History of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name. It joined the Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1873.

Early history

Prince Edward Island was originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. They named the island Epekwitk (the pronunciation of which was changed to Abegweit by the Europeans), meaning "resting on the waves." They believed that the island was formed by the Great Spirit placing some dark red clay which was shaped as a crescent on the pink Waters.

French Colony

As part of the French colony of Acadia, and, after 1713, the French colony of Île Royale, the island was called Île Saint-Jean. The Island began to be settled in 1720. The settlers lived primarily at Port-la-Jolie and Havre Saint-Pierre (St. Peter's Habour). At Port-la-Jolie there was an administrative unit and a garrison, detached from Louisbourg, where sat the government for both Ile Royale and Ile Saint-Jean. While new settlements were established along the Rivier-du-Nord-Est and at bit Havre Saint-Pierre remained the largest population throughout the French occupation of the Island.

Siege of Port-la-Joye

After the Siege of Louisbourg (1745), the New Englanders had also taken Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). The New Englanders had a force of two war ships and 200 soldiers stationed at Port-La-Joie. To regain Acadia, Ramezay was sent from Quebec to the region. Upon arriving at Chignecto, he sent Boishebert to Ile Saint-Jean on a reconniassance to assess the size of the New England force. After Boishebert returned, Ramezay sent Joseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson along with over 500 men, 200 of whom were Mi'kmaq, to Port-La-Joie. In July 1746, the battle happened near York River. Montesson and his troops killed forty New Englanders and captured the rest. Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command.

At the beginning of the Acadian Exodus from mainland Nova Scotia began and many Acadians migrated to the Island. The population increased dramatically from 735 to approximately three thousand. New settlements began at Pointe-Prime (Eldon), Bedec, and other places.

Expulsion of the Acadians

The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next forty-five years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour. During the French and Indian War, the British sought both to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia.

Once the first wave of the Expulsion of the Acadians began in mainland Nova Scotia, there was even more Acadians arriving on the Island as refugees. After the Siege of Louisbourg (1758), the second wave of the expulsion began. On the eve of 1758 the population had grown to almost 5000. Commander Rollo accomplished the Ile Saint-Jean Campaign. One of the most dramatic removal was of Noel Doiron and his family from Eldon.

British Colony

It became its own separate colony on June 28, 1769, after determined lobbying by the island's proprietors. The new British colony of "St. John's Island", also known as the "Island of St. John", was settled by "adventurous Georgian families looking for elegance on the sea. Prince Edward Island became a fashionable retreat in the 18th century for British nobility".

In 1798, Great Britain changed the colony's name from St. John's Island to Prince Edward Island to distinguish it from similar names in the Atlantic, such as the cities of Saint John and St. John's. The colony's new name honoured the fourth son of King George III, Prince Edward Augustus, the Duke of Kent (1767–1820), who was then commanding British troops in Halifax. Prince Edward was the father of Queen Victoria.

Canadian Confederation

In September 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the Charlottetown Conference, which was the first meeting in the process leading to the Articles of Confederation and the creation of Canada in 1867. Prince Edward Island did not find the terms of union favourable and balked at joining in 1867, choosing to remain part of the nation of Great Britain and Ireland. In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including the possibility of becoming a discrete dominion unto itself, as well as entertaining delegations from the United States, who were interested in Prince Edward Island joining the United States of America.

In the early 1870s, the colony began construction of a railway and frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States. In 1873, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, anxious to thwart American expansionism and facing the distraction of the Pacific Scandal, negotiated for Prince Edward Island to join Canada. The Federal Government of Canada assumed the colony's railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure and from any new migrants entering the island. Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873.

As ( olso ) a result of having hosted the inaugural meeting of Confederation, the Charlottetown Conference, Prince Edward Island presents itself as the "Birthplace of Confederation" with several buildings, a ferry vessel, and the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge over ice covered waters in the world, using the term "confederation" in many ways. The most prominent building in the province with this name is the Confederation Centre of the Arts, presented as a gift to Prince Edward Islanders by the 10 provincial governments and the Federal Government upon the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, in Charlottetown as a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation."

See also

• History of Charlottetown