Rachel, there were Europeans running all over the place in the 1600's, many of them helping to create the future Metis, but we just didn't get it together until 1867.
France and England were the major founding countries, and had a huge war for possession of Canada (it was Upper and Lower Canada at that time - Ontario and Quebec). It always interested me that each of the Generals had a French surname - Wolfe and Montcalm.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 13 September 1759, during the SEVEN YEARS' WAR, fought upstream from Québec on a tract of land that is thought to have been named after Abraham Martin, to whom it was granted 1635-45. A powerful British force under Major-General James WOLFE and Vice-Admiral Charles Saunders was sent up the St Lawrence to capture Québec. The French, commanded by Lieutenant-General the Marquis de MONTCALM, at first held the British at bay.
Having sailed upstream past the city on September 5 and 6, Wolfe's army landed without opposition on September 13, climbing the cliffs a few km above Québec. Montcalm's communications with his source of supplies were threatened; he felt obliged to accept battle and impulsively attacked without waiting to collect all his forces. The armies actually on the field seem to have been about numerically equal - some 4500 each - but the British were all regulars, whereas many of the French were ill-trained militia. The French attack was broken by British infantry fire, and the French retired in disorder. Both Wolfe and Montcalm were mortally wounded. The French field army retreated up the St Lawrence by a circuitous route that night. Québec surrendered on September 18. A French attack early in 1760 failed to recover the city, and later in the year the British captured Montréal and NEW FRANCE fell.
The French army retreated to Montreal, where, on September 8, 1760, Governor Vaudreuil signed the surrender of New France. Three years later, France officially ceded its North American possessions to England.
The terms of surrender allowed Quebec to keep its code of law, religion, etc. Fast forward to 2008 - and Quebec is still a unique society, and in all senses a nation (not the same as country, though that can be debated.). Where every other province in Canada calls their provincial government the (provincial) legislature, Quebec call theirs the National Assembly, and the members are MNAs.
For anyone interested, here's a link to several pages with pics (the generals were not too bad looking!):
http://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/_en/index.php
Canadian Personalities Hall: http://www.civilisations.ca/hist/bio...raphi200e.html (click on the thumbnails)
Here's a link to July 1, 1867 - Canada was joined together, all 4 provinces of it!
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...=A1ARTA0001842
Kind of like the USA starting off with 13 States - and now are...er...52? (blush). Here's where the rest of the provinces fell in:
1870 - The old 'Red River Settlement' joined Canada as the province of Manitoba.
1871 - Province of British Columbia joined Confederation.
1873 - Province of Prince Edward Island joined the Dominion.
1898 - Yukon Territory created.
1905 - Alberta and Saskatchewan join as the 8'th and 9'th provinces.
1949 - Newfoundland enters the Union as the 10'th and last province of Canada.
1999 - As of April 1, 1999 Nunavut became a territory and changed the map of Canada for the first time in half a century.
On April 1, 1999 a new Northwest Territories was created when new boundaries were drawn in Canada's North. Two new territories, a new NWT and Nunavut (which means "our land" in Inuktitut), were created. This change marked the first significant change to the map of Canada since Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949.
...the concept of dividing the NWT dates back to the 1950s when non-aboriginals in the Mackenzie Valley in the western part of the NWT pushed to divide the territory, arguing the move would allow the West to move more rapidly to responsible government.
The pre-Nunavut form of the Northwest Territories was forever changing as borders and electoral districts moved back and forth. if you REALLY have nothing to do, click here and read all about it:
http://pwnhc.learnnet.nt.ca/research/nwtname/index.html
And last - referring to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham again - there is a joke (bad or not) about two elderly Quebecois discussing the old battle. The one man said the English had won only through the help of the Israeli Air Force.
"What are you TALKING about, the Israeli Air Force?" his friend exclaimed.
"You know!" the answer came. "Those Planes of Abraham!"
Oh - and the First Nations WERE First. I hope their history of settlement was a little less complicated. I think it was, until around 1880 or so...
Happy Canada Day!
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