Atlantic Canada is made up of four provinces. The region is physically diverse. The well-manicured features of Prince Edward Island and the agricultural areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick contrast with the ruggedness of Newfoundland and Labrador (McGee, 2002). In the region, there is no centralization of financial activities. Since the early settlers arrived in the region, the fish industry has always attracted many businesspersons.
Similarly, its hydrocarbon resources have offered bright prospects. The problems that the people may have faced have served as a unifying factor for the residents. This article focuses on how the history of Atlantic Canada has been informed of necessity and hardship occasion not only on new materials forms but a verbal and customary expression.
Based on the course work, it is apparent that the history of Atlantic Canada derives some of its distinctive characteristic features from several things, such as needs, adversity occasions, and verbal and customary expressions. The Aboriginal people settled in Atlantic Canada for thousands of years ago. It is believed that the region’s geographical position has molded parts of its history.
The earliest Europeans to visit the region, the Vikings, were on an adventure sailing from Iceland to Greenland. After the Vikings visit, it took the Europeans several centuries to make another visit to the region. After the discovery of the Americas, the accounts and the chronicles by the men who discovered the New World amazed the Europeans of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Europe, with its long history, suddenly realized a need to learn more about the people of the New World. It did not take long before some Europeans moved and settled in the New World, which comprised Atlantic Canada. As the population in the New World had increased, there was a need for Europeans to extend their territories.
Way before the Europeans migrated to Atlantic Canada and other parts of Northern America, the population in Europe could be supported by its natural resources. However, when the population increased to the level that it could not be supported by its natural resources, there was a necessity to move some of its inhabitants to the New World.
Concerning necessity, it can also be argued that the early European settlers’ desire to discover precious metals in North America led them to Atlantic Canada. Through their expedition, they contributed immensely to the history of the region. For instance, several Canadian historical, literary works assert that some of the first voyages in the region were searching for gold.
Through these expeditions, the French influence in the region was initiated. In the later fight between the English and the French, the region played a strategic part (Slumkoski, 2011). Through the above arguments, it is clear that necessity contributed immensely to the history of Atlantic Canada.
Similarly, hardship benefited the distinctive nature of Atlantic Canada in several ways. Life of the first European settlers in the region was demanding in many ways. As such, these individuals underwent tremendous hardships and faced severe challenges. The winters were chilly, long, and hoary. Similarly, the natives were frequently unsociable as they were not pleased with how the Europeans treated them.
Before encountering the cruel realities of living in an unkind new land, the early Europeans to arrive in the region had to endure a laborious journey across the Atlantic Ocean. After their tedious travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the Europeans more often arrived in Atlantic Canada in poor health.
Some historians believe that in the absence of the native communities, a number of the Europeans could die when they arrived in the region. Throughout numerous generations, they discovered with the help of the natives how to come up with helpful medications from plants. These settlers came from England, France, and other countries across Europe. They were looking forward to an improved and bright future in the New World.
A number of them were looking forward to obtaining their lands. The others were looking forward to starting a new life. However, when they had arrived in Atlantic Canada, life became very difficult for a number of them contrary to their expectations (Rayburn, 2001). Several challenges were witnessed as the number of settlers increased in Atlantic Canada. These issues were fueled by the difference in the beliefs and values of the settlers and the natives.
These resulted in strained relationships among them, has increased the levels of hardship experienced in the region. The manner and the extent of hardship occasions endured by the early settlers and the natives in the region were detailed and described in several kinds of literature contributing to enriching the knowledge in history.
Based on the above arguments, it can be argued that hardship occasions have contributed immensely to the history of Atlantic Canada.
The history of the region is also in verbal and customary expressions used. When the early settlers settled in the region, differences in the verbal and customary expressions between them and the natives was considered a major cause of conflict. The settlers and the aboriginal communities had no common means of verbal expression.
Before the two communities learned about each other’s languages, they communicated using sign languages and drawings on the grounds. Equally, the natives believed that their ideas and customs were gifts from their god. They believed that humans should exist in harmony with their environment. In verbal stories and myths that Aborigines passed from one age group to another, their siblings learned how their world came into being.
The natives always gave gratitude for everything in their environment. They took care of all the objects in their surrounding, whether living or lifeless objects, with the greatest respect. The deep admiration that the natives showed towards the environment was reflected in folks, dances, and celebrations.
For instance, a hunter was meant to converse to an animal through dances and songs before killing it. Through this, they would thank their god for providing his people with much-needed food.
The settlers and the native had very dissimilar values and cultures. For instance, the settlers perceived that everyone should own lands. On the contrary, the natives believed that the land was communal property and that it was not supposed to be owned by any individual. Also, the natives believed that the land was their only source of livelihood, and losing it to the settlers was similar to losing their independence to the whites (Prieur, 2000).
As the settlers started practicing agriculture in Atlantic Canada, they prohibited the natives from hunting in their claimed land. These affected the aborigines’ cultural way of lives in several ways. As such, some settlers wanted the natives to abandon their cultures in favor of European cultures. With this dissimilarity in perspective, the natives had to undergo through immense hardships in their relationships with the newcomers.
The natives trained the settlers on how to sow, crop, and feed on corn. Equally, the aboriginal people trained the settlers and explained then the significance of crop rotating.
Through this, the two communities’ cultural values intermingled how the aborigines and settlers’ cultural and verbal expressions intermingled was captured in several historical books. This implies that the history of Atlantic Canada has also been informed by verbal and customary expressions.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the history of Atlantic Canada has been informed by both the circumstances of necessity and the hardship occasion not only on new materials forms but verbal and customary expressions. After the discovery of the Americas, the accounts and the chronicles by the men who had discovered the New World amazed the Europeans of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Europe, with its long history, suddenly realized a need to learn more about the people of the New World. In regards to necessity, it can also be argued that the early Europeans’ need to discover precious metals in North America led them to travel to Atlantic Canada.
Through their expedition, they have contributed immensely to the history of the region. In the same manner, the history of Atlantic Canada has also been informed by verbal and customary expression contributed to the history of the region under the study. For instance, the differences in the verbal and customary expressions between the settlers and the natives were considered a major cause of conflict in history.
References
McGee, H. F. (2002). The native peoples of Atlantic Canada: a history of Indian European relations. Ottawa: Carleton University Press.
Prieur, B. (2000). Atlantic Canada (3rd ed.). Montréal: Ulysse.
Rayburn, A. (2001). Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Slumkoski, C. J. (2011). Inventing Atlantic Canada: regionalism and the Maritime reaction to Newfoundland’s entry into Canadian confederation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.