History & Culture
Newfoundland and Labrador, a land of rugged beauty, tundra, ice and barren rocks, is the easternmost province of Canada. It is also Canada’s newest province, having joined the country in 1949, and is separated into two sections: Newfoundland, an island, and Labrador, which is located on the mainland of Canada. The name ‘Newfoundland’ was first used in 1497 in an English registry, recording the discovery of “Terra Nova”, or the “new found land”. Until 1965, the name was used to describe both the island and the entire province, but in 1965, the province’s name was changed to Newfoundland and Labrador.
The last recorded Viking voyage to Newfoundland occurred in 1347. Then, towards the end of the fifteenth century, European nations began their quest for a northwest route to Asia, and expeditions repeatedly touched here. In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian explorer, sailed from England on the first of two voyages to Newfoundland. On his return, he reported that the codfish on the Grand Banks were so thick that he could scoop them up in baskets from the sides of the ship. The report was all the encouragement that fishers in England’s western ports needed, for there was a valuable European market for fish. Within a short time, Spain, Portugal and France also had ships on the Grand Banks. While the fishers began their operations, explorers continued to reach the rocky Newfoundland and Labrador coasts.
Although Spain claimed most of the Americas, including Newfoundland, it concentrated on its possessions farther south and did not interfere with non-Spanish ships coming to the Grand Banks. In spite of the Spanish claim, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, an English sailor and soldier, sailed into St. John’s harbor in 1583 and formally claimed the island for England. However, he could not make the claim stick because a majority of the fishing vessels around the island belonged to Spain. Two years later, Sir Bernard Drake firmly established English control by destroying the Spanish fishing fleet at Newfoundland. Thereafter, only English and French ships were working in Newfoundland, with the French fishing vessels concentrated on the south coast of the island and on the mainland.
By 1621, several colonies had been established along with resident fisheries to control the fishing industry. However, none of the colonies prospered. The lack of success was due to the harsh climate, the poor soil, ill-chosen settlers, ineffective leadership and the seasonal nature of the fisheries. Moreover, the fishers were hostile to the settlers, who were not only competing with them, but had also settled in the areas that were ideal for fishing stations. This animosity between fishers and colonists dominated much of Newfoundland’s history thereafter.
France soon came to realize Newfoundland’s strategic importance as a gateway to Canada. However, the French had similarly restricted settlement in favor of fishing. Then, in 1662, they stationed troops in Placentia, a settlement on the island of Newfoundland. It was designated as the seat of the French royal governor and the base for France’s Newfoundland activities. From that time on, English settlers were subjected not only to the threat of French aggression, but also to Dutch raids. Fishers plundered towns and robbed the settlers at will.
Before Newfoundland had time to recover from the devastation, it became the scene of a prolonged struggle for control of North America. The French land and sea forces based at Placentia repeatedly raided outlying settlements and fishing vessels. In 1696, during King William’s War in which the English and French fought over North American colonies, French troops overran the Avalon Peninsula and burned St. John’s. The English later refortified the port, but in 1708, during Queen Anne’s War between France and Great Britain (a union of three countries headed by England), it again fell to the French.
From this date until the Peace of Utrecht, which ended Queen Anne’s War in 1713, the French virtually controlled Newfoundland. However, the British were victorious elsewhere, and in the treaty, France surrendered Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay and Newfoundland, although it retained fishing rights on the coast between Cape Bonavista and Riche Point on the island of Newfoundland, the so-called “French Shore”.
When the war ended, nearly 2,000 demoralized and exploited people were clinging to Newfoundland’s rocky shores. There were no schools, no churches and no law and order other than the arbitrary rule of the fishing admirals. The island had become a market for New England goods and a midway point for British sailors anxious to enter the lucrative New England trade. Both of these activities were contrary to official British policy. In 1729, Captain Henry Osborne became the first naval governor. He was in residence only for the fishing season, but he instituted the first semblances of government in Newfoundland.
Britain still regarded Newfoundland as a fishing base, not a colony. The governor, although he became a permanent resident in 1817, was still a naval officer. During the early nineteenth century, Dr. William Carson and Patrick Morris led a movement for representative government, which would give the people of Newfoundland governmental control instead of Britain. Britain’s Parliament responded in 1824 by setting aside the Western Charter and authorizing a civilian governor and an appointed legislative council. Then in 1832, Parliament permitted a popularly elected assembly to sit with the council. Almost from the start there was friction between the two legislative bodies over financial control. Legislative tensions, the lack of popular involvement, and the fact that self-controlled government had been granted to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island all contributed to the demand for responsible government in Newfoundland.
During the early 1860s and again in 1895, Newfoundland’s government considered union with the rest of Canada. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Newfoundland’s future appeared promising, but in the early 1890s, a series of disasters almost bankrupted the region. In 1892, a fire destroyed most of St. John’s. Two years later, bank failures and a poor fishing season led to widespread destitution. The government thus sent a delegation to Ottawa to again discuss negotiations for union with Canada, but negotiations ended when the Canadian government, while offering generous terms, did not fulfill their demands. In 1896, a good fishing catch and favorable world trade abruptly reversed the downward trend. Economic recovery was highlighted by the completion of the railway from Port aux Basques to St. John’s in 1898.
In the early twentieth century, fishing expanded and Newfoundland’s economy became more diversified as agriculture was introduced, iron mining expanded, a newsprint plant opened and lumber exports assumed real economic importance. The British government gave the people of Newfoundland choices for their form of government, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland chose union with Canada and became Canada’s tenth province.
Since the 1960s, the economy has been chronically depressed due to declining fish stocks and slackened world demand for the province’s products. Fishing, pulp and paper manufacture and iron ore mining remain major activities, but they do not provide enough jobs or income to alleviate widespread poverty and a high rate of unemployment. The province typically has the highest unemployment rate and the lowest average family income in Canada. In 2003, 17.8 percent of the labor force was unemployed.
In 1996, 57% of the people lived in urban areas, and the rest lived on farms or in small logging, mining and fishing villages called “outports”. The population density was the lowest of any Canadian province at 3.6 persons per square mile, with more than 30 percent of the people living in or near St. John’s. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador are overwhelmingly of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. In 1996, 1.4 percent of inhabitants were Inuit or other indigenous peoples.
In 1991, Labrador had a population of 30,375; in 2002, the figure was 27,864. The iron-mining district around Wabush Lake accounted for about two-fifths of the total population. Labrador City grew rapidly in the 1960s and continued to do so the following decade, but its population declined in the 1980s and 1990s. Other population centers in Labrador are along the southern coast and in the Happy Valley-Goose Bay region.
History
In 986 A.D., a Viking sailor from Europe, Bjarni Herjólfsson, coasted along the shores of Labrador and Newfoundland. Perhaps because of his voyage, the Vikings founded a settlement near present-day L’Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland’s northeastern coast. This site corresponds to the descriptions of Vinland by Viking explorer Leif Eriksson. Eriksson sailed to North America at the end of the tenth century and is believed to have called Newfoundland “Vinland” because of the grapes growing there. Although it is still uncertain whether this village actually was the famous Vinland, it was definitely Viking, and scientific tests have fixed the time of its existence as around 1000 A.D.The last recorded Viking voyage to Newfoundland occurred in 1347. Then, towards the end of the fifteenth century, European nations began their quest for a northwest route to Asia, and expeditions repeatedly touched here. In 1497, John Cabot, an Italian explorer, sailed from England on the first of two voyages to Newfoundland. On his return, he reported that the codfish on the Grand Banks were so thick that he could scoop them up in baskets from the sides of the ship. The report was all the encouragement that fishers in England’s western ports needed, for there was a valuable European market for fish. Within a short time, Spain, Portugal and France also had ships on the Grand Banks. While the fishers began their operations, explorers continued to reach the rocky Newfoundland and Labrador coasts.
Although Spain claimed most of the Americas, including Newfoundland, it concentrated on its possessions farther south and did not interfere with non-Spanish ships coming to the Grand Banks. In spite of the Spanish claim, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, an English sailor and soldier, sailed into St. John’s harbor in 1583 and formally claimed the island for England. However, he could not make the claim stick because a majority of the fishing vessels around the island belonged to Spain. Two years later, Sir Bernard Drake firmly established English control by destroying the Spanish fishing fleet at Newfoundland. Thereafter, only English and French ships were working in Newfoundland, with the French fishing vessels concentrated on the south coast of the island and on the mainland.
By 1621, several colonies had been established along with resident fisheries to control the fishing industry. However, none of the colonies prospered. The lack of success was due to the harsh climate, the poor soil, ill-chosen settlers, ineffective leadership and the seasonal nature of the fisheries. Moreover, the fishers were hostile to the settlers, who were not only competing with them, but had also settled in the areas that were ideal for fishing stations. This animosity between fishers and colonists dominated much of Newfoundland’s history thereafter.
France soon came to realize Newfoundland’s strategic importance as a gateway to Canada. However, the French had similarly restricted settlement in favor of fishing. Then, in 1662, they stationed troops in Placentia, a settlement on the island of Newfoundland. It was designated as the seat of the French royal governor and the base for France’s Newfoundland activities. From that time on, English settlers were subjected not only to the threat of French aggression, but also to Dutch raids. Fishers plundered towns and robbed the settlers at will.
Before Newfoundland had time to recover from the devastation, it became the scene of a prolonged struggle for control of North America. The French land and sea forces based at Placentia repeatedly raided outlying settlements and fishing vessels. In 1696, during King William’s War in which the English and French fought over North American colonies, French troops overran the Avalon Peninsula and burned St. John’s. The English later refortified the port, but in 1708, during Queen Anne’s War between France and Great Britain (a union of three countries headed by England), it again fell to the French.
From this date until the Peace of Utrecht, which ended Queen Anne’s War in 1713, the French virtually controlled Newfoundland. However, the British were victorious elsewhere, and in the treaty, France surrendered Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay and Newfoundland, although it retained fishing rights on the coast between Cape Bonavista and Riche Point on the island of Newfoundland, the so-called “French Shore”.
When the war ended, nearly 2,000 demoralized and exploited people were clinging to Newfoundland’s rocky shores. There were no schools, no churches and no law and order other than the arbitrary rule of the fishing admirals. The island had become a market for New England goods and a midway point for British sailors anxious to enter the lucrative New England trade. Both of these activities were contrary to official British policy. In 1729, Captain Henry Osborne became the first naval governor. He was in residence only for the fishing season, but he instituted the first semblances of government in Newfoundland.
Britain still regarded Newfoundland as a fishing base, not a colony. The governor, although he became a permanent resident in 1817, was still a naval officer. During the early nineteenth century, Dr. William Carson and Patrick Morris led a movement for representative government, which would give the people of Newfoundland governmental control instead of Britain. Britain’s Parliament responded in 1824 by setting aside the Western Charter and authorizing a civilian governor and an appointed legislative council. Then in 1832, Parliament permitted a popularly elected assembly to sit with the council. Almost from the start there was friction between the two legislative bodies over financial control. Legislative tensions, the lack of popular involvement, and the fact that self-controlled government had been granted to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island all contributed to the demand for responsible government in Newfoundland.
During the early 1860s and again in 1895, Newfoundland’s government considered union with the rest of Canada. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Newfoundland’s future appeared promising, but in the early 1890s, a series of disasters almost bankrupted the region. In 1892, a fire destroyed most of St. John’s. Two years later, bank failures and a poor fishing season led to widespread destitution. The government thus sent a delegation to Ottawa to again discuss negotiations for union with Canada, but negotiations ended when the Canadian government, while offering generous terms, did not fulfill their demands. In 1896, a good fishing catch and favorable world trade abruptly reversed the downward trend. Economic recovery was highlighted by the completion of the railway from Port aux Basques to St. John’s in 1898.
In the early twentieth century, fishing expanded and Newfoundland’s economy became more diversified as agriculture was introduced, iron mining expanded, a newsprint plant opened and lumber exports assumed real economic importance. The British government gave the people of Newfoundland choices for their form of government, and on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland chose union with Canada and became Canada’s tenth province.
Economic Activities
Until the twentieth century, the province’s economy was almost totally dependent upon the export of fish. Farming was a supplementary activity of many fishers, but the poor soil and climate prevented any real development of agriculture. In the 1920s, the rising demand for pulp and paper gave rise to forestry as the region’s leading economic activity. After World War II ended in 1945, however, forestry was replaced by the mining of iron ore in Labrador as the leading industry.Since the 1960s, the economy has been chronically depressed due to declining fish stocks and slackened world demand for the province’s products. Fishing, pulp and paper manufacture and iron ore mining remain major activities, but they do not provide enough jobs or income to alleviate widespread poverty and a high rate of unemployment. The province typically has the highest unemployment rate and the lowest average family income in Canada. In 2003, 17.8 percent of the labor force was unemployed.
Population Patterns
The province’s population grew slowly from 12,000 in 1763 to 202,000 in 1891. By 1935, it totaled only 290,000 people – a growth rate of barely 1.1 percent per year, which was largely attributed to emigration. Between 1951 and 1961, the growth rate peaked at 2.7 percent per year, but after 1961, it once again fell back to former levels. In the 1996 census, the population was 547,160, down by 3.7 percent from the 1991 census figure. The population was estimated at 519,570 in 2003 and 526,000 in 2022.In 1996, 57% of the people lived in urban areas, and the rest lived on farms or in small logging, mining and fishing villages called “outports”. The population density was the lowest of any Canadian province at 3.6 persons per square mile, with more than 30 percent of the people living in or near St. John’s. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador are overwhelmingly of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. In 1996, 1.4 percent of inhabitants were Inuit or other indigenous peoples.
In 1991, Labrador had a population of 30,375; in 2002, the figure was 27,864. The iron-mining district around Wabush Lake accounted for about two-fifths of the total population. Labrador City grew rapidly in the 1960s and continued to do so the following decade, but its population declined in the 1980s and 1990s. Other population centers in Labrador are along the southern coast and in the Happy Valley-Goose Bay region.
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