From ironmtn@bigfoot.com Mon Dec 7 12:27:31 1998 Path: brain!torn!cyclone.bc.net!logbridge.uoregon.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!news-feed.fnsi.net!peerfeed.ncal.verio.net!newshub1.home.com!news.home.com!news.rdc1.bc.wave.home.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: ironmtn@bigfoot.com (Mike Cleven) Newsgroups: soc.culture.canada Subject: Re: Timeline of Canadian history, Part 2 of 5 Organization: Iron Mountain Creative Systems Reply-To: ironmtn@bigfoot.com Message-ID: <366f0ce5.224556890@news.nvcr1.bc.wave.home.com> References: <749re1$lcq$3@brain.npiec.on.ca> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 297 Date: Sun, 06 Dec 1998 23:28:49 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.112.120.143 X-Complaints-To: news@home.net X-Trace: news.rdc1.bc.wave.home.com 912986929 24.112.120.143 (Sun, 06 Dec 1998 15:28:49 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 06 Dec 1998 15:28:49 PDT Xref: brain soc.culture.canada:223432 On 4 Dec 1998 23:32:17 GMT, Foxtaur wrote: 1772: Cook and Vancouver explore the N.W. coast of America. No mention of Baranof, Martinez, or any of the many other voyages to the NW during this period? > >1776-77 - Capt. James Cook of England explores the Pacific Northwest. Being Canada=centric is one thing, but being anglo-centric on the Northwest Coast is just pure naval gazing/ the Spanish were _far_ more active in the region by this time, as were the Russians....... You might mention the destruction of Dimlhamid/Temlahan somewhere along this timeline....... > >1778 Captain James Cook anchors in Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island >1778 - Spinning mule invented to spin multiple strands of yarn - James >Cook trades for sea otter pelts in Nootka Sound - First treaty between >the United States and an Indian nation is negotiated with the Delaware; >they are offered the prospect of statehood - British and Iroquois forces >attack and massacre American settlers in western New York and >Pennsylvania. >1778 On the last of three voyages to the west coast, Captain James Cook >travels as far north as the Bering Strait and claims Nootka Sound, >Vancouver Island for the British (Mar. 29-Apr.26). > Your references to Cook's activities are glaringly terse in their failure to mention Meares, Barclay, Bodega y Quadra, Galiano, and countless other explorers and imperial agents on the Coast. Other than a mention of Shelikov and a couple of reference to the NWC and David Thompson, you fail to address the complicated history of the NW during this period in the same kind of pointillistic detail with which you are "summarizing" the central-Eastern Canadian saga in the same period - plus lots of extraneous American history, to boot. The intrigues over Nootka Sound in particular are notably absent from your timeline (see below). You might also make mention of the migration of the Wakashan peoples within Queen Charlotte Sound, notably the movement of the Legwildok Kwakiutl branch of the Kwakaw-ka'wakw to the northern end of Georgia Strait; there are also other known details of native history in the Northwest and Plains in the 18th Century that are wanting in your TL......... > >1789-93 - Alexander Mackenzie of Canada, seeking northern river route to >the Pacific, travels to the Arctic Ocean; on second journey he crosses >continent by land, making contact with many tribes. > >1789 Alexander Mackenzie journeys to the Beaufort Sea, following what >would later be named the Mackenzie River >1789 - French Revolution begins - David Thompson learns surveying from >Philip Turnor. >1789 At the behest of the North West Company, Alexander Mackenzie >journeys to the Beaufort Sea, following what would later be named >the Mackenzie River. >1789: Lord Grenville proposes that lands in Upper Canada be held in free >and common soccage, and that the tenure of Lower Canadian lands be >optional with the inhabitants. > >1790 - British Captain George Vancouver begins his three-year survey of >northwest coast of North America - Spain signs the Nootka Convention, >ceding the Pacific Northwest to England and the United States. Bullshit. The United States was not mentioned in the slightest in the Nootka Convention, which was ONLY between Spain and England and which established a condominium of interest between Britain and Spain; it did NOT "cede" the Pacific Northwest to anyone, but rather allowed for British co-interest in the region; Spain did not sign any documents with the US until years later - signing away what they had already signed over to the British by default as a result of their own evacuation of Nootka Sound in 1794-6. Spain's later treaty with the US was also intertwined with Spanish treaties with the Russians from some years previous (also absent from your timeline). The Nootka Crisis nearly brought Spain and England to war for a couple of years running; it was only the signing of the Convention that prevented this - and it was the advent of the Napoleonic Wars that had both Spain and Britain withdraw active interest in the area. You might mention that part of Vancouver's mandate in the area (and Cook's, too, I believe) was to explore the area concerning the viability of a "transplantation" colony for convicts and settlers; these plans were also aborted because of the Napoleonic Wars, which saw the British presence in the region diminished to almost nil until the establishment of Fort Langley in the 1820s........ >1790, Oct 7: New York consents to Vermont's admission to the Union, with >cessation of New York's jurisdiction, in the disputed territory. > Lower Canada is divided into three districts, instead of two. > >1791-95 - British Captain George Vancouver explores Northwest Coast >exhaustively with two ships, but finds no Northwest Passage. The important part here is that he _did_ discover that "Wakish Nation" (Vancouver Island) was in fact an island.......... > >1791 - George Vancouver leaves England to explore the coast; >Alejandro Malaspina explores the northwest coast for Spain. Wow. You finally mention a Spaniard......given the exhaustive detail you went into on obscurities in New England and the Maritimes, you'd think you might have done equivalent research on the Northwest before bothering to include us in your "Canadian" timeline........sorry to be snarky, but it gets tiresome to be treated as a footnote to all the "more important" history in Central and Eastern Canada....... >1791: In response to Loyalist demands, the Constitutional Act of 1791 >divides Quebec into Lower Canada (mostly French) and Upper Canada >(mostly English from America). > In so doing, the Crown hopes to create a stable socity that is >distinctly non-American. Although French-Canadians retain the privileges >granted by the Quebec Act, the Anglican church receives preferred >status. An Anglo-French colonial aristocracy of rich merchants, leading >officials, and landholders is expected to work with the royal governors >to ensure proper order. Legislative assemblies, although elected by >propertied voters, have little power. The threat of revolution, it >appears, has been banished. >1791 Constitutional Act divides Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada >1791 Constitutional Act: created Upper (Ontario) and Lower >(Quebec) Canada > >1792 - Catherine II grants a monopoly of furs in Alaska to >Grigorii Shelikov. >1792 - Captain George Vancouver begins his explorations of the Pacific >Coast. How many times are you going to mention this? >1792 - A large number of the Black Loyalists in New Brunswick and Nova >Scotia migrate to Sierra Leone in West Africa, mainly because the >promises of land in Canada were not kept by the British. >1792 - American Captain Robert Gray discovers mouth of Columbia River - >George Vancouver's Lieutenant William Broughton explores Columbia 100 >miles upriver. Broughton is known to have done so; Gray's account is heavily disputed and his logs have never been reconciled to the local geography of the lower Columbia. Consensus is that Gray _claimed_ to have discovered the mouth of the Columbia in order to strengthen designs by the "Bostonmen" to the NW Coast......most modern historians don't think Grey ever got past the Columbia River bars (at the river's mouth). >1792 George Vancouver begins exploration of the Pacific coast. >1792, May 7: Lower Canada is divided into 21 counties. >1792, Oct 15: The law of England is introduced in Upper Canada. >1792, Dec 20: A fortnightly mail is established between Canada and the >United States. >1792, Dec: A bill to abolish slavery, in Lower Canada, does not pass. > >1793 - Alexander Mackenzie reaches Pacific Ocean at Bella Coola - David >Thompson surveys Muskrat Country west of Hudson Bay. You might mention that Mackenzie was hiding from the Nuxalk, whose village he avoided for fear of being killed...... >1793: HBC Brandon House established on Assiniboine, outpost for trade >south and southwest to Missouri and Yellowstone. >1793 - Under the leadership of Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, >Upper Canada passes a law to stop people from bringing slaves into Upper >Canada. The law also frees slaves who are 25-years old or more. With this >act, Upper Canada becomes the first British territory to bring in >legislation against slavery, although it does not abolish slavery >entirely. >1793 Mackenzie reaches the Pacific at Dean Channel. Missing capt. Vancouver's survey crew by about three weeks..... >1793, May 9: First Parliament, of Lower Canada prorogued. >1793, Jul 9: Importation of slaves into Canada prohibited. > Merchant vessels first navigate Lake Ontario. > >1794 - Baranov builds first vessel in northwestern America at >Voskres-senski on Kenai. Wrong. The "North West America" was built at Nootka Sound in around 1788 (maybe 1790) by - I think - Capt. Meares. >1794 - Jay Treaty establishes neutral commission to settle border >disputes between United States and Canada; restores trade between the >United States and British colonies of Canada; also guarantees Indians >free movement across the border. >1794 Jay Treaty allows U.S. vessels into British ports of the West >Indies; British agree to evacuate Ohio Valley forts. >1794: John Jay (1745-1829) negotiates Jay's Treaty to settle >Anglo-American grievances. >1794 An American diplomat, John Jay, oversees the signing of Jay's >Treaty (Nov. 19) between the U.S. and Britain. It promises British >evacuation of the Ohio Valley forts and marks the beginning of >international arbitration to settle boundary disputes. >1794, June: Close of a session of the Canadian Legislature, which began >in November alst. Only six acts have been passed. Public accounts are >first published for tax-payers' information. >1794 Jay Treaty: between US and Britain required that Britain >abandon its western forts, established West as a free trade zone >between the British dominions (Canada) and the US > >1790's British create protective tariffs to encourage timber >production for Navy after Napolean cuts off Baltic supply of tall >trees and hardwood. First in New Brunswick then in Lower and Upper >Canada. Montreal merchants expand transport to handle trade. > >1795 - The first Russian Orthodox Church established in >Kodiak. >1795: A road Act is passed, in Lower Canada, though opposed by country >people, who fear areturn of the Statue labor of Governor Haldimand's >time. > A Canadian regiment is raised, but is disbanded, owing to Britain's >unfavorable experience of training colonists to the use of arms. > >1796 - About 600 Blacks from Jamaica are deported to Nova Scotia. Known >as Maroons, they help rebuild the Halifax Citadel. In 1800, most of them >leave for Sierra Leone, Africa. >1796 York becomes the capital of Upper Canada. 1796 might be a good time to mention the abandonment of Nootka Sound by the British.......you've made no mention of the famous chieftaincies of the NW - Cumshewa, Concomly, Maquinna, Wickaninish, etc. yet give lots of detail of white-native relations in central Canada. Why is that? >1797: An American, named McLane, being convicted of high treason, is >haned on a gibbet, on the glacis of the fortifications, at Quebec. > >1797 - David Thompson leaves Hudson's Bay Company to join North West >Company. >1797 Having worked for the Hudson's Bay Company since 1784, David >Thompson joins the North West Company as a surveyor and mapmaker, >eventually surveying hundreds of thousands of square miles of >western North America. >1797, Jan 18: A weekly mail is established between Canada and the United >States. >1797, Jan 18: This notice appears in the Quebec /Gazette/: "A mail for >the upper counties, comprehending Niagara and Detroit, will be closed, at >this office, on Monday, 30th instant, at four o'clock in the evening, to >be forwarded, from Montreal, by the annual winter express, on Thursday, >2nd February next." > >1798 - David Thompson travels to Mandan villages and charts headwaters of >Mississippi River - Napoleon invades Egypt - Horatio Nelson and British >Navy defeat French at Battle of the Nile. >1798 A new fur-trading company is formed to compete with the North West >Company. Confusingly called the New North West Company, it is >nicknamed the XY Company from the way it differentiates its bales >from those of its competitor. >1798: Indian chiefs, in Canada, claim from Vermont an equivalent of the >greater part of Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties. >They get their expenses to and fro. > >1799 - David Thompson marries Charlotte Small - Alexander Mackenzie >resigns from North West Company - George Vancouver's /Journeys to the >North Pacific Ocean/ published in London - Handsome Lake, a Seneca chief, >founds the Longhouse religion - Russian-American Fur Company chartered; >launches aggressive policy in Aleutians and on Northwest Coast. >1799 American competition for West Indies trade kills Liverpool, Nova >Scotia's merchant fleet. >1799 - Alexander Baranov establishes Russian post known today >as Old Sitka; trade charter grants exclusive trading rights >to the Russian American Company. >1799 - Aleksandr Baranov consolidates Russian possession of Alaska with >fort and trading base at Sitka. Relations between Russians and Tlingits? The siege of Sitka? No mention of Fort Bragg? >1799: Vermont answers Indian chiefs, in Canada, that their claims were >extinguished by treaties of 1763 and 1783 between France, Great Britain >and the United States. > >1800 Spain cedes Louisiana back to France. >1800 - Alexander Mackenzie joins XY Fur Company Mike Cleven http://members.home.net/ironmtn/ The thunderbolt steers all things. - Herakleitos