Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.06.1967, Blaðsíða 3

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 1. JÚNÍ 1967
3
The first Brilish Flag on Norlh America. — It was in 1497 that John
Cabol, a Venetian adventurer in the service of Henry VII of England,
landed on the shores of Cape Breton, unfurled the Cross of St. George
England. — From painting by J. D. Kelly for the Confederalion Life
Colleciion.
discovered country, lest the
“infants of Satan,” the Luther-
ans, come into possession of it.
Here is in part, the text of a
letter which he wrote to Fran-
cis the First, the most Christ-
ian King of France:
“As the sun rises every
day in the east, and sets in
the west, goes around and
makes a circuit of the earth,
giving light and heat to
everyone, so our holy faith,
first planted in the east, at
length came to the west of
Europe. . . . We have seen
this most holy faith of ours
struggle against wicked
heretics and false law-
makers. . . . Even now at
present, we see how the
wicked Lutherans, aposta-
tes and imitators of Maho-
met, from day to day strive
to cloud it over, and finally
to put it out altogether, if
God, and the true members
of the same did not guard
against this with capital
punishment, as one sees
daily by the good regula-
tions you have instituted
throughout your territories
and kingdom. Likewise,
also, one sees the princes of
Christendom and the pil-
lars of the Catholic Church
unlike the above, infants of
Satan, striving day by day
to enlarge the same.”
The Reformation was young
then, and religious tolerance
an unknown concept in Fran-
ce, even as it is in Spain to-
day.
Cartier attempted to plant
settlements in what we call
the Maritime provinces, but
known to the French as Aca-
dia, and in the St. Lawrence
Valley. It was not until the
year 1608 however, that the
St. Lawrence colony was
firmly established under the
leadership of Samuel de
Champlain, who is regarded
as the founder of the City of
Quebec, and the first French
colony in the new world. He
also established a trading post
in Montreal. His activities
during the first two decades in
the seventeenth century left
an indelible impression upon
the fortunes of French Can-
ada.
Champlain appears to have
been more of an explorer than
a politician. At least he made,
what later appeared to be, a
mistake by committing the
French to an alliance with
Algonquin and Huron Indians,
against the more powerful
confederacy of the Iroquois,
who thus became allies of the
British, both in war and in
the fur trade. To this alliance
is due in some measure at
least, the failure of the French
to hold their empire in North
America. But the French made
extensive claims to North
America; they declared the en-
tire region from the Maritimes
west to Lake Superior was
theirs, as well as the eastern
part of what is now the United
States, from the Mississippi to
the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1663, Louis the XIV made
Canada a royal province, with
a governor responsible to the
crown. No attempt was made
at representative government,
nor was any Huguenot, nor
heretic permitted to settle.
Emigration from France was
encouraged. Sturdy French
peasants came over in large
numbers. They brought with
them the traditional system
of land grants and tenure,
which was used among the
French in Canada until 1854,
when it was discontinued by
law.
The next two centuries saw
an incessant struggle between
the English and the French for
possession and control of the
North American continent. In
the long run France did not
have the resources to cope
with the British in America.
British command of the coast-
al waters was of great advan-
tage to them. Finally, the
long standing rivalry for con-
trol of the continent was
brought to a close with the
Seven Years’ War, and the
Treaty of Paris in 1763, which
ended French territorial am-
bitions for good and all, and
turned all of Canada over to
England.
FRENCH CONCESSIONS
But the Treaty of Paris gave
France some important con-
cessions and privileges. She
was permitted to retain two
groups of islands off the south
coast of Newfoundland, St.
Pierre and Miquelon, “to serve
as shelter for the French
fishermen.” Another provision
was of much greater impor-
tance: that the King of Britain
“agreed to grant the liberty of
the Catholic religion to the in-
habitants of Canada,” and to
allow them “to profess their
worship of their religion ac-
cording to the rites of the
Romish church, as far as the
laws of the Great Britain per-
mit.”
This regulation had refe-
rence primarily to the inhabi-
tants of the St. Lawrence Val-
ley, which was already held
by the French, and which now
was made into the Province of
Quebec. The Quebec Act, pas-
sed by the British Parliament
in 1774 superseded the Royal
Proclamation of 1763 as the
constitution of the Province
was changed and far reaching
innovations were introduced.
The boundaries of the colony
were extended westward and
southward to include what be-
came the Northwest territory,
and the Ohio valley. The Ro-
man Catholic religion of the
subjects was officially recog-
nized, and the church was per-
mitted to collect its accus-
tomed dues. French civil law
was substituted for English
civil law. Both the French law
and the Roman Church have
helped to perpetuate the
French language and culture
in Quebec, and to seriously
impede the process of angli-
cization in the province. In-
stead of winning the loyalty
of the French, which doubt-
less was the objective aimed
at by the Quebec Act, it has
served to alienate the French
population from their Cana-
dian compatriots, even to the
extent of creating a nation
within the nation.
THE LOYALISTS
At the close of the American
revolutionary war, and the
independence of the thirteen
American colonies, great
many people, moved to Nova
Scotia and Quebec out of
loyalty to the British crown.
Those who settled in Nova
Scotia were refused adequate
representation in the Provin-
cial Assembly, and, therefore,
petitioned for a separate gov-
ernment. The Province of
New Brunswick was formed
for them in 1782, by cutting a
slice out of Nova Scotia. Other
groups of loyalists settled in
upper Quebec, in the vicinity
of Lake Ontario. Differences
in language and religious
practices made co-existence
difficult for these people.
Finally, Quebec was divided
by the so-called Constitutional
Act of 1791. The French
speaking part became Lower
Canada, while the so-called
“Upper-Canada” b e c a m e
English speaking.
EXPANSION AND UNION
The War of 1812 is one of
the curious pathetic episodes
of history. Actually it was a
war between the United States
and Great Britain, but was
fought on Canadian soil. The
war was brought about by
inept diplomacy and an ir-
responsible king. Actually the
cause of the war had been
removed two days before it
commenced, but in those days
there was no trans-Atlantic
telegraph, and news travelled
slowly. Both Canada and Un-
ited States claim to have won
the war, but neither did. After
much senseless slaughter, the
war was brought to a close
with the Peace of Ghent,
December 24th, 1814. Pecu-
liarly enough, none of the al-
leged causes of the war were
mentioned in the peace terms,
and both sides accepted the
status quo ante bellum as the
basis of peace. But while the
war did not result in any ter-
ritorial acquisition for Canada,
it became the first common
venture of the four unrelated
provinces, and thus brought
about a new sense of solidarity
and unity unknown among
Canadians up to that time. At
the same time the exploration
of the North-west, the prai-
ries, the Rocky Mountains, and
the Pacific Coast by McKen-
zie, and Vancouver, gave the
first glimpse of a national do-
main. Lord Selkirk founded
the Red River settlement, thus
beginning the Province of
Manitoba in 1812. Immigration
commenced on a large scale,
and a political unity of the
country was envisaged. Lord
Durham’s recommendations
laid before the British Parlia-
ment in 1831 led to the union
of the Canadas in 1841, intro-
duction of responsible govern-
ment, and the growth of Ca-
nadian national feeling. Even-
tually, this led to Confedera-
tion. Again, fear of the United
States, facilitated the political
unity of the Canadian people.
Now it was the fear of becom-
ing involved in the Civil War.
A convention was held in Que-
bec in which delegates from
all the provinces were invited.
A set of resolutions was adop-
ted which served as a basis
for the North America Act of
1867. By this Act, the pro-
vinces of Upper and Lower
Canada, Nova Scotia, and New
Brunswick were formally con-
federated into The Dominion
of Canada.
Upper Canada became On-
tario, and lower Canada took
the name of Quebec. Bytown,
on the Ottawa river, became
Ottawa, the Dominion capital.
The anniversary of the Fede-
ration is called Dominion Day
(July lst). The various other
provinces entered Confedera-
tion on dates as follows: Al-
berta, 1905; British Columbia,
1871; Manitoba, 1870; Prince
Edward Island, 1873; Saskat-
chewan, 1905; Newfoundland,
1948.
Two events helped to adver-
tize and open the western part
of Canada, the prairies, and
the Pacific Coast to the world
and bring wave after wave of
immigrants in the middle and
last part of the last century.
The first of these was the so-
called Riel Rebellion, involv-
ing a French Canadian by
that name, who allowed him-
self to be chosen a leader by
the Indians and half-breeds of
the western prairies.
The trouble arose from the
fear of the half-breeds that
their rights to their land hold-
ing would be disregarded with
the influx of the white men
from the east, — a fear which
indeed was well founded. Riel
made two attempts to stem
the tide of white and protes-
tant immigration to the west.
Both failed, and subsequent
to the latter effort, he was
condemned to death and hang-
ed. This made him a hero
among the French and the
Metis. A tremendous monu-
ment adorns his grave in the
ehurchyard of St. Boniface
The discovery of Canada. — In 1534, a French expedition under
Jacques Cartier a seaman of St. Malo, sent oui by Francis I, King of
France, enlered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He planted a cross at
Gaspe and returned to France. The picture shows Carlier at Perce
Rock. — From a painling by J. D. Kelly for íhe Confederation Life
Collection.