Here are the 10 key facts about Canada’s early explorers.
Fact 1:
It is universally accepted by archeologists that Canada’s history dates back to about twelve thousand years ago. Prehistoric humans arrived in Canada through the Bering Land Bridge from what is now Siberia to what is now Alaska and then spread across North America.
Fact 2:
Canada’s ’s indigenous peoples, also called Native Americans, First Nations, or, incorrectly, Indians, lived in small, nomadic groups across Canada, even the central grasslands and the arctic. The native people lived off the land, some by hunting and gathering, others by growing crops. The Huron-Wendat of the Great Lakes region and the Iroquois were farmers and hunters. The Cree and Dene of the Northwest were hunter-gatherers. The Sioux were nomadic, following the bison (buffalo) herd. The Inuit lived off Arctic wildlife. West Coast natives preserved fish by drying and smoking.
Fact 3:
Canada’s early explorers were Europeans. The first Europeans who reached Canada were the Vikings, or Norsemen, who came from Iceland to Greenland around 1,000 years ago and reached Newfoundland and Labrador. The Vikings stayed in Canada only briefly, though. The remains of their settlement, l’Anse aux Meadows, are a World Heritage site.
Fact 4:
Newfoundland was rediscovered 500 years later by John Cabot, one of Canada’s early explorers. He set foot on Cape Breton Island in 1497 and claimed the land for England. The English settlement did not start until 1610, however. John Cabot was the first to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast.
Fact 5:
Another famous explorer of Canada was Jacques Cartier who made three voyages to Canada between 1534 and 1542. The legend says he entered the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and planted a giant crucifix into the shore of Gaspé, Quebec. He claimed the land for the King of France, Francis I. Jacques Cartier did not manage to establish a settlement in Canada.
Fact 6:
The origin of the name Canada is also associated with Jacques Cartier. It is believed that Jacques Cartier overheard two captured Iroquois guides say the word ‘kanata’ and thought they were talking about the whole country, but the word in fact means village. By the 1550s, the name Canada began appearing on maps.
Fact 7:
Canada’s other early explorer, a French man, Samuel de Champlain established the first settlement called New France along the coast of The St. Lawrence River in 1610. Champlain became the Governor and established three more cities: Quebec City and Trois-Rivières in what is now Quebec, and Port-Royal in Acadia, present-day Nova Scotia. Champlain built a fortress in Quebec City.
Fact 8:
The dealings of the French settlers and the Natives weren’t exactly peaceful. Champlain started a long period of wars with the Iroquois. He made friends with the Algonquin, Montagnais, and Huron, the long-time enemies of the Iroquois. The Iroquois and the French fought each other for a century before reaching peace in 1701.
Fact 9:
The British landed in North America around the same time as Champlain. They quickly started establishing little colonies south of New France. They established the cities of Jamestown (1607), Plymouth (1620), and Boston (1630). With time, the British built 13 separate colonies along the eastern coast of North America, stretching from Massachusetts in the north down to Georgia in the south. After discovering the entrance to North America via Hudson Bay, the British also claimed the area north of New France, which they called Rupert’s Land. As opposed to the 13 colonies that were pretty independent, Rupert’s Land was held exclusively by Hudson Bay Company (HBC), a business organization that was independent of the British government.
Fact 10:
Over time British colonies grew in number, gained a lot of power and became richer that the French colonies. The French and the British competed against each other for the beaver trade.
