Nova Scotia

A

Exploration

Vikings may have been the first Europeans to reach Nova Scotia, having explored coastal areas of northeastern North America about ad 1000. In 1497 John Cabot, an Italian navigator sailing in the service of England, made a landing in the region. Cabot believed he had reached northeastern Asia, and he claimed the lands for the English crown. French claims to Nova Scotia were established by Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and by Jacques Cartier ten years later. Located near rich fishing grounds, the peninsula soon became an outpost for French and Portuguese fishers. The French also made two unsuccessful attempts to establish colonies on the sea-lashed and windswept Sable Island, in 1518 by Baron de Léry, and in 1598 by Marquis de la Roche.

B

French Settlement

In 1604, Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, holder of a French royal fur monopoly and land grant, set out for North America with Samuel de Champlain, Baron de Poutrincourt, and a group of colonists. The colonists endured a difficult winter on Saint Croix Island in Passamaquoddy Bay, and many died of scurvy. In the following spring the 44 survivors moved across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal in the Annapolis Basin. However, de Monts lost his monopoly in 1607 and Port Royal was briefly abandoned. In 1610 Poutrincourt returned to the site and established what became the first successful agricultural settlement of Europeans in present-day Canada. The settlement of Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) marked the beginnings of Acadia, a French colony encompassing Nova Scotia and the lands around it.

C

French and English Conflicts

Poutrincourt’s son, Charles de Biencourt, differed with the Jesuits, a Roman Catholic religious order that tried to settle on Port Royal. He expelled them, and they founded a mission on Mount Desert Island, Maine. The English, basing their claim to Nova Scotia on Cabot’s voyage and on charters to the London and Plymouth companies, sent Sir Samuel Argall to the area. He destroyed the mission, expelled the colonists, and burned Port Royal. Biencourt and several companions, including his successor, Charles de La Tour, escaped to Cape Sable.

In 1621 James I of England gave the land to Sir William Alexander. The royal charter granting Alexander the land referred to the area as Nova Scotia (Latin for “New Scotland”). To encourage colonization, Nova Scotia was endowed with an order of baronets and a coat of arms in 1626. Scottish colonists soon established two settlements in Nova Scotia—at Charlesfort, near Port Royal, and at Rosemar, on Cape Breton Island—but both proved unsuccessful. The French drove the settlers from Rosemar, and Charlesfort was abandoned in 1632, after the Treaty of Saint Germain awarded Nova Scotia to France. In the same year, Isaac de Razilly brought a number of French settlers to the peninsula to supplement the small French Acadian population. With him came Sieur d’Aulnay Charnisay, with whom La Tour fought over royal privileges. La Tour moved his Cape Sable settlement to a fort on the site of Saint John, New Brunswick, but the rivalry continued.

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D

Wars for Control of Nova Scotia

Twice more in the 17th century the English captured French settlements in Nova Scotia, only to later return them. In 1654 Robert Sedgwick, leading an English fleet from Boston, seized Port Royal and Fort La Tour. Three years later the Treaty of Breda restored Acadia to France. Similarly, Sir William Phips’s capture of Port Royal in 1690, during King William’s War, was reversed by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.

In 1710, during Queen Anne’s War, Francis Nicholson led an American colonial force and captured Port Royal for a fourth and final time—despite a brave defense made by Sieur de Subercase, the last French governor. In 1713 the Peace of Utrecht, which ended Queen Anne’s War, confirmed British control and transferred Acadia to Great Britain. Under the terms of the treaty, French Acadians were permitted to stay in Nova Scotia if they agreed to pledge an oath of loyalty to Britain within one year. The French retained Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island, and to protect their territorial possessions, they built a fortress at Louisbourg.

When Britain entered King George’s War in 1744, the French believed they could easily drive the British from Nova Scotia. A French force captured Canseau (now Canso) and marched on Annapolis Royal (formerly Port Royal), but failed to take the town. One year later New England troops commanded by Sir William Pepperell and a British fleet under Sir Peter Warren avenged the French attacks by seizing Louisbourg. France then sent a great fleet to attack British possessions in Canada and the West Indies, but the sailors were beset by plague and famine and returned to port without having fired a shot. In 1746 Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay, aided by the Mi’kmaq, who were organized by a Jesuit priest, Pére le Loutre, captured Grand Pré but not Annapolis Royal.

To the dismay of the British colonists, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed in 1748, returned Louisbourg to France. The British government, however, had resolved to make Nova Scotia an undisputed British possession. Although Acadians still refused to take the oath of allegiance, the character of the peninsula changed. Nearly 3,000 European immigrants to Nova Scotia were joined by a steady flow of New Englanders. Halifax was founded as a fishing port and naval station, and other towns were planned.

The French, fearful that the growing British population was a threat to their empire in North America (see New France), sought to strengthen their military presence in the maritime region. In 1751 the French built two more forts—Fort Beauséjour, near Aulac, and Fort Gaspereau, near Port Elgin, both in New Brunswick.

In 1755, during the French and Indian War, Fort Beauséjour fell under an American attack and Fort Gaspereau fell to the British. Although only a few Acadians participated in the prolonged conflict, the British governor, Charles Lawrence, gave them a final opportunity to declare their loyalty to England. When they refused, more than 6,000 were deported to the American colonies, although about 2,000 escaped. Three years after the Acadians’ expulsion a British force captured Louisbourg, weakening French control over the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the interior.

E

British Colony

By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the French and Indian War, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick were joined to Nova Scotia. However, Prince Edward Island was separated from Nova Scotia in 1769 and Cape Breton Island and New Brunswick were detached in 1784. Cape Breton Island was reannexed in 1820.

By 1758 nearly 2,000 colonists from the British Isles had moved to Nova Scotia, but the vast majority of immigrants were from New England. This American influence led to the introduction of the town meeting and Canada’s first representative assembly election, which took place in 1758 in Halifax. The influx of New Englanders expanded in 1760 and continued for several years. At the same time, many more settlers arrived in Nova Scotia from the British Isles. Beginning in the 1770s, large numbers of Scots immigrated to Nova Scotia, and they continued to do so for the next five decades, establishing numerous communities in eastern Nova Scotia.

Despite its large New Englander population, Nova Scotia maintained an uneasy neutrality during the American Revolution (1775-1783). When an invasion seemed likely, the British defenses were strengthened. The revolution had its effects: About 30,000 United Empire Loyalists migrated to southwestern Nova Scotia, which was reconstituted as the province of New Brunswick in 1814.

Although many Loyalists left Nova Scotia for New Brunswick, the loss was almost balanced by returning Acadians who had consented to take the oath of allegiance. Nova Scotia also received many of the 20,000 Scots who immigrated to Canada between 1815 and 1838, as well as many Irish immigrants who arrived after 1830.

The Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) and the War of 1812 stimulated Nova Scotia’s economy. Halifax became a shipbuilding center for the British fleets engaged in European and American waters. A pioneer in steam navigation, Sir Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, won a contract in 1839 to conduct regular steamship service to carry mail between England and North America.

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