Early history and the Beothuks culture, at the
Port au Choix Archaeological Site. The Maritime
Archaic peoples were the first to settle Newfoundland.
Dorset culture Human habitation in Newfoundland and Labrador can be traced back about 9,000 years. The
Maritime Archaic peoples were
sea-mammal hunters in the
subarctic. Their settlements included
longhouses and boat-topped temporary or seasonal houses. The southern branch of these people was established on the north peninsula of Newfoundland by 5,000 years ago. The Maritime Archaic peoples were gradually displaced by people of the
Dorset culture (Late
Paleo-Eskimo) who also occupied Port au Choix. The number of their sites discovered on Newfoundland indicates they may have been the most numerous Aboriginal people to live there. They thrived from about 2000 BC to 800 AD. Many of their sites were on exposed
headlands and outer islands. They were more oriented to the sea than earlier peoples, and had developed sleds and boats similar to
kayaks. They burned seal
blubber in soapstone lamps. Many of these sites, such as
Port au Choix, recently excavated by Memorial archaeologist, Priscilla Renouf, are quite large and show evidence of a long-term commitment to place. Renouf has excavated huge amounts of
harp seal bones at Port au Choix, indicating that this place was a prime location for the hunting of these animals. The massive decline in sea ice during the
Medieval Warm Period would have had a devastating effect upon their way of life. The
Inuit, found mostly in Labrador, are the descendants of what
anthropologists call the
Thule people, who emerged from western Alaska around 1000 AD and spread eastwards across the
High Arctic tundra reaching Labrador around 1300–1500. Researchers believe the Dorset culture lacked the dogs, larger weapons and other technologies that gave the expanding Inuit an advantage. The inhabitants eventually organized themselves into small
bands of a few families, grouped into larger
tribes and
chieftainships. The
Innu are the inhabitants of an area they refer to as
Nitassinan, i.e. most of what is now referred to as northeastern
Quebec and Labrador. Their subsistence activities were historically centered on hunting and trapping
caribou,
deer and small game. Coastal clans also practiced agriculture, fished and managed
maple sugar bush. The
Miꞌkmaq of southern Newfoundland spent most of their time on the shores harvesting seafood; during the winter they would move inland to the woods to hunt. Over time, the Miꞌkmaq and Innu divided their lands into traditional "districts". Each district was independently governed and had a district chief and a council. The council members were band chiefs, elders and other worthy community leaders. In addition to the district councils, the Miꞌkmaq tribes also developed a Grand Council or
Santé Mawiómi, which according to oral tradition was formed before 1600.
European contact encampment in Newfoundland, |left The oldest confirmed accounts of European contact date from a thousand years ago as described in the
Viking (Norse)
Icelandic Sagas. Around the year 1001, the sagas refer to
Leif Erikson landing in three places to the west, the first two being
Helluland (possibly
Baffin Island) and
Markland (possibly
Labrador). There are several other unconfirmed accounts of European discovery and exploration, one tale of men from the
Channel Islands being blown off course in the late 15th century into a strange land full of fish, and another from Portuguese maps that depict the
Terra do Bacalhau, or land of
codfish, west of the
Azores. It has also been claimed that
Saint Brendan visited the Island in the early 6th century. Based on the
Treaty of Tordesillas, the
Portuguese Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area
John Cabot visited in 1497 and 1498. Subsequently, in 1501 and 1502, the
Corte-Real brothers,
Miguel and
Gaspar, explored Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming them as part of the
Portuguese Empire. In 1506, king
Manuel I of Portugal created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters.
João Álvares Fagundes and
Pero de Barcelos established seasonal fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521, and older Portuguese settlements may have existed. The establishment of English fishing operations on the outer coastline of the island, and their later expansion into bays and inlets, cut off access for the Beothuk to their traditional sources of food. In the 18th century, as the Beothuk were driven further inland by these encroachments, violence between Beothuk and settlers escalated, with each retaliating against the other in their competition for resources. By the early 19th century, violence, starvation, and exposure to
tuberculosis had decimated the Beothuk population, and they were extinct by 1829. commemorating the English claim over Newfoundland, and the beginning of the British overseas empire Twenty years later, in 1583, Newfoundland became England's first possession in North America and one of the earliest permanent English colonies in the New World when Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, provided with
letters patent from
Queen Elizabeth I, landed in St. John's. European fishing boats had visited Newfoundland continuously since Cabot's second voyage in 1498 and seasonal fishing camps had existed for a century prior. Fishing boats originated from Basque country, England, France, and Portugal. In 1585, during the initial stages of
Anglo-Spanish War,
Bernard Drake led a
devastating raid on the Spanish and Portuguese fisheries. This provided an opportunity to secure the island and led to the appointment of
Proprietary Governors to establish colonial settlements on the island from 1610 to 1728.
John Guy became
governor of the first settlement at
Cuper's Cove. Other settlements included
Bristol's Hope,
Renews,
New Cambriol,
South Falkland and
Avalon (which became a province in 1623). The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir
David Kirke in 1638. Explorers quickly realized the waters around Newfoundland had the best fishing in the North Atlantic. By 1620, 300 fishing boats worked the
Grand Banks, employing some 10,000 sailors; many continuing to come from the
Basque Country, Normandy, or Brittany. They dried and salted
cod on the coast and sold it to Spain and Portugal. Heavy investment by Sir
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, in the 1620s in wharves, warehouses, and fishing stations failed to pay off. French raids hurt the business, and the weather was terrible, so he redirected his attention to his
other colony in Maryland. After Calvert left, small-scale entrepreneurs such as Sir David Kirke made good use of the facilities. Kirke became the first governor of Newfoundland in 1638.
Triangular Trade A
triangular trade with New England, the West Indies, and Europe gave Newfoundland an important economic role. By the 1670s, there were 1,700 permanent residents and another 4,500 in the summer months. This trade relied upon the labour of enslaved people of African descent. Notably, the Kirke brothers who were merchants in the triangular trade, brought
Olivier Le Jeune to New France, where he was sold in 1629. as well as a period of periodic war and unrest between England and France in the region. The Miꞌkmaq, as allies of the French, were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst and fought alongside them against the English. English attacks on Placentia provoked retaliation by
New France explorer
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville who during
King William's War in the 1690s, destroyed nearly every English settlement on the island. The entire population of the English colony was either killed, captured for ransom, or sentenced to expulsion to England, with the exception of those who withstood the attack at
Carbonear Island and those in the then remote
Bonavista. After France lost political control of the area after the
Siege of Port Royal in 1710, the Miꞌkmaq engaged in warfare with the British throughout
Dummer's War (1722–1725),
King George's War (1744–1748),
Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and the
French and Indian War (1754–1763). The French colonization period lasted until the
Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which ended the
War of the Spanish Succession: France ceded to the British its claims to Newfoundland (including its claims to the shores of
Hudson Bay) and to the French possessions in
Acadia. Afterward, under the supervision of the last French governor, the French population of Plaisance moved to Île Royale (now
Cape Breton Island), part of Acadia which remained then under French control. In the
Treaty of Utrecht (1713), France had acknowledged British ownership of the island. However, in the
Seven Years' War (1756–1763), control of Newfoundland once again became a major source of conflict between Britain, France and Spain, who all pressed for a share in the valuable fishery there.
Britain's victories around the globe led
William Pitt to insist nobody other than Britain should have access to Newfoundland. The
Battle of Signal Hill was fought on September 15, 1762, and was the last battle of the North American theatre of the
Seven Years' War. A British force under Lieutenant Colonel
William Amherst recaptured
St. John's, which the French had seized three months earlier in a surprise attack. in 1762. From 1763 to 1767,
James Cook made a detailed survey of the coasts of Newfoundland and southern Labrador while commander of . (The following year, 1768, Cook began
his first circumnavigation of the world.) In 1796, a Franco-Spanish expedition again
succeeded in raiding the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, destroying many of the settlements. By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), French fishermen gained the right to land and cure fish on the "French Shore" on the western coast. (They had a permanent base on the nearby
St. Pierre and Miquelon islands; the French gave up their French Shore rights in 1904.) In 1783, the British signed the
Treaty of Paris with the United States that gave American fishermen similar rights along the coast. These rights were reaffirmed by treaties in 1818, 1854 and 1871, and confirmed by arbitration in 1910.
British colony Fishing Admirals and Naval Governors 's port, next to
Fort William on 1786|leftThe British merchant adventurers who gained control of Newfoundland aimed to keep it as fishing station and nothing more. Women were barred from the island, and no man could remain there over winter or build a permanent house. The masters of the first three vessels entering St. Johns were recognised as the "
Fishing Admirals" for the season, and they administered justice and settled disputes as they saw fit. The naval governors brought no immediate change in policy. As late as 1789, Governor Milbanke wrote that "it is not in the interest of Great Britain to encourage people to winter in Newfoundland". and counselled against any further measure of
Catholic relief. Following news of
rebellion in Ireland, in June 1798, Governor Vice-Admiral
Waldegrave cautioned London that the English constituted but a "small proportion" of the locally raised
Regiment of Foot. In an echo of an earlier Irish conspiracy during the French occupation of St. John's in 1762, in April 1800, the authorities had reports that upwards of 400 men had taken an oath as
United Irishmen, and that eighty soldiers were committed to killing their officers and seizing their
Anglican governors at Sunday service. The
abortive mutiny, for which eight men (denounced by Catholic Bishop
James Louis O'Donel as "favourers of the infidel French") were hanged, may have been less a United Irish plot, than an act of desperation in the face of brutal living conditions and officer tyranny. Many of the Irish reserve soldiers were forced to remain on duty, unable to return to the fisheries that supported their families. There were reports of communication with United men in Ireland from before '98 rebellion; and, despite the war with France, of hundreds of young
County Waterford men still making a seasonal migration to the island for the fisheries, among them defeated rebels, said to have "added fuel to the fire" of local grievance. When news reached Newfoundland in May 1829 that the UK Parliament had finally conceded
Catholic emancipation, the locals assumed that Catholics would now pass unhindered into the ranks of public office and enjoy equality with Protestants. There was a celebratory parade and mass in St. John's, and a gun salute from vessels in the harbour. But the attorney general and supreme court justices determined that as Newfoundland was a colony, and not a province of the
United Kingdom, the
Roman Catholic Relief Act did not apply. The discrimination was a matter of local ordinance. It was not until May 1832 that the British
Secretary of State for the Colonies formally stated that a new commission would be issued to
Governor Cochrane to remove any and all
Roman Catholic disabilities in Newfoundland. By then Catholic emancipation was bound up (as in Ireland) with the call for
home rule.
Achievement of home rule After the end of the
Napoleonic Wars in 1815, France and other nations re-entered the fish trade and an abundance of cod glutted international markets. Prices dropped, competition increased, and the colony's profits evaporated. A string of harsh winters between 1815 and 1817 made living conditions even more difficult, while fires at St. John's in 1817 left thousands homeless. At the same time a new wave of immigration from Ireland increased the Catholic population. In these circumstances much of the English and Protestant proprietor class tended to shelter behind the appointed, and Anglican, "naval government". A broad home-rule coalition of Irish community leaders and (
Scottish and
Welsh)
Methodists formed in 1828. Expressing, initially, the concerns of a new middle class over taxation, it was led by William Carson, a Scottish physician, and Patrick Morris, an Irish merchant. In 1825, the British government granted Newfoundland and Labrador official colonial status and appointed Sir Thomas Cochrane as its first civil governor. Partly carried by the wave of reform in Britain, a colonial legislature in St. John's, together with the promise of Catholic emancipation, followed in 1832. Carson made his goal for Newfoundland clear: "We shall rise into a national existence, having a national character, a nation's feelings, assuming that rank among our neighbours which the political situation and the extent of our island demand". Economic conditions remained harsh. As in Ireland, the potato which made possible a steady growth in population failed as a result of the
Phytophthora infestans blight. The number of deaths from the
1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine remains unknown, but there was pervasive hunger. Along with other half-hearted measures to relieve the distress, Governor John Gaspard Le Marchant declared a "Day of Public Fasting and Humiliation" in hopes the Almighty might pardon their sins and "withdraw his afflicting hand." The wave of post-famine emigration from Ireland notably passed over Newfoundland.
Era of responsible government Fisheries revived, and the devolution of responsibilities from London continued. In 1854, the British government established Newfoundland's first
responsible government, an executive accountable to the colonial legislature. In 1855, with an Assembly majority, the Liberals under
Philip Francis Little (the first Roman Catholic to practise law in St. John's) formed Newfoundland's first parliamentary government (1855–1858). Newfoundland rejected
confederation with Canada in the
1869 general election. The Islanders were preoccupied with land issues—the Escheat movement with its call to suppress absentee landlordism in favour of the tenant farmer. Canada offered little in the way of solutions. From the 1880s, as cod fishery fell into severe decline, there was large-scale emigration. While some people, working abroad, left their homes on a seasonal or temporary basis more began to leave permanently. Most emigrants (largely Catholic and of Irish descent) moved to Canada, many to find work in the steel plants and coal mines of
Nova Scotia. There was also a considerable outflow to the United States and, in particular, to
New England. In 1892, St. John's burned. The
Great Fire left 12,000 homeless. In 1894, the two commercial banks in Newfoundland collapsed. These bankruptcies left a vacuum that was subsequently filled by Canadian chartered banks, a change that subordinated Newfoundland to Canadian monetary policies.
British Dominion Reform and the Fisherman's Union In 1907, Newfoundland acquired
dominion status, or self-government, within the
British Empire or
British Commonwealth. Government of Newfoundland was conducted mostly by a cabinet accountable solely to the legislature in St. John's, subject only to occasional policy changes from the British government, for example vetoing a trade agreement Newfoundland had negotiated with the
United States. These obstacles to organization were overcome from 1908 by a new co-operative movement, the
Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU). Mobilizing more than 21,000 members in 206 councils across the island; more than half of Newfoundland's fishermen, the FPU challenged the economic control of the island's merchantocracy. Despite opposition from the Catholic Church which objected to the FPU's oath taking and alleged
socialism, At the beginning of 1914, economic conditions seemed favourable to reform. In a little over a decade, exports, imports and state revenue had more than doubled. Schemes were afoot for the exploitation of coal and mineral resources, and for the utilisation of peat beds for fuel. Benefiting from the settlement of disputes over fishing rights with France in 1904, and with the New England states in 1910, the fishing industry was looking to develop new markets. The regiment, which the Dominion government had chosen to raise, equip, and train at its own expense, was resupplied and went on to serve with distinction in several subsequent battles, earning the prefix "Royal". The overall fatality and casualty rate for the regiment was high: 1,281 dead, 2,284 wounded. The FPU members joined
Edward Patrick Morris' wartime
National Government of 1917, but their reputation suffered when they failed to abide by their promise not to support military conscription without a referendum. In 1919, the FPU joined with the
Liberals to form the
Liberal Reform Party whose success in the
1919 general election allowed Coaker to continue as Fisheries Minister. But there was little he could do to sustain the credibility of the FPU in the face of the post-war slump in fish prices, and the subsequent high unemployment and emigration. At the same time the Dominion's war debt due to the regiment and the cost of the trans-island railway, limited the government's ability to provide relief. In the spring of 1918, in midst of disquiet over wartime inflation and profiteering, there had been protest. The Newfoundland Industrial Workers' Association (NIWA) struck both the rail and steamship operations of the
Reid Newfoundland Company, effectively isolating the capital and threatening the annual seal hunt. Central to the eventual settlement were not only wage increases, but "the great principle that employees are entitled to be heard in all matters connected with their welfare". When in January 1919,
Sinn Féin formed the
Dáil Éireann in
Dublin, the
Irish question and local sectarian tensions resurfaced in Newfoundland. In the course of 1920 many Catholics of Irish descent in St. John's joined the local branch of the
Self-Determination for Ireland League (SDIL). Although tempered by expressions of loyalty to the Empire, the League's vocal support for Irish self-government was opposed by the local
Orange Order. Claiming to represent 20,000 "loyal citizens", the Order was composed almost exclusively of Anglicans or Methodists of English descent. Tensions ran sufficiently high that Catholic Archbishop
Edward Roche felt constrained to caution League organisers against the hazards of "a sectarian war." Since the early 1800s, Newfoundland and Quebec (or Lower Canada) had been in a
border dispute over the Labrador region. In 1927, the British
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that the area known as modern-day Labrador was to be considered part of the Dominion of Newfoundland. The British had a stark choice: accept financial collapse in Newfoundland or pay the full cost of keeping the country solvent. The solution, accepted by the legislature in 1933, was to accept a de facto return to direct colonial rule. In exchange for loan guarantees by the
Crown and a promise that self-government would in time be re-established, the legislature in St. John's voted itself out of existence. On February 16, 1934, the
Commission of Government was sworn in, ending 79 years of
responsible government. Between 1934 and 1939, the Commission of Government managed the situation but the underlying problem, world-wide depression, resisted solution. The dispirited state of the country is said to have been evident in "'the lack of cheering and of visible enthusiasm' in the crowds that came out to see King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth during their brief visit in June 1939."
Second World War The situation changed dramatically, after Newfoundland and Labrador, with no responsible government of its own, was automatically committed to war as a result of Britain's ultimatum to Germany in September 1939. Unlike in 1914–1918, when the Dominion government volunteered and financed a full expeditionary regiment, there would be no separate presence overseas and, by implication, no compulsory enlistment. Volunteers filled the ranks of Newfoundland units in both the Royal Artillery and the Royal Air Force, and of the largest single contingent of Newfoundlanders to go overseas, the
Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit. As a result, and taking into account service in the Newfoundland Militia, and in the merchant marine, as in the First World War
The National Convention When prosperity returned with the
Second World War, agitation began to end the Commission and reinstate responsible government. Instead, the British government created the
National Convention in 1946. Chaired by Judge
Cyril J. Fox, the Convention consisted of 45 elected members from across the dominion and was formally tasked with advising on the future of Newfoundland. Several motions were made by
Joey Smallwood – a convention member who later served as the first provincial
premier of Newfoundland – to examine joining Canada by sending a delegation to Ottawa. In January 1948, the National Convention voted against adding the issue of Confederation to the referendum 29 to 16, but the British, who controlled the National Convention and the subsequent referendum, overruled this move. Those who supported Confederation were extremely disappointed with the recommendations of the National Convention and organized a petition, signed by more than 50,000 Newfoundlanders, demanding that Confederation with Canada be placed before the people in the upcoming referendum. As most historians agree, the British government keenly wanted Confederation on the ballot and ensured its inclusion.
Canadian province The referendums on confederation Three main factions actively campaigned during the lead-up to the referendums on confederation with Canada: • The
Confederate Association (CA), led by Smallwood, advocated entry into the Canadian Confederation. They campaigned through a newspaper known as
The Confederate. • The
Responsible Government League (RGL), led by
Peter Cashin, advocated an independent Newfoundland with a return to
responsible government. Their newspaper was
The Independent. • The smaller
Economic Union Party (EUP), led by
Chesley Crosbie, advocated closer economic ties with the United States. A 1947 Gallup poll found 80% of Newfoundland residents wanting to become Americans, but the United States had no interest in the proposal, and preferred Newfoundland join Canada. The EUP failed to gain much support and after the first referendum merged with the RGL. signing a document bringing Newfoundland into the
Canadian Confederation, 1948 The first referendum took place on June 3, 1948; 44.6 per cent of people voted for
responsible government, 41.1 per cent voted for confederation with Canada, while 14.3 per cent voted for the Commission of Government. Since none of the choices had gained more than 50%, a second referendum with only the two more popular choices was held on July 22, 1948. The official outcome of that referendum was 52.3 per cent for confederation with Canada and 47.7 per cent for responsible (independent) government. After the referendum, the British governor named a seven-man delegation to negotiate Canada's offer on behalf of Newfoundland. After six of the delegation signed, the British government passed the
British North America Act, 1949 through the
Parliament of the United Kingdom. Newfoundland officially joined Canada at midnight on March 31, 1949. Following the referendum, there was a rumour that the referendum had been narrowly won by the "responsible government" side, but that the result had been fixed by the
British governor. Smallwood, although he had himself been an organizer in the lumber industry, feared that the strike would shut down what had become the province's largest employer. His government introduced emergency legislation that immediately decertified the IWA, prohibited secondary picketing, and made unions liable for illegal acts committed on their behalf. Three attempts of resettlement were initiated by the Government between 1954 and 1975 which resulted in the abandonment of 300 communities and nearly 30,000 people moved. Denounced as poorly resourced and as a historic injustice, In the 21st century, the Community Relocation Policy allows for voluntary relocation of isolated settlements. Eight communities have moved between 2002 and 2018. At the end of 2019, the decommissioning of ferry and hydroelectricity services ended settlement on the
Little Bay Islands.
21st century Climate change In the new century, the provincial government is anticipating the challenges of global warming. Locally average annual temperatures are variously estimated to be already between 0.8 °C and 1.5 °C above historical norms and the frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms have doubled in comparison to the last century. As a result, the province is experiencing increased permafrost melt, flooding, and infrastructure damage, reduced sea ice, and greater risk from new invasive species and infectious diseases. was declared complete with the final testing of the 1,100 km transmission link from the site in Labrador to a converter station outside St John's. Theoretically it could replace all the province's existing hydro-carbon sources of electricity. On the other hand, critics note that, in the decade to 2030, the government plans to double offshore oil production, significantly adding to emissions. On January 17, 2020, the province experienced a large blizzard, nicknamed 'Snowmageddon', with winds up to . The communities of St. John's,
Mount Pearl,
Paradise, and
Torbay declared a state of emergency. On January 18, 2020, Premier
Dwight Ball said his request for aid from the Canadian Armed Forces was approved, and troops from the 2nd Battalion of the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment,
CFB Halifax, and
CFB Gagetown would arrive in the province to assist with snow-clearing and emergency services. An avalanche hit a house in
The Battery section of St. John's. St. John's mayor
Danny Breen said the storm cost the city $7 million.
The COVID-19 pandemic The province announced its first presumptive case of
COVID-19 on March 14, 2020, and declared a public health emergency on March 18. Health orders, including the closure of non-essential businesses and mandatory
self-isolation for all travellers entering the province (including from within Canada), were enacted over the days that followed. The emergency and all COVID-related restrictions ended in February 2022. There had been 18,464 recorded cases of persons testing positive for the virus, including 46 deaths. == Demographics ==