The Great Migration. Immigration After the War of 1812, Britain wanted to open up the backwoods to farming They wanted to fill the colonies with people.

The Great MigrationThe Great Migration

Immigration After the War of 1812,

Britain wanted to open up the backwoods to farming

They wanted to fill the colonies with people from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Between 1815 and 1850 more then 800,000 immigrants came to Halifax, Saint John and Quebec City This is called the “Great

Migration”

Reasons for Immigration

The population in Britain was growing and there were less and less job opportunities

Farmers were often being forced off their land to make room for city growth

Poverty and hunger were a common feature of life in Britain

Ireland suffered from a terrible famine

Ocean travel was a lot safer

The colonies offered free land, new opportunities and a chance for a better life = HOPE!

Coming to the Colonies Immigrants travelled by ship to

Canada

The journey took many weeks

If you had money, there were comfortable cabins

If you were poor – which most were – you were crowded into the dark and very dirty holds (below deck)

Diseases were rampant So many died they called the ships

“coffin ships” Some stopped in the Maritimes, but

most continued to Quebec City and Montreal

They then travelled by land to Upper Canada

The Terrible Year Around 30, 000 immigrants arrived every

year from Britain

2/3 were from Ireland

In 1847 the number of Irish immigrants increased dramatically to 100,000

There was a horrible potato famine in Ireland – all the crops had failed due to blight

Approximately 1/3 of the population of Ireland relied on potatoes for their daily food and nourishment

To make matters worse, an epidemic of Typhus broke out on the ships carrying the immigrants

Thousands died on the way

Thousands died in a quarantine station on the St. Lawrence at Grosse-Ile

In 1847 5,424 people were buried

SOAPSTone!

• “Advice for Immigrants”

• We will read the Primary Source together

• You will complete the SOAPSTone chart in small groups

• We will then discuss it

Pioneer Life Once the immigrants left the ships, they made their way inland by boat and

wagon

They were going to their plot of land When they reached their new home they had a new challenge to face

The land wasn't ready for farming – it was still wilderness They had to now clear the trees and plant-life away to make fields

Pioneer Life: Women It was not just men who were

doing hard work – women were too

Women worked with the men of the family in both the home and on the farm

Mary milks the cow admirably and drives the horses for me in the barn when I am threshing, and they tread out the grain. She also attends to the young lambs and is most useful in a hundred ways. Frances makes our candles and does the cleaning.

The girls finish their spinning today . . . What they do not require for the house, they will “trade away” for winter dresses, boots, shoes, and a thousand little things which a large family of girls are always requiring . . . Their exertions have been wonderful, from before 5 in the morning until after 7 at night.

- William Hutton, Farmer, Upper CanadaQ: What kinds of chores did the women do?

Catherine Parr Trail Although women helped a lot with

farming life – it was still a very difficult and demanding lifestyle

Catherine Parr Trail, who came to Upper Canada in 1832, writes about this aspect of life for women

The women are disconnected and unhappy. Few enter their whole heart into a settler's life. They miss the little domestic comforts they had been used to enjoy; they regret the friends and relations they left in the old country; and they cannot endure the loneliness of the backwoods.

- Catherine Parr Trail, Backwoods of Canada

SOAPSTone!

• “Building a Log-House in Upper Canada”

• We will read the primary source together

• You will work on the chart independently

A Very British Colony• The influx of so many

people from Britain changed the colonies

• These immigrants brought with them their British customs and traditions

– They spoke English

– They played British games

• New industries opened up such as logging and mining

• People worked as labourers, servants, teachers and doctors

Population Increase

1806 1831 1851

Upper Canada 71 000 237 000 952 000

Lower Canada 250 000 553 000 890 000

Nova Scotia 68 000 168 000 277 000

New Brunswick 35 000 94 000 194 000

Prince Edward Island 10 000 30 000 70 000

Newfoundland 27 000 76 000 102 000

This chart does not include First Nations, although their population was in decline at this time. Why do you think this is?