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Chapter
6
The Nation Expands
Gold Rush
May 18, 1862 Williams Creek
Dear Joe,
I am well and so are all the rest of
the boys. I am writing you a few
lines to let you know that I am well,
and doing well – making two to three
thousand dollars a day! Times good!
Grub high. Whisky bad. Money plenty!
Yours truly,
William Cunningham
In no time, the word spreads: “There is
In the 1850s and 1860s, the people in Canada
and the Atlantic colonies are occupied with gold on the Fraser River!” Miners who had
dreaming and talking about union. But on the been digging in the gold mines of California
Pacific coast, people are buzzing about some- pack up and head north. Business people sell
out and join the crowd going to British
thing else—gold!
In 1857, Aboriginal people on the Columbia to get rich. The gold rush in the
Thompson River in British Columbia present valley of the Fraser River is in full swing.
gold nuggets in exchange for goods in the
Hudson’s Bay store in Kamloops. The
Hudson’s Bay Company official
Predicting
does not know the value of the
1. What effect do you think the discovery of gold will
mineral. He sends the gold nuggets
have on the colony of British Columbia? Explain.
to Victoria to James Douglas.
2.
How
do you think people in the British colonies to the
Douglas sends word back to get all
east will react to the news?
this metal that he can: it is gold!
74
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
Gold on the Fraser
75
Catherine Schubert was
the only woman
among a group of
goldseekers called
the Overlanders of
’62.These hardy
travellers set off
from Fort Garry
westward across
the prairies in carts
and wagons.There
were no roads, only
trails to follow.The
greatest obstacle was
the Rocky Mountains.
The only way over the
mountains was to find a pass,
such as the Athabasca Pass, and make the
climb on foot or snowshoe.The last part of
the trip was by boat down the Columbia
River with its dangerous rapids to Fort
Vancouver. Catherine Schubert gave birth to
a daughter the day she arrived in Kamloops.
Since 1849, Vancouver Island had been a British
crown colony. The Hudson’s Bay Company was
responsible for settling the island. But the
Company was more interested in the fur trade
and did little to encourage settlement. In 1858,
when the gold rush started, the settlement of
Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island was a little
village of only a few hundred people.
Suddenly that summer, more than 20 000
miners swarmed into town. Strangers piled into
the trading post to buy food and equipment.
They wanted salt pork, pick-axes, flour, and frying pans. The little town of Victoria was
changed into a bustling city of tents, shacks,
and over 200 stores.
Miners left from Victoria for the Fraser
River on anything that would float. Fistfights
broke out for places on the steamers. Those
who were too impatient to wait for the
steamships set out in canoes, rowboats, or
even rafts.
NORTH
AMERICA
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Victoria
Pacific
Ocean
Ft.
Garry
England
EUROPE
Québec
St. Paul
New
York
San Francisco
Atlantic
Ocean
AFRICA
Colon
ROUTES TO
BRITISH COLUMBIA,
1862
SOUTHAMPTON/COLON/
SAN FRANCISCO/VICTORIA
Darien
Isthmus of
Panama
SOUTH
AMERICA
LIVERPOOL/SAN FRANCISCO/
VICTORIA
LIVERPOOL/NEW YORK
SAN FRANCISCO/VICTORIA
LIVERPOOL/NEW YORK/ or
QUÉBEC/FT. GARRY/VICTORIA
People in England were also lured to British Columbia by the news of gold.There were three main
routes to British Columbia from England. Describe these routes shown on this map.Which do you
think is the shortest? Which would be the most challenging? Why?
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Unit 1: Confederation
Detail
Gold Seekers
C
h il
Stikine R.
cot
ri b
oo
Mo
Fra
se r R.
Quesnel
Lake
u nt
a in s
Cariboo Road
r
Rive
Lillooet
R.
na
Kamloops
Rocky
ains
Mo u n t
Queen
Charlotte
Islands
Ca
Fra s e r
in R
.
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
e
Ske
Ca
rib
oo
Quesnel R.
Present provincial boundary
R.
Barkerville
Quesnel
Fort George
Quesnel
Vancouver
Island
rib
New
Westminster
oo
M
ins
n ta
ou
Fraser River
Ca
Fort Langley
N
0
50
100 km
CANADA
UNITED STATES
Kamloops
Fort Victoria
N
U NI T E D
STATES
THE CARIBOO GOLD RUSH
0
200
400 km
One method of finding gold was by panning. Miners used a metal pan with sloping sides.They
loosened the gravel in the stream bed with their pick-axes and shovelled it into their pans.Then
they filled the pan with water and tilted it away from themselves slightly. Since gold is so heavy, it
sinks to the bottom of the pan.The miners kept tilting the pan until all the light gravel had washed
out. All that was left was fine black sand, and if the miner was lucky, flakes of gold.
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
British Columbia Is
Created
James Douglas was governor of Vancouver
Island. He had no power on the Fraser River.
Nevertheless he believed that as the Queen’s
representative, he had to do all he could to
keep law and order. The mainland had no government though it was recognized as British
territory. During the summer of 1858, Douglas
made several trips up the Fraser when he heard
there was stealing and quarrelling over claims.
He was accompanied by a group of Royal
Engineers armed with a cannon. He told the
miners that they were in British territory. They
must obey British law or be punished.
The British Parliament, hearing of the gold
77
rush, passed an act creating the colony of
British Columbia on the mainland. At that time,
the mainland was still known as New
Caledonia. James Douglas was appointed governor of British Columbia as well as Vancouver
Island. At the same time, the British appointed
Matthew Baillie Begbie, nicknamed “The
Hanging Judge,” as judge in British Columbia.
Together, James Douglas and Judge Begbie
kept the gold rush in British Columbia from
being as violent as the gold rush in California.
By the end of the summer of 1858, about
$500 000 worth of gold had been taken out of
the Fraser River area. Many of the people who
came looking for gold went home then, thinking it had all been found.
In 1862, a British sailor named Billy Barker made a great new gold find in the Cariboo Mountains
of British Columbia.Within a few weeks, a collection of shanties sprang up around Billy Barker’s
claim. It was named Barkerville and grew into a town of 10 000.There were hotels, music halls,
dance halls, saloons, gambling houses, and stores. Prices were sky high! A barrel of flour cost $300
and potatoes cost $20 per kg. A bottle of champagne sold for about 62 g of gold. A quick dance
with a dance hall girl cost $10. For ten years, the Cariboo region boomed.
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Unit 1: Confederation
Gold in the Cariboo
A few years later, a great new gold find was
made farther up the Fraser River in the Cariboo
Mountains. Once again, American miners began
pouring into British Columbia.
In 1862, Billy Barker made his famous find.
He and his friends started digging in a mine
shaft. They were digging down through the
earth to reach the bedrock, where they hoped
the gold rested. At 16 m they hit pay dirt. Billy
kept on digging. Another 8 m farther down he
found a rich vein of gold in the rock. In the first
48 hours, he took out $1000 worth of gold. The
boom was on!
The Cariboo Road
Governor Douglas decided that a good wagon
road was needed along the Fraser River to
Barkerville. When the road was finished, it
opened the entire Cariboo for settlement.
Miners began to bring in their families and settle there. Ranchers drove herds of cattle north
and began an important industry that exists
today.
But the gold rushes and the Cariboo Road
had a negative impact on Aboriginal peoples in
the area. Miners ignored Aboriginal claims to
land in their rush to stake out new gold finds.
As they panned for gold in the rivers, they
interfered with Aboriginal fishing weirs, raided
their villages, and damaged their sacred burial
sites. Road building pushed animals out of traditional hunting areas. The government did
nothing to stop the miners and settlers from
disrupting Aboriginal lands and ways of life.
There was another problem. The Cariboo
Road had cost almost
$1 million. It was
more than the new
colony could afford.
As the gold began to
run out, hundreds of
people left the area.
Both colonies,
Vancouver Island and
British Columbia, suffered from financial
problems. They saw
that it would be
cheaper if they had
one Assembly and
functioned as one
colony. In 1866, they
were united and kept
the name of British
Columbia.
The Royal Engineers who built the Cariboo Road had an almost
impossible task. In places they had to blast through solid rock.
They had to span the river with high bridges on wooden trestles.
Sometimes huge trees had to be piled high on one another to provide a solid base for the road. This painting of the Cariboo Road is
by artist Rex Woods.
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
The Great Camel Catastrophe
In the 1860s, a herd of 23 camels was imported to haul freight into the Cariboo
gold fields. It was said that the camels were capable of packing very heavy loads,
much heavier than what mules could carry.These camels were supposed to be able
to live in extreme summer heat and excessively cold winters.
The experiment seemed doomed from the beginning. No sooner were the animals unloaded than two broke loose and wandered for months in the lush forests.
They caused the death of an old man who met one on a lonely trail and dropped
dead from a heart attack.
It was soon discovered that the camels could not travel the rocky trails with
ease because their feet were used to desert sands.Their drivers did not like the
camels because the stench of them stuck to their clothing.The owners hoped that
the camels’ long legs would permit them to wade through the deep snow. But it
didn’t work. Several camels and drivers were lost in fierce blizzards.
When spring came, there was more trouble.The camels spooked the mule
trains and caused some of the mules to plunge to their deaths in the deep canyons.
The owners of the mule trains were outraged. Before guns started blazing, the
camel project was abandoned and the animals were sent back to Victoria.The last
remaining camel in British Columbia died on a farm in 1905.
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Unit 1: Confederation
British Columbia Enters
Confederation
In the late 1860s, the new colony of British
Columbia was still in financial trouble. People
began to realize that they would probably have
to be part of a large country if they were going
to prosper. They had three possible choices.
1. British Columbia could remain a British
colony. However, many people felt that the
colony was too far from Britain and too
weak on its own.
2. The colony could join the United States.
Many of the miners came from the United
States. But, when a petition was circulated
in 1869, only 104 of 10 000 people in the
colony signed it to say they wanted to join
the United States.
3. British Columbia could join the Canadian
Confederation. The British government
favoured this, and so did many people in
the colony. In Canada, they could live under
the British flag, have their own provincial
Assembly, and elect representatives to
Parliament in Ottawa.
On 10 May 1870, three delegates left
Victoria for Ottawa. They met with Sir John A.
Macdonald and his officials. They told
Macdonald that British Columbia was interested in joining Confederation if proper terms
could be worked out.
British Columbia asked for responsible government just as the other provinces had. It also
wanted Canada to take over its heavy debts,
especially those connected with the building of
the Cariboo Road. Finally, Canada would have
to build a wagon road across the prairies and
through the mountains to link British Columbia
to the East.
It had long been Macdonald’s dream to link
Canada to the Pacific. The new province would
also provide Canada with tremendous amounts
of natural resources, such as gold and lumber.
Therefore, Canada agreed to accept British
Columbia’s terms. To its surprise, Macdonald
went even further.
British Columbia had asked for a wagon
road; Macdonald promised a railway. The railway would be started in two years and completed within ten. The new province would be
linked to the East by a steel ribbon. On 20 July
1871, British Columbia entered the Dominion of
Canada.
Skill Building: Creating History Cards
Collecting sports cards or cards of popular stars
from TV or movies is a fascinating hobby. On the
front of the card is a photograph of the person.
On the back you read a brief biography.The
biography or profile outlines the highlights of
the person’s life and achievements.
Knowing about the lives of important
women and men makes Canadian history come
alive too.You can create history cards with short
profiles of a hero or heroine’s life. Resources in
your classroom or library and on the Internet
can give you the information you need to complete your historical profile.
Key Steps
1. Choose an important woman or man in
Canadian history, for example, any of the Fathers
of Confederation, Mary Ann Shadd, Harriet
Tubman, or Billy Barker.
2. Decide on the key questions you want to
answer about this person’s life.Work with an
outline.
3. Locate information. Look at biographies,
diaries, letters, and newspaper reports about the
person.Try to photocopy a picture of the person
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
you are writing about or create an illustration
or cartoon.
History Card Outline
4. Make a point-form summary of the information you collect following your outline.
Topic sentence
5. Start with an interesting topic sentence
that clearly tells what the paragraph is about.
Use your outline as you write the details of
the paragraph. Make sure your paragraph has
unity and coherence. End with a concluding
sentence that sums up the whole paragraph.
6. Finally, create your history card.Tape or
glue the picture of the personality on the front
of a piece of cardboard and write your short
profile on the back. Make your card whatever
size and shape you want. Be creative!
1st paragraph
Background information:
• birth and early life
• personal characteristics
• beliefs and goals
2nd paragraph
Important events and
accomplishments in life
3rd paragraph
Historical importance and
contribution to Canadian
history
81
Concluding sentence
Sample History Card
Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie
Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie
Born: 1819
Died: 1894
Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie was British Columbia’s
first judge. He was sent from Britain in November
1858 to bring law and order to one of the toughest
and most lawless groups of people in America - the
gold miners. Judge Begbie was a lawyer in Britain
before he came to British Columbia. A tall, dignified
man, he nevertheless quickly adapted to the rough
new environment and became well respected. He held
court in a tent, saloon, miner’s cabin, or on horseback
in the wilderness if necessary.
Judge Begbie’s main tasks were to protect
Aboriginal peoples and keep order among the miners.
He performed these tasks admirably. He was known
as the “hanging judge,” but he never hanged a person
the jury didn’t convict and hanging was the legal
penalty for murder at the time.
In 1871 when British Columbia joined Confederation,
Judge Begbie became the chief justice for the new
province. In 1874, he was knighted by Queen Victoria
for his work. Judge Begbie’s major contribution was in
ensuring that the gold rush in British Columbia was
as orderly as possible.
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Unit 1: Confederation
New Territories Join
Canada
At the time of Confederation, the vast western
area of Rupert’s Land and the Red River
Settlement were governed by the Hudson’s Bay
Company. For 150 years or more no one, except
Aboriginal peoples and fur traders, cared very
much about this western wilderness. But after
Confederation, the people of Canada began
dreaming of taking over these vast lands. If
the West was turned into farms, their children
could settle there under the British flag. Many
people felt that the Hudson’s Bay Company had
held the land for too long. They began to dream
of a Canada that stretched to the Pacific Ocean.
Macdonald feared that Canada and Britain
would lose the West to the United States if
nothing was done. In a letter in 1865 he wrote:
I am perfectly willing to leave Rupert’s Land
a wilderness for the next half century, but I
fear that if the Canadians do not go in, the
Yankees will, and with that fear I would
gladly see a crown colony established there.
About 12 000 settlers lived at the Red River
Colony around Fort Garry (near the present
city of Winnipeg). Some of these people were
Settlements like this one
at Fort Edmonton grew
up around the Hudson’s
Bay Company trading
posts.The Hudson’s Bay
Company had received a
royal charter to trade in
Rupert’s Land in 1670.
the original settlers. They had come with Lord
Selkirk when he established the colony in 1811.
Settlers in the Red River had sent petitions to
London about the way the Hudson’s Bay
Company was ruling their settlement. They felt
they did not have the rights and privileges
British subjects should enjoy. They said they
would prefer to be part of Canada.
Canada decided to send delegates to
England to see if the Hudson’s Bay Company
would sell its empire to Canada. Of course, the
Company was in no hurry to give up its claim
to the land. Finally, a price was agreed upon.
The Hudson’s Bay Company would be paid
300 000 pounds and be allowed to keep 1/20th
of the fertile land. Some day, it would sell parts
of those 2.5 million ha to settlers. The Company
kept its posts and the land around them. The
whole region was to be transferred to Canada
on 1 December 1869 and renamed the NorthWest Territories.
This was one of the greatest land deals in
history. Before its third birthday, the young
Canada would stretch almost from sea to sea.
When British Columbia joined Confederation in
1871, Canada did reach from the Atlantic to the
Pacific.
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
Prince Edward Island Joins
Confederation
In 1867, Prince Edward Island had turned
Confederation down flat. During the next six
years, Islanders began to have second thoughts.
The Islanders had decided to build their
own railroad along the length of the island. But
the railway caused all sorts of problems. Each
little town wanted to make certain that it had a
track linkup with the main line. That meant all
kinds of detours and branch lines that the railway planners had not counted on. When the
island government tried to borrow money, it
discovered that being small and alone made it a
poor risk.
By 1873, the railway was hopelessly in debt.
When the people of Prince Edward Island
heard that they would have to pay heavier
taxes or join Canada, the prospects of joining
Canada started to appear very good.
Canada was still interested in having Prince
Edward Island as part of Confederation. As
long as it was outside of Confederation, Prince
Edward Island could be used as a base for an
attack on Canada.
In 1873, Prince Edward Island approached
Ottawa and asked if it could enter Confederation. By the terms of the agreement, Canada
provided $800 000 to buy the land on the island
from the absentee landlords. Canada took over
the province’s debts, most of which had been
caused by the new railway. It promised, too,
that there would be a year-round ferry boat
service from the mainland to the island, as well
as a telegraph service.
On 1 July 1873, Prince Edward Island joined
Confederation.
Confederation Sea to Sea
In 1880, Britain presented the Arctic islands to
Canada. There were dozens of islands named
and unnamed in the frozen north. So, it had
taken only 13 years for Canada to fulfil the
dream of “stretching from sea to sea” and from
“the river to the ends of the earth.”
Fast Forward
Confederation Bridge
83
For over a century, a ferry and air service
were the only ways to reach Prince Edward
Island from mainland Canada. Then in 1997, a
land link was completed. The Confederation
Bridge stretches across the Northumberland
Strait 12.9 km from Borden-Carleton, Prince
Edward Island to Cape Jourimain, New
Brunswick. It is the longest bridge over icecovered waters in the world. A contest was
held to name the bridge and “Confederation
Bridge” was chosen as the winner. Some
Islanders feared they would be flooded with
visitors and that the quiet lifestyle on the
island would be disrupted. Others welcomed
the tourists, new jobs, and the faster transportation link for the boost they would give to
the island’s economy.
Find out more about the bridge on the
Internet at www.confederationbridge.com.
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Unit 1: Confederation
Culture
Link
Early Canadian Artists
efore photography was
invented, the only way
people had of recording events,
scenes, images of people, and
landscapes was by drawing or
painting them. Many of the earliest artists in Canada were
British travellers or soldiers.
But in the mid 1800s, some
Canadian artists began to paint
scenes of Canadian life and
landscapes. Some of these early
painters were explorers and
adventurers who wanted to
record images many people had
never seen before.
B
Paul Kane
Paul Kane arrived in Upper
Canada from Ireland as a nineyear-old boy. In 1845 he headed
Paul Kane’s paintings are
still exhibited at galleries
across the country today.
This painting is entitled
The Surveyor: Portrait of
Captain John Henry Lefroy
1855.
west on a sketching tour. He
hoped to record scenes from
the lives of Aboriginal peoples
before these cultures were
changed forever by European
immigration. For the next two
and a half years, he wandered
through bush and over prairies
and mountains all the way to
the Pacific Ocean. He painted
Aboriginal houses, villages, ceremonies, and tools. He also
painted portraits of people
themselves. Buffalo were the
main source of food for the
Plains people. Kane watched
and sketched one of the last
great buffalo hunts. He returned
to Toronto in 1848 with about
700 sketches of Aboriginal people and western scenery.
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
Cornelius Krieghoff
Cornelius Krieghoff was one of
Canada’s most famous painters of
the mid-19th century. Born in
Amsterdam in 1815, he arrived in
Canada about 1846 and settled in
Québec. He was fascinated by
French-Canadian society in rural
Québec and painted many scenes of
everyday life. His paintings show
farm life, festive celebrations, tavern scenes, and country customs.
Kriegoff’s paintings are packed with
details and often crowded with
lively figures. The paintings were
popular as souvenirs for tourists
and soldiers.
1. Describe the paintings.
What details do you
notice? What can these
paintings tell us about life
in the mid 1800s?
2. Locate other paintings
by these artists. Create a
poster board display or
scrapbook with captions
describing the paintings.
Krieghoff’s paintings are still valued today for the picture they portray of early French-Canadian
life.This painting is entitled Winter Landscape.
85
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Unit 1: Confederation
Growth of the Nation
Canada has grown and changed tremendously since Confederation
in 1867. Study the maps carefully and describe the changes to
Canada at each date.
CANADA, 1867
CANADA
ALASKA
BRITAIN
(Purchased by US, 1867)
0
500
250
750 km
NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
NE
W
FO
U
Hudson Bay
N
D
L
AN
RUPERT'S
LAND
EC
QU
É
B
(Hudson's Bay Co.)
PEI
ON
TA
RIO
N
CANADA, 1873
D
VANCOUVER
ISLAND
(United with
B.C., 1866)
NOVA SCOTIA
NEW BRUNSWICK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CANADA
BRITAIN
0
250
500
750 km
NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES
(joined 1869)
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
(joined 1871)
Hudson Bay
NE
W
FO
U
N
D
L
AN
D
MANITOBA
(joined 1870)
P.E.I. (joined 1873)
ON
Q UÉB E C
TA
RIO
N
NOVA SCOTIA
CANADA, 1905
NEW BRUNSWICK
CANADA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BRITAIN
0
250
500
750 km
YUKON
TERRITORY
NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
NE
W
FO
U
Hudson Bay
ALBERTA
N
D
L
AN
D
SASKATCHEWAN
MANITOBA
Q U É BEC
ONTARIO
P.E.I.
NOVA SCOTIA
N
NEW BRUNSWICK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
CANADA, 1912
CANADA
0
500
250
750 km
YUKON
TERRITORY
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
NE
W
FO
U
Hudson Bay
ALBERTA
N
D
L
AN
MANITOBA
D
SASKATCHEWAN
disputed boundary
Q U É BEC
P.E.I.
ONTARIO
NOVA SCOTIA
N
NEW BRUNSWICK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CANADA, 1949
CANADA
0
250
500
750 km
YUKON
TERRITORY
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
NE
W
FO
U
Hudson Bay
ALBERTA
N
D
L
AN
MANITOBA
D
SASKATCHEWAN
Q U É BEC
ONTARIO
P.E.I.
NOVA SCOTIA
N
NEW BRUNSWICK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CANADA, 1999
CANADA
0
250
500
750 km
YUKON
TERRITORY
NORTHWEST
TERRITORIES
NUNAVUT
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
NE
W
FO
U
Hudson Bay
ALBERTA
N
D
L
AN
MANITOBA
D
SASKATCHEWAN
Q U É BEC
ONTARIO
P.E.I.
NOVA SCOTIA
N
NEW BRUNSWICK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Unit 1: Confederation
Activities
Understanding Concepts
1. Add these new terms to your Factfile.
gold rush
panning
Cariboo Road
biography
profile
Rupert’s Land
Red River Colony
North-West Territories
2. a) What were the three choices open to the colony of British Columbia in
1870-71?
b) Outline the advantages and disadvantages of each choice.
3. a) Why did Canada want to buy the Hudson’s Bay Company lands?
b) Why did the Hudson’s Bay Company want to keep some of its land instead
of turning it over to Canada?
4. What happened between 1867-73 to cause Prince Edward Islanders to change
their minds about Confederation?
Digging Deeper
5. WRITE Imagine you are a gold seeker or overlander in British Columbia in the
1860s.Write a postcard to a relative in Europe describing your experiences.
Include an illustration on the front of the card.
6. ROLE PLAY A miner is accused of looting an Aboriginal village. Hold a mock
trial. Roles can include Judge Begbie, the accused miner, some eyewitnesses
including other miners, and Aboriginal people.
7. CREATE Work in small groups. Discuss how British Columbia might have
benefitted from joining the United States in the 1870s rather than the
Canadian Confederation. Create a poster to present your opinions to the
class. Be prepared to give reasons for your ideas.
8. DEBATE Debate this statement: “The Hudson’s Bay Company got a better deal
than Canada in 1869.”
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Chapter 6:The Nation Expands
9. TIMELINE Add the main events in this chapter to the timeline you created in
the last chapter (#7 page 73). Make sure your timeline shows when each of
these provinces and territories became part of Canada.
a) Prince Edward Island
b)Canada East
c) New Brunswick
d)British Columbia
e)Nova Scotia
f) Canada West
g) the North-West Territories
1864
Coalition government is formed in
the Province of Canada
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia,
and New Brunswick plan talks
about a Maritime union
1 July 1867
Confederation is achieved
Making New Connections
10. DISCUSS Why do you think the Hudson’s Bay Company and the government
of Canada failed to consider the wishes of the Aboriginal peoples when the
sale of Rupert’s Land was being discussed? What reactions do you think
Aboriginal peoples today have to this oversight?
11. PROVERBS/QUOTATIONS People have always been excited by the prospect of
finding gold. Columbus sailed across the ocean looking for gold. Kings and
queens promised rewards to anyone who could change less valuable metals
into gold.
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Below are some thoughts that people have had about gold through the centuries. Explain what each of these quotations means.Which quotations do you
agree or disagree with? Why? Find other sayings about gold or make up a
short saying of your own.
All that glitters is not gold. (Proverb)
Gold is good and learning is much better. (Proverb)
It is observed of gold that to have it is to be in fear, and to want it is to be in
danger. (S. Johnson)
Gold
Gold
Gold
Gold
begets in brethren hate,
in families debate,
does friendship separate,
does civil wars create. (A. Cowley)
I despise gold; it hath persuaded many a man to evil. (Plautus)
12. MEDIA/CREATE Suppose you had to create a travelling museum display on the
gold rush in British Columbia in the 1860s.Your display has to fit on one wall
of a trailer that will travel across the country.Work in groups. Decide what
you would include.Then gather photos, create models and artifacts, write
descriptions of the materials, include audio and/or video clips, etc. Divide the
work so that everyone has a task to complete. Mount your display in your
classroom.