From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 16th century in Canada
saw the first contacts, since the
Norsemen
500 years earlier, between the
indigenous peoples in Canada
living near the
Atlantic
coast and European fishermen, whalers, traders, and explorers.
Following the discovery of the Americas by
Christopher Columbus
in 1492 and the subsequent voyage to the land that became known as Canada by
John Cabot
in 1497, Europeans visited the Atlantic coast with increasing frequency. Cabot's report of abundant
codfish
drew European fishermen to the waters near Canada. Most of the visits in the 16th century were unrecorded, although by mid-century the number of European fishing boats and whaling ships visiting
Newfoundland
,
Labrador
, the
Gulf of St. Lawrence
, and
Nova Scotia
ran into the hundreds annually. Many of the Europeans came ashore to trade with the indigenous peoples or process their catch.
[1]
The tribes of indigenous people living in the area visited by Europeans were the
Inuit
in Labrador, the
Beothuk
in Newfoundland, the
Micmaq
in Nova Scotia and the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the
St. Lawrence Iroquoians
along the
St. Lawrence River
in
Quebec
and
Ontario
, and the
Innu
(Montagnais), north of the St. Lawrence River. The tribes of the
Wabenaki
and
Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois) Confederacies would also play a role in the history of Canada during this century.
[2]
The principal resources drawing Europeans to Canada were a seemingly inexhaustible fishery of
cod
and
marine mammals
(for oil). Toward the end of the century, trading with indigenous people for
furs
became important.
Events: 1500 to 1550
[
edit
]
- 1501
: At the direction of the king of
Portugal
,
Gaspar Corte-Real
led three
caravels
to North America, probably sailing along the eastern coast of Newfoundland and possibly to Labrador. Two vessels made it back to Portugal with as many as 49 captured indigenous people, probably Beothuk. Corte-Real and his vessel disappeared, fate unknown.
[3]
- 1502
. The
Cantino World Map
was the first map showing the world-wide discoveries of Portugal. The map shows a representation of what is probably Newfoundland with the caption that this land belongs to Portugal.
[4]
- c.
1502
: A vessel, the
Gabriel
, owned by
Bristol
merchants returned from North America with three indigenous captives.
[5]
This vessel (or another one in the same year) may also have brought the first cargo of codfish from the Americas to Europe.
[6]
- 1504
:
Breton
and
Norman
fishermen from France are known to have begun fishing near "New Found Land," probably on the
Grand Banks
southeast of Newfoundland.
[7]
- 1504
:
Sebastian Cabot
, the son of John Cabot, headed a two ship expedition from Bristol to North America and came back to England with a cargo of salted codfish and fish livers.
[8]
- 1504
: Portugal imposed tariffs on American codfish imported into the country.
[9]
- 1506
: A ship's captain, Jean Denys, visited Newfoundland on a fishing expedition. He was from
Honfleur
in
Normandy
and was the first Frenchman known to have visited Canada.
[10]
- 1508
:
France
sent out an exploratory mission of two ships from the city of
Dieppe
under the command of Thomas Aubert. He brought back to France seven indigenous captives, the first the French had seen. Aubert named the St. Lawrence River and said he ascended the river for 80 leagues, about 350 kilometres (220 mi). He reported that the country was rich in fur-bearing animals.
[11]
- 1508-1509
: Sebastian Cabot sailed from Bristol and looked for a
Northwest Passage
to Asia, possibly entering
Hudson Bay
before his mutinous crew made him turn back. He then turned south and followed the Atlantic coast to the approximate latitude of
Washington, D.C.
before returning to England.
[12]
- 1517
:
Basque
fishermen visited Newfoundland for the first time.
[13]
- 1520
:
Joao Alvares Fagundes
sailed to the Americas on behalf of Portugal. He sailed along the south coast of Newfoundland. Some historians believe he founded a short-lived colony on
Cape Breton Island
, Nova Scotia.
[14]
- 1523-24
:
Giovanni da Verrazzano
, sailing for France, sailed along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina north to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
[15]
- 1529
: A large wooden enclosure built in the 1520s at the
Baie de Chasteaux
[
fr
]
, Labrador indicates that whaling was underway in the
Strait of Belle Isle
.
[16]
- 1534
: In his first voyage to the Americas, Frenchman
Jacques Cartier
circled the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On the southern shore of the
Gaspe Peninsula
near the future town of
Carleton-sur-Mer
he met a group of 300 Micmaq people who were fishing from canoes. Later, he met a group of more than 200 Iroquoians, men, women, and children on
Gaspe Bay
. They had travelled in 40 canoes to Gaspe to fish for
Atlantic mackerel
which abounded in the area.
[17]
They were more than 600 kilometres (370 mi) from their home of
Stadacona
, on the site of present-day
Quebec City
. Both the Micmaq and the Iroquoians met the French "very familiarly" probably indicating previous trading contacts with Europeans. Cartier seized two Iroquoians and took them back to France with him.
[18]
- 1535-1536
: Cartier with three ships and 110 men returned to Canada. He sailed up the St. Lawrence River and reached the St. Lawrence Iroquoian villages of Stadacona and
Hochelaga
(now
Quebec City
and
Montreal
). He was guided by the two Iroquoians he had seized on his previous voyage. Cartier wintered near Stadacona. Twenty-five of his men died of
scurvy
before the Iroquoians told him that tea made from the needles of the
white cedar
tree would prevent the disease. After growing conflict, Cartier kidnapped about ten of the Iroquoians, including the leader, Donnacona, and sailed back to France. Cartier told stories in France of the existence of a rich kingdom of Saguenay in the interior of North America.
[19]
- 1536
: Spanish Basque whaling ventures began at
Red Bay
in southernmost Labrador on the
Strait of Belle Isle
.
[20]
The Basques whaling operation in the 16th century was large, with an average of 15 large and often armed ships and 600 men visiting Red Bay annually during the next 40 years to hunt
bowhead
and
right
whales. Bowhead whales migrated through the Strait of Belle Isle beginning in October and right whales in June.
[21]
Red Bay has been designated as a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site
to preserve the remains of the whale oil processing operations at the site.
[22]
- 1537
: Iron goods in quantity were being traded by Europeans to Indigenous peoples for
marten
skins in the Strait of Belle Isle.
[23]
- c. 1540
: Many thousands of fur skins were being transported from Canada to France each year.
[24]
- 1541
: Jacques Cartier and
Sieur de Roberval
led an attempt to colonize Quebec. Cartier left France with five ships and 500 colonists and founded the first French settlement in America,
Charlesbourg-Royal
, at the mouth of the
Riviere du Cap Rouge
in what would become Quebec City. However, he encountered problems with the St. Lawrence Iroquoians at Stadacona and in other sites. His account of experiences ends at this point and what happened afterward at Charlesbourg-Royal is unknown.
[25]
- 1542
: Cartier abandoned Charlesbourg-Royal and set off for France with his remaining ships and men. He met Roberval in Newfoundland and was ordered to turn back to Charlesbourg-Royal, but Cartier defied the order and left secretly for France.
[26]
Roberval and his three ships continued on to Charlesbourg-Royal where he reestablished the colony. The colony was beset by problems of cold winters, famine, tension with the Iroquoians, and Roberval's dictatorial temperament.
[27]
- 1542
: At
Blanc-Sablon
in the Strait of Belle Isle, a St. Lawrence Iroquoian chief from Stadacona dined on board a Basque vessel and bragged of killing 35 woodcutters in the settlement established by Cartier. The Spanish Basques and the Iroquoians appear to have forged a partnership against other indigenous people of the region and other European powers. The name "Iroquois" probably derives from a
Basque language
word, as does the names of several other indigenous peoples in the region.
[28]
- 1543
: Roberval abandoned his colony at Charlesbourg-Royal and returned to France with all the colonists. The only wealth he had found was
fool's gold
and false
diamonds
. Cartier's and Roberval's failures in Canada inspired the proverb "as false as Canadian diamonds." For the next 50 years, France had no interest in attempting to establish a colony in Canada.
[29]
Events: 1550-1599
[
edit
]
- 1550
: Pottery found at the
Red Bay
Basque whaling station in the Strait of Belle Isle is suggestive of the presence of St. Lawrence Iroquoians at the site, more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from their villages along the St. Lawrence River.
[30]
An Englishmen visiting the area said that the indigenous people helped the Basques "with great diligence and patience to kill, cut up and boil the whales to make...oil."
[31]
- 1570s
: Isolated from the trade in Canada, and also from trade originating from the coast of the future
United States
, the
Mohawk
tribe of the
Haudenosaunee
or Iroquois Confederacy aggressively attacked northward from their homeland along the
Mohawk River
in New York. Possibly they were assisted by neighbouring
Algonquin
speaking tribes who contested the control of the St. Lawrence River by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians. Many historians believe that the disappearance of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians by about 1580 was caused by the Mohawk attacks.
[32]
- 1576
: With three small ships,
Martin Frobisher
of England made his first attempt to find a
Northwest Passage
. He landed in
Frobisher Bay
on
Baffin Island
, persuaded that he had found a way to the "South Sea" (the
Pacific Ocean
) and
Asia
. He came into contact with the Inuit. Five of his men disappeared, apparently captured by the Inuit. Frobisher took an Inuit hostage in retaliation.
[33]
- 1577
: With financial support from the Queen of England, Frobisher set out with three vessels and about 150 men for the Americas on his second expedition. He again found his way to Frobisher Bay and spent his time loading his ships with 200 tons of "gold." He also captured three Inuit and attempted to find the five men he had lost on his previous expedition. Returning to England, his "gold" turned out to be worthless.
[34]
- 1578
: Frobisher departed England with 15 ships and 400 men with the objective of founding a colony in the Arctic lands he had previously visited. He landed in
Greenland
and entered the
Hudson Strait
between the mainland of Canada and Baffin Island which could have led him to a Northwest Passage, but he turned back because of bad weather and ice-clogged waters and returned to England.
[35]
- 1578
: Records suggest that 500 French, primarily Breton and Norman, fishing boats were engaged in the Newfoundland fishery. Basque and Portuguese fishing boats may have numbered 200 to 300. English fishing boats numbered about 50.
[36]
- 1579
. The English parliament closed all ports to imports of Basque whale oil, effectively ending the Spanish Basque dominance of whaling in Canada. Only five Basque whalers visited North American waters in 1579, down from an average of 30 in the earlier 1570s. Basques, mostly French Basques, continued to be important in Canada for whaling and trade, especially trading for furs.
[37]
- c. 1580
. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians disappeared from the St. Lawrence Valley, possibly destroyed by warfare, European diseases, or dispersed among other nearby peoples, such as the
Huron-Wendat
. All these scenarios may have played a role in their disappearance. Their disappearance opened up the Saint Lawrence River valley to European traders, especially the French who would soon be dominant in the region.
[38]
- 1583
. After being absent for 40 years, the French returned to the St. Lawrence River. Members of the French Basque Hoyarsabal family of
Saint-Jean-de-Luz
ascended the river and traded and hunted whales at
Tadoussac
. Jacques Noel also ascended the St. Lawrence to Montreal, the site of the abandoned colony of his uncle, Jacques Cartier, and the St. Lawrence Iroquoian town of Hochelaga. The Iroquoians had disappeared.
[39]
- 1584
: Micheau de Hoyarsabal took with him for trade with the indigenous people at Tadoussac 100 copper kettles, 1,921 knives, 50 axes, several swords, a variety of textile products, and glass beads. The most important products traded by the indigenous people were beaver pelts, other valuable furs, and caribou and moose hides.
[40]
In the late 16th century Tadoussac became an important multi-national trading center with an estimated 100 European ships visiting annually.
[41]
- 1585
: The
Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604)
began. England sent ships to the Grand Banks, the
Newfoundland expedition
led by
Bernard Drake
, and captured many boats in the Portuguese and Spanish fishing fleets. The British and French gradually replaced the Spanish and Portuguese fishermen in Canadian waters.
[42]
- 1590
. Basque fisherman named a place "Pequena Canada" (Little Canada), located at the mouth of the
Saint-Augustin River
near the Strait of Belle Isle. The name "Canada" is the Iroquoian word for settlement or village and possibly indicates that some of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians who had disappeared before 1583 had settled at this place.
[43]
- 1598
: The Marquis de la Roche de Mesgouez was appointed lieutenant-general of Canada by the king of France and established a colony with 50 men, mostly convicts, on
Sable Island
. The colony lasted until 1603 when it dissolved in chaos.
[44]
- 1599
:
Samuel de Champlain
, who would later establish the first permanent French colony in Canada, set out on his first voyage from France to the
Caribbean Sea
.
[45]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Loewen, Brad and Chapdelaine, Claude (2016),
Contact in the 16th Century,
Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, p. 3. Downloaded from
Project MUSE
.
- ^
"Tribal Distribution in and near Canada at time of Contact,"
[1]
, accessed 13 Aug 2019
- ^
Corte-Real, Gaspar,"
Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
[2]
, accessed 13 Aug 2019
- ^
"Cantino World Map,"
[3]
, accessed 14 Aug 2019
- ^
Gilbert, William (2011) Beothuk-European Contact in the 16th Century: A Reevaluation of the Documentary Evidence,"
Acadiensis,
Vol. 40, No. 1, p. 28. Downloaded from
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.
- ^
Janzen, Olaf U. (Apr 2013), "The Logic of English Saltcod: An Historical Revision,"
The Northern Mariner,
, Vol 23, No. 2, p. 123
- ^
Lear, W. H. (1998), "History of Fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic: The 500-year Perspective,"
Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science,
Vol. 23, p. 44.
- ^
"The International Fishery of the 16th Century,"
Heritage,
[4]
, accessed 13 Aug 2019
- ^
Trigger, Bruce G. (1989),
Natives and Newcomers,
Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, page 124. First published in 1986
- ^
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Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
[5]
, accessed 14 Aug 2019
- ^
Weise, Arthur James (1884),
The Discoveries of America to the year 1825,
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- ^
Jones, Evan T. and Condon, Margaret M. (2016),
Cabot and Bristol's Age of Discovery: The Bristol Discovery Voyages, 1480-1508,
University of Bristol, pp. 67-70.
- ^
Loewen, Brad and Delmas, Vincent (2012), "The Basques in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Adjacent Shores,"
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- ^
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[6]
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- ^
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The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages,
New York: Oxford University Press, p. 323.
- ^
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- ^
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Acadiensis,
Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 78-79, 90-94. Downloaded from
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- ^
Parmenter, Jon (2010),
The Edge of the Woods,
East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, p. 7
- ^
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vol. 1, University of Toronto/Universite Laval,
[7]
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- ^
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Arctic,
Vol. 37, No 4, p. 516
- ^
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.
- ^
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[8]
, accessed 14 Aug 2019
- ^
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- ^
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- ^
"Biography ? CARTIER, JACQUES (1491-1557) ? Volume I (1000-1700) ? Dictionary of Canadian Biography"
.
- ^
"Biography ? CARTIER, JACQUES (1491-1557) ? Volume I (1000-1700) ? Dictionary of Canadian Biography"
.
- ^
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[9]
, accessed 21 Aug 2019
- ^
Loewen and Chapdelaine, p. 59
- ^
"Biography ? LA ROCQUE DE ROBERVAL, JEAN-FRANCOIS DE ? Volume I (1000-1700) ? Dictionary of Canadian Biography"
.
- ^
Parmenter, Jon (2010), "In the Wake of Cartier: The Indigenous Context of Champlain's Activities in the St. Lawrence Valley and Upper Great Lakes, 1550-1635," in Nancy Nahra, ed.,
When the French Were Here -- and They're Still Here,
Burlington, VT: Champlain College, p. 88
- ^
Turgeon, Laurier (Oct 1998), "French Fishers, Fur Traders and Amerindians during the Sixteenth Century: History and Archaeology,"
The William and Mary Quarterly,
Vol 55, No. 4, p. 608. Downloaded from JSTOR.
- ^
Parmenter, pp. 89-92
- ^
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1971),
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- ^
Morison, pp. 516-531
- ^
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- ^
Janzen, p. 124.
- ^
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- ^
Tigger, Bruce G. (1976), "The Disappearance of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians", in
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
Litalien, Raymonde (2004), in Vaugeois, Denis, eds.,
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Further reading
[
edit
]