New Brunswick

:This article is about the Canadian province; for the city in New Jersey, see New Brunswick, New Jersey.

History

The aboriginal nations of New Brunswick include the Mi'kmaq (Micmac), Maliseet and Passamaquoddy. The population is majority English-speaking but with a substantial (35%) French-speaking minority Acadians from Acadia, from the former name of this region during the French colonial period during which large numbers of colonists migrated from the Vienne area of France. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in the country. Until the 16th century, New Brunswick was exclusively the domain of what are now termed the First Nations.

Related Topics:
Mi'kmaq - Maliseet - Passamaquoddy - Acadians - Acadia - Vienne - 16th century - First Nations

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Early European settlement

The first known European exploration of present-day New Brunswick was by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, who discovered and named the Baie des Chaleurs in northern New Brunswick for its warm waters. The next French contact was in 1604, when Sieur des Monts sailed into Passamaquoddy Bay and set up a camp for the winter on an island at the mouth of the St. Croix River. 36 out of the 87 members of the party died of scurvy by winter's end. Other French settlements and seigneuries were founded along the Saint John River and the North Shore through the 17th century, including Fort La Tour (present-day Saint John) and St. Peter, founded by Nicolas Denys at the site of present-day Bathurst. New Brunswick became part of the French territory of Acadia. The French maintained good terms with the First Nations.

Related Topics:
French - Jacques Cartier - 1534 - Baie des Chaleurs - 1604 - Sieur des Monts - Passamaquoddy Bay - Winter - St. Croix River - Scurvy - Seigneuries - Saint John River - 17th century - Fort La Tour - Saint John - Nicolas Denys - Bathurst - Acadia

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The first British claim to New Brunswick was in 1621, when Sir William Alexander was granted, by King James I, all of present-day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and part of Maine. The entire tract was to be called Nova Scotia, Latin for "New Scotland". With the help of Charles de la Tour, the founder of the fort of the same name described above, the British managed to take control of the area.

Related Topics:
British - 1621 - Sir William Alexander - King James I - Nova Scotia - Maine - Latin - Charles de la Tour

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Most French settlers, however, refused to give an oath of allegiance to the British crown. Even worse for the British, the Micmac and Maliseet peoples made no bones about their support for the Acadians. They collaborated to attack and rebel the British on many occasions. In 1755, Colonel Winslow, on orders, descended on numerous Acadian settlements and dispossessed them of their land and all their belongings, and forced all of them onto ships. This became known as the Expulsion of the Acadians. Many people, often separated from their families, moved to northern or western New Brunswick. Others moved to Louisiana (still a French territory at the time), where they became Cajuns.

Related Topics:
Micmac - Maliseet - Acadians - 1755 - Colonel Winslow - Expulsion of the Acadians - Louisiana - Cajuns

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Even then, the British continued their aggression. They captured and destroyed Fort Beausejour (near Sackville) in 1755, and St. Anne (across from present-day Fredericton) in 1759. France relinquished all claims to title in North America after they lost at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec in 1759.

Related Topics:
Fort Beausejour - Sackville - 1755 - Fredericton - 1759 - Plains of Abraham - Quebec

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A British colony

Most what is now New Brunswick was then Sunbury County in the colony of Nova Scotia. Its relatively inland location meant there was less settlement there than in the rest of the colony, until the American Revolution. Britain convinced Loyalists from New England to settle in the area by giving them free land. (It should be noted that most of the existing settlers actually favoured the American rebels.) There was little local political organization, and obviously what organization there was came from distant Halifax. Nova Scotia was required to be split, and the Province of New Brunswick was officially created by Sir Thomas Carleton on August 16, 1784.

Related Topics:
Sunbury County - American Revolution - New England - Halifax - Sir Thomas Carleton - August 16 - 1784

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New Brunswick was named in honour of the British monarch, King George III, who was descended from the House of Brunswick. Fredericton, the capital city, was likewise named for George III's second son, Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York.

Related Topics:
King George III - House of Brunswick - Fredericton - Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York

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Fredericton was chosen as the capital, shocking residents of the larger Parrtown (later renamed Saint John) The reason given was because Fredericton's inland location meant it was less prone to enemy (i.e. American) attack. Saint John did, however, became Canada's first incorporated city. It also found itself as home to American traitor Benedict Arnold, whose shady local business dealings gave him no less hatred among his fellow Loyalists.

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The War of 1812 had little effect on New Brunswick. Forts such as the Carleton Martello Tower in Saint John and the St. Andrews Blockhouse were constructed, but no action was seen. Locally, New Brunswickers were on good terms with those in Maine and the rest of New England, and there was even one incidence where the town of St. Stephen lent all its share of gunpowder to Calais, Maine, across the river, for Fourth of July celebrations.

Related Topics:
War of 1812 - Carleton Martello Tower - St. Andrews Blockhouse - St. Stephen - Calais, Maine - Fourth of July

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Further north along the Maine-New Brunswick border, the boundary was disputed. Officials in London and Washington, D.C. stated their claims, but some local residents did not care one way or the other, even after pushed by British magistrates. When a resident of Edmundston was asked which side he supported, he replied "the Republic of Madawaska". The name is still used today to describe the northwestern corner of the province. The boundary dispute, known as the Aroostook War, was settled in 1842.

Related Topics:
London - Washington, D.C. - Edmundston - Republic of Madawaska - Aroostook War - 1842

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More settlers came in 1845 from Ireland after the Potato Famine broke out. Many of these people settled in Saint John or Chatham, which to this day calls itself the Irish Capital of Canada. The Catholic population often clashed with the existing Protestant residents, coming to a head with a gun battle in Saint John in 1849.

Related Topics:
1845 - Ireland - Potato Famine - Chatham - Catholic - Protestant - 1849

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Throughout the 19th century, shipbuilding, both on the Bay of Fundy shore and the Miramichi, was the dominant industry in New Brunswick, although resource-based industries such as logging and farming were also important. In the latter part of the century, several railways were built across the province, making it easier for these inland resources to make it to markets elsewhere.

Related Topics:
19th century - Shipbuilding - Bay of Fundy - Miramichi - Logging - Farming - Railways

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New Brunswick in Canada

New Brunswick was one of the four original provinces of Canada formed with Confederation in 1867. The Charlottetown conference of 1864 was initially intended only to discuss a union of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, but interest developed in the Province of Canada (formerly Upper and Lower Canada, later Ontario and Quebec). Many residents of the Maritimes wanted no part of Confederation for fear that the region's needs would be overshadowed by those of the rest of the country, and many politicians involved - such as Sir Leonard Tilley, New Brunswick's best-known Father of Confederation - found themselves without a seat after the next election.

Related Topics:
Confederation - 1867 - Charlottetown - 1864 - Prince Edward Island - Province of Canada - Upper - Lower Canada - Ontario - Quebec - Sir Leonard Tilley - Father of Confederation

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Following Confederation, New Brunswick suffered the effects of an economic downturn precipitated by the Great Fire of 1877 in Saint John and the decline of the sailing shipbuilding industry, and compounded by the global recession sparked by the Panic of 1893. Many skilled workers moved west to other parts of Canada or south to the United States, but as the 20th century dawned, the province's economy expanded again. Manufacturing gained strength with the construction of several cotton mills across the province and, in the crucial forestry sector, the sawmills that had dotted inland sections of the province gave way to larger pulp and paper mills. Nevertheless, unemployment remained relatively high and the Great Depression provided another setback. Two influential families, the Irvings and the McCains, emerged from the depression to begin to modernize and vertically integrate the provincial economy.

Related Topics:
Great Fire of 1877 - Panic of 1893 - United States - 20th century - Cotton - Sawmills - Pulp and paper - Unemployment - Great Depression - Irvings - McCains - Vertically integrate

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The Acadians, who had mostly fended for themselves on the northern and eastern shores, were traditionally isolated from the English speakers that dominated the rest of the province. Government services were often not available in French, and the infrastructure in predominantly French areas was noticeably less evolved than in the rest of the province. This changed with the election of premier Louis Robichaud in 1960. He embarked on the ambitious Equal Opportunity plan in which education, rural road maintenance, and health care fell under the sole jurisdiction of a provincial government that insisted on equal coverage of all areas of the province. County councils were abolished with rural areas outside cities, towns and villages coming under direct provincial jurisdiction. The 1969 Official Languages Act made French an official language, on par with English. Linguistic tensions rose on both sides, with the militant Parti Acadien enjoying brief popularity in the 1970s and anglophone groups pushing to repeal language reforms in the 1980s, but tensions had all but disappeared by the 1990s.

Related Topics:
Louis Robichaud - 1960 - Equal Opportunity - 1969 - Official Languages Act - Parti Acadien - 1970s - Anglophone - 1980s - 1990s

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