 1960: Aboriginal people granted the right to vote in federal elections
- Canadian Bill of Rights (1960): John Diefenbaker; first federal human rights law
- Official Languages Act (1969): Made English and French official languages of the federal government
- 1980 and 1995: Quebec sovereignty referendums, both defeated
- Constitution Act, 1982: Patriated the constitution from Britain; includes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Terry Fox (1980): Marathon of Hope, lost his right leg to cancer at 18; ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research; a national hero
- Rick Hansen (1985): Wheelchair circumnavigation of the globe for spinal cord research
- NATO: Canada is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- NORAD: Joint Canada-US aerospace defence command