History | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    The Provincial Freeman

    In 1959, an article in the Journal of Negro History announced the discovery of copies of a weekly newspaper long believed lost to history. A sizeable print run of a dust-covered bound volume of The Provincial Freeman, which was published from 1853 to 1860, had been sitting in the library tower at the University of Pennsylvania since the early 1900s. What made this newspaper unique was not just that it was the second paper run by and for African Canadians. It made history as the first newspaper in North America to be published and edited by a Black woman, Mary Ann Shadd.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/c66e93b7-de62-464f-8023-84993b922ccb.jpg The Provincial Freeman

  • Article

    The Quebec Act, 1774 (Plain-Language Summary)

    In 1759, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham. Soon after, the British took control of Quebec (see also The Conquest of New France.) The Quebec Act of 1774 was passed to gain the loyalty of the French who lived in the Province of Quebec. The Act had serious consequences for Britain’s North American empire. The Quebec Act was one of the direct causes of the American Revolution. (This article is a plain-language summary of The Quebec Act, 1774. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry on The Quebec Act, 1774.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/bcf0dcc3-ce34-4098-8543-00bcccbaabe0.jpg The Quebec Act, 1774 (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    The Battle of York

    A crushing defeat for the British in the War of 1812, the sacking of York began on the morning of 27 April 1813. At dawn, a flotilla of 16 American ships under Commodore Isaac Chauncey made its way to the capital of Upper Canada, York [Toronto]. Landing to the west, the Americans suppressed the small group of warriors defending the shore, while knocking out the town's meagre batteries. The American force of approximately 1,700 men easily assumed control. With the fort poorly defended by an undersized garrison of 700 soldiers and backed by an unenthusiastic (indeed, almost wholly absent) militia, the British general, Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, retreated. He left behind two local militia officers to negotiate the terms of surrender.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/SirIsaacBrockShip.jpg The Battle of York

  • Article

    Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary)

    The Seven Years’ War (1756–63) was the first global war. In North America, Britain and France fought each other with the help of Indigenous allies. At the end of the war, France gave Canada (Quebec) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton) to Britain, among other territories. This is the reason that Canada has a British monarch but three founding peoples — French, British and Indigenous. (This article is a plain-language summary of the Seven Years’ War. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry Seven Years’ War.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/JamesWolfe/Benjamin_West_DeathofGeneralWolfe.jpg Seven Years’ War (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Shelburne Race Riots

    On 26 July 1784, a mob of Loyalist settlers stormed the home of a Black preacher in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. They were armed with hooks and chains seized from ships in the harbour. The confrontation ignited a wave of violence in Shelburne County that lasted approximately 10 days. The majority of the attacks targeted the county’s free Black population. The Shelburne Riot has been described as the first race riot in North America. (See also British North America.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/be13527b-b76d-408a-afca-30acbd4f7bfc.png Shelburne Race Riots

  • Article

    Editorial: The Stanley Flag and the “Distinctive Canadian Symbol”

    The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. Prime Minister Lester Pearson and John Matheson, one of his Liberal Members of Parliament, are widely considered the fathers of the Canadian flag. Their names were front and centre in 2015 during the tributes and celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the flag’s creation. But the role played by George Stanley is often lost in the story of how this iconic symbol came to be.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/a9adffc5-8796-4968-ac52-ab33df0fe6eb.jpg Editorial: The Stanley Flag and the “Distinctive Canadian Symbol”

  • Editorial

    The Northwest Passage: From Myth to Reality

    The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 The Northwest Passage: From Myth to Reality

  • Article

    The Study of Working Class History

    The Canadian worker has been a neglected figure in Canadian history. Workers have contributed in many ways to the development of Canadian society, but the history of working people — their families, communities and work places — has only gradually become part of our view of the past and an important component of understanding how we came to occupy our present.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/b80125b4-aa4c-4ba7-93ee-b529174ca74b.jpg The Study of Working Class History

  • Editorial

    Editorial: John Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. In 1946, John Humphrey became director of the United Nations Division on Human Rights, and Eleanor Roosevelt was named the United States representative to the UN’s Commission on Human Rights. Humphrey was an obscure Canadian law professor. Roosevelt was the world’s most celebrated woman. For two years, they collaborated on the creation of one of the modern world’s great documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was adopted on 10 December 1948.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/6afcc1db-4a9a-4e2f-9a50-ad1981f54caf.jpg Editorial: John Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

  • Article

    The War of 1812 (Plain-Language Summary)

    The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States between 1812 and 1814. The war ended in a stalemate but had many lasting effects in Canada. It guaranteed Canada’s independence from the United States. It also gave Canadians their first experience working together as a community and helped develop a sense of nationhood. (This article is a plain-language summary of the War of 1812. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry War of 1812.)

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/d60240b0-5df1-48c0-bd0f-e3c0fbc67705.jpg The War of 1812 (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    The Wars

    Timothy Findley’s 1977 novel about the mental and physical destruction of a young Canadian soldier in the First World War won the Governor General’s Literary Award for English Language Fiction. It is widely regarded as one of the country’s definitive historical war novels. It has been called “one of the most remarkable novels of war ever published” and “the finest historical novel ever written by a Canadian.” The Globe and Mail referred to The Wars as “the great Canadian novel about the First World War.”

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/60246c70-8d6a-4c61-af84-72e302c3363a.jpg The Wars

  • Article

    Thunderbird

    Thunderbird, a supernatural creature prominent in Northwest Coast Indigenous myths. 

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/0c7246ce-04d4-4027-9907-07156a5ba0d6.jpg Thunderbird

  • Article

    Timber Axe

       Two basic types of axe were used in the early 19th-century eastern forest industry. The more common poll axe had a single, fan-shaped cutting edge, a narrow head weighing 1.5-2.5 kg, and a hickory or maple handle. It was used for felling, scoring and lopping branches off fallen trees.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/cec78fec-e5dd-4380-bdb0-41072ce95e26.jpg Timber Axe

  • Article

    Timber Trade History

    Wood was the staple of Canadian trade for much of the 19th century. Fueled by European demand, the timber trade brought investment and immigration to eastern Canada, fostered economic development, and transformed the regional environment far more radically than the earlier exploitation of fish and fur (see Fisheries; Fur Industry). It encouraged exploration, the building of towns and villages, and the opening of roads. While a great resource for Canada, timber also contributed at times to economic instability. Over the course of the industry’s history, weather conditions, commercial uncertainties and imperfect market intelligence produced wide fluctuations in the demand for—and the price of—wood.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/timbertradehistory/lumbercamp.jpg Timber Trade History

  • Article

    Titanic

    The Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic was a British luxury passenger liner that sank on its maiden transatlantic voyage. At approximately 11:40 p.m. on 14 April, 1912, about 740 km south of Newfoundland, Titanic’s starboard (right) side scraped along an iceberg. The collision ruptured several watertight compartments. Water poured in, but the first lifeboat was not launched until an hour later. Approximately two-thirds of the liner’s passengers and crew died. Titanic’s sinking was one of the worst marine disasters in history and remains firmly embedded in popular culture today.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/69692e90-db50-4679-992f-989cebf24a69.jpg Titanic