History of Canada

Canada is a nation of 33 million inhabitants, occupying almost all of the northern half of the North American continent, and being the second largest country in the world. Canada has evolved in four hundred years from a group of European colonies into a federation of ten provinces and three territories, having been granted its sovereignty peacefully from its last colonial possessor, the United Kingdom.

Early colonial period: The rise and fall of "New France" (Nouvelle-France) 1604-1763

Over the next 150 years, Canada and Acadia continued to expand from the heartland of the St Lawrence River into the upper country (pays d'en haut) of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley of North America. Their expansion was opposed by the Wyandot (Hurons), the Iroquois, and more significantly the British who waged a series of wars (see French and Indian Wars) which cost France first Acadia, then Canada. Under British rule, Acadians were expelled in 1755. France was defeated at Louisburg in 1758 and at the decisive Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City in 1759. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France kept its Caribbean island colonies but lost almost all of its North American colonies to Britain and Spain. Of its northern possessions, all that was retained were the tiny fishing outposts of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

Related Topics:
St Lawrence River - Great Lakes - Mississippi Valley - Wyandot - Iroquois - British - French and Indian Wars - Expelled - 1755 - Louisburg - 1758 - Battle of the Plains of Abraham - Quebec City - 1759 - Treaty of Paris - 1763 - Caribbean - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

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