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Since the beginning of the sixteenth century, European fishermen have been lured to the waters of Newfoundland. Because fishing there was either seasonal or migratory, the presence of these men was only required for a few months each year. At the end of each season, the fishermen returned to their homelands.
Attempts to colonize the island failed until the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Historians have tried for decades to explain this slow rate of growth. The only answer they could come up with, was that there was a fundamental hostility between the needs of migratory fisherman who needed unlimited access to the shore and beaches and the settlers who wanted permanent ownership of property.
Recently, historians have changed their way of thinking. They have recognized that the growth of population in Newfoundland was successful only where traders and merchants were already established. Both of these factors may have played a part in the slow settlement of the picturesque island.
Early in the seventeenth century, the first attempts were made to colonize Newfoundland. Humphrey Gilbert’s voyage of 1583, as well as the first colonization attempt in 1610, led to Queen Elizabeth I laying claim to English sovereignty over Newfoundland.
In 1610, John Guy led settlers to Newfoundland on behalf of the London and Bristol Company, which is now referred to as the Newfoundland Company. Guy attempted to colonize Cupid’s Cove. Guy and his party explored the region and made contact with the Boethuck Indians in 1612. Historians are very interested in Guy’s contact with these Natives, as they are now extinct and not much is known of their traditions and culture. But that is another story, which I will cover at a later date.
The year before Guy and his party landed at Newfoundland harbor, private venturers established the first colony under royal chapter. Within twenty years, other settlements were founded between Trespassey and Bonavista. But the fishermen, the ship’s captains and merchants who sponsored the fishing expeditions wanted Newfoundland to remain a fish preserve. These groups banded together and convinced King Charles I, who had by now ascended the English throne, to give all legal authority to the Fishing Admirals. These were the first captains to land in Newfoundland harbor each spring. These were rough, tough men who were good fishermen and navigators but not the best to disperse the King’s justice. They harassed and bullied the settlers and burned the forests to increase hardships. In spite of this, resident populations increased.
The settlers were helped from 1650 onwards by trade with New Englanders who came to Newfoundland with ships filled with woolens, rum, salted meat, molasses and sugar. These items were traded for salted cod and fish oil.
In 1662, King Charles I passed the Navigation Acts, which forbid trade with foreign countries as well as between the colonies. This did not stop the determined settlers. Soon, Newfoundland was the center of a thriving contraband trade.
Britain set out to catch the smugglers. She sent ships to Newfoundland under the guise of bringing the fishing fleet back to England. These ships were actually sent to suppress smuggling.
Smuggling was not restricted to the exchange of New England tobacco, West Indies sugar and French brandy. Many descendents of New England colonists would be surprised to know that some of their early American ancestors were smuggled out of St. John’s harbor in empty rum kegs.
In 1713, Queen Anne’s ministers, by the Treaty of Utrecht, made the French a factor in inhibiting the growth of Newfoundland for more than 200 years. The treaty gave the French concurrent fishing rights on most of the northeast coast and the entire West Coast of the island. This was the source of continuous conflicts.
Finally, a naval governor was sent to Newfoundland. Lord North did nothing to aid the settlers. He ordered that “what the settlers wanted raw, they were to get roasted – what they wanted roasted, they were to get raw.”
In 1789, the naval commander in Newfoundland ordered his men to destroy every building that had a chimney. This was more than thirty years after Nova Scotia had been granted a representative assembly and become a colony that was assisted by governing officials. But the settlers of Newfoundland were stout, hearty and determined people, who possessed a lot of grit. They persevered and prevailed.
Today, Newfoundland has a landmass of 42,000 square miles. Much of its vast interior remains unexplored and virtually uninhabited. Its population is dispersed along 6,000 miles of coastline. The reason for this is that the conditions that the settlers lived under confined them to the coast and caused them to scatter their harbors to ensure that they live in peace. There they remained without the benefit of clergy, education or law enforcement. They existed on their own resources with no one to aid them or provide civil protection.
In 1892, these people faced a terrible crisis when the entire city of St. John’s was destroyed by fire. Then again in 1894, when two commercial banks failed, leaving them without currency.
In 1949, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent welcomed Newfoundland into Confederation. A general certificate of Canadian citizenship, which covered all of Newfoundland’s British subjects, was issued. At that time, the residents of the island that were British born were declared “natural born” Canadians.
Today, approximately 539,000 people live in Newfoundland, according to Statistics Canada. If it weren’t for the courage and stamina of those early seventeenth century settlers, Newfoundland might still be only an area inhabited by fishermen. Their determination and perseverance is to be commended. They truly were the first Canadian pioneers.
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