Post #21: The War is Over

December 28, 1814

Dear Journal,

Finally, the war has officially ended.  It has ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.  In this treaty, the impressment and the blockade were not mentioned even though these were some of the major factors that caused the Americans to declare war on us.  Boundaries between the United States and us, the British, went back to the way they were before the war.  I believe that in a couple of years, the two countries will have to agree that a parallel of latitude will be the guideline for the international boundary between us.  I was talking to a government official and he was considering to drop the goal of a First Nations Territory. 

After the war, some of our colonies had to decide how to punish those in our colonies who helped the Americans.  Back in the beginning of March, Upper Canada’s Legislative Assembly passed the Alien Act.  This act applied to people with strong connections to the United States.  This act made it illegal to have gone to the United Stated after the war began back in 1812.  Fifteen people were convicted of high treason.  People who are found guilty are having their property taken away and are sentenced to death.

Members of the military and their families want to be recognized for their loyalty to Britain.  The troopers who survived and their families are eligible for land grants.  This land will come from the people found guilty of treason who had their land taken away.  Widows of the military or wives of those injured are going to receive a small pension.  The amount received will depend on the rank of the husband and the length of their service.  To the First Nations however, our promise for a territory of their own was removed by the Treat of Ghent and will not happen.

Post #20: Battles and More Battles

September 10, 1813

Dear Journal,

Sorry I have not written lately, but not much had happened until today.  Since the beginning of winter, the British at Amherstburg were facing supply problems.  They were having these problems because the Americans had an advantage on the Great Lakes because the British Navy was busy on the coast and there were not enough British ships to send to the Great Lakes to help them.  So now, just this morning, six of our British ships fought nine of the American ships and in the battle that continued from morning until late afternoon, sadly the American captured our British ships and took control of Lake Erie.

October 25, 1813

Dear Journal,

The Battle of Chateauguay was fought today.  Our British force included soldiers from Lower Canada and the First Nations.  They were commanded by a French Canadian Colonel De Salaberry.  This battle began with an American plan to invade Montreal.  The Americans wanted to cut off the supply line between Montreal and Kingston.  However, the Americans had poor leadership and at one point they had even killed some of their own guards.  Also, the American consistently overestimated the size of our force.  The American force outnumbered our troops by around eight times, however, the Americans thought they were outnumbered and retreated.  This battle, in terms of casualties, was not a major battle.

March 11, 1814

Dear Journal,

Another battle, the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, was just fought over a period of five hours.  Most of the battle was fought in the darkness of night and it caused confusion on the battle field.  Each side accidentally fought some of their own men.  The Americans retreated the next day and built up a defense at Fort Erie.  They planned a second attack, but they have not attacked us yet.

Post #19: People to Meet and the Battle of Queenston Heights

October 31, 1812

Dear Journal,

I just met a couple of interesting people this week. Richard Pierpiont, Laura Secord, and John Strachan. I’ll tell you about them.

First off, Richard Pierpoint. He was born in 1746 in Bondu, Africa he was enslaved when he was only a teenager. During the American Revolution, he joined the Butlers Rangers. He became an expert in first nation’s style warfare. After the revolution, the Americans sometimes raided Canada to bring former slaves back to the United States. Richard petitioned the government to allow all the black people to settle together. When this war began he organized a black military company called the Coloured Corps. They fought the battles of Queenston Heights and Fort George.

Laura Secord was born in 1775 in Massachusetts. She moved to Queenston in 1795. Just last month her family as forced to house American soldiers. She overheard their plan to attack one of our forts. So to protect her country she set off to warn the fort that the Americans were planning to attack. That’s how I met her. I was sheltering her for the night. I think that if the American attack fails she will get a reward. 

John Strachan was born in 1778 in Scotland and he came to Upper Canada in 1799.  He was a teacher and now is an Anglican priest.  When the war started, he became the chaplain for our troops. 

November 10, 1812

Dear Journal,

On October 13, 1812, early in the morning, Major General Isaac Brock left Fort George because he woke up to the sounds of guns about 11 km away from Fort George.  He organized his small force and left for Queenston Heights.  As they were walking up a hill, Major General Isaac Brock was shot in the chest and died.  His troops retreated to wait for reinforcements.  By the afternoon, Major General Roger Sheaffe led our troops into the second part of the battle.  A number of Haudenosaunee lead by Ahyouwaigs (John Brant) joined them in battle too.  Together their forces made the invading Americans retreat. 

Many American citizens in the militia from the Buffalo area did not support the war and did not want to fight on the Canadian side of the border.  This battle is an important victory for our British allies.

Post #18: The Leaders

October 20, 1812

Dear Journal,

Did I ever mention who the head of British forces is before? Well if not, I now know all about him.

Sir Isaac Brock (that’s his name) was born in 1769 in England (of course). When he was old enough, he chose his military career and ten years ago, came to Canada. Just one year ago, he became the head of our British forces. In his first few months, he did not have anything to do because there was no war, but at the beginning of this year, when the war stared he finally had something to do. Back in July, Brock joined forces with Tecumseh to plan an attack on an American fort. Back in August, they went and attacked the American fort. When the American general heard their war cries, he surrendered right away. This victory caused people to believe in Upper Canada. This also made Brock a stronger military leader. Sadly he died earlier this month. Even Without their leader, his troops continued battling and won. As of today, he was made the Knight of Bath.

October 20, 1812

 Dear Journal,

Last time I wrote, I never told you who Tecumseh is. Why don’t I tell you now?

He was born in 1768; he is from the Shawnee Nation. He and his brother, Tenskwatawa built an alliance of first nations encouraged to protect their traditions. He is allied with us against the United States. In return, we promised to support his claim to the western territory. Tecumseh first met Brock back in august the thirteenth I believe, the two leaders immediately became friends. Together they planned the invasion of Detroit.

I believe that Tecumseh troops and our troops together will win this battle and any that are soon to come.

Post #17: Loyalty

September 16, 1812

Dear Journal,

 I just heard about more things that happened-or is happening- in the war. Cameron told me that there is a question of loyalty. We ask the loyalists this question because some people think that some loyalists only came to Upper Canada for the land. We fear that they are helping with the American invasion. When the war started, there were not enough troops to fight because they were fighting Napoleon. Now, some military members are deserting our British forces and are joining the Americans, this is proving themselves disloyal to us. Myself and many other people still think that we can defend our land with the amount of troops we have but I don’t think any officials are going to listen.

September 18, 1812

Dear Journal,

This morning, I was picking up the mail, when I read a letter that was defiantly not supposed to be in my box. I don’t remember all of it, here’s what I remember:

Colonel Baynes,

My problem is serious, but not about the war. My problem is that the population thins that they should surrender. This idea is fatal to every effort that officials have accepted the idea. They are so uncaring that any criminal can commit the unimaginable crimes without interruption… an additional team would do great good in this part of the province. Most people have lost all confidence.

Post #16: Information About the War

August 23, 1812

Dear journal,

I am very sorry that I have not wrote in you for the longest time, but with my old age I almost forgot that I had a journal. Sorry. It might also be that there is a war going on and I am too preoccupied with that. Let me tell you how this started… On July 12 1812, my wife and I were sitting on our front porch, a beautiful day it was, the sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky… I was thinking how uneventful and peaceful day it was… well I spoke too soon… we were sitting there when all of a sudden around 1500 -2000 troopers walked by.

This morning I learned about some things that happened in this war (yes, it is still going on). I will tell you them:

·         This all started when William Hull of the northwestern army of the United States declared the war.

·         When the war started, Isaac Brook was and is still the major general of Upper Canada.

·         For the longest time he asked our government for a command in Europe because he wanted to help fight Napoleon.

·         It is very obvious that he is concerned about Napoleon by the way he is fighting in this war.

·          He thought that if we were to lose the war, America’s debt can be repaid returning Canada to the French.

Post #15: A Couple War Strategies

January 18, 1794

Dear Journal,

Sadly l had to go to war. This is unexpected considering that I am 55 years old… wow; I didn’t notice how old l was. It feels like just yesterday that I was writing “Dear journal, l had a fun time today. Carter Jones” good times… back to what l really am writing for; l trained with them for a while until they saw my papers and they saw how old l am, and said that l could choose to leave. So I did. But l did learn about some things that they are going to do. One thing is the blockade. As a part of or war strategy, we are using the navy to blockade Europe. This should slow down napoleons war effort. But l think that this will make someone loose a major market for their goods… probably the American economy.

Another thing that they are going to do is have First Nations alliances. After the American Revolution, we encouraged the First Nations to keep a territory to themselves so the Americans can’t expand their territory. Those foolish Americans are accusing us of making the First Nations be hostile towards them- the Americans. They think by doing so we are supporting Tecumseh’s efforts to protect First Nations land.

There is a group called The War Hawks. This group is an American group of politicians. They think that they should expand their borders, and think that we are in their way. They think that they should just take over our territories. But I think not. The war is probably going to start in the next few years.

Post # 14: Another War?!?

December 12, 1793

Dear Journal,

The American Revolution has been finished for ten years now; it only felt like yesterday that my friends and I were so excited about not fighting anymore and were even happier that we survived the war. But, there is still tension between us and United States. Now the war against France is our top priority. We are worried that the French troops that are led by Napoleon are going to invade England by crossing the English Channel. Therefore we are going to need a strong army to protect our shores. But my problem is the poor conditions on the ships. I heard that most sailors are deserting the ships and joining the American merchant navy. They are stopping American ships and looking for deserters. Sometimes they force the Americans to work for them… I will decline the offer of joining the navy… I hope I can.

Post #13: Fur or Food or Wood

October 28, 1793

Dear Journal,

My wife and her friends researched on my decision and figured out that I will be better off with staying a farmer rather than changing professions. She said that the Hudson’s Bay Company should beat the North West Company eventually and she said that we also may be even better off if I changed to the timber industries. She explained to me that because this is used for almost everything we would get the most money from this. But I think that farming is important too but I will have to discuss this with some of my friends.

November 3, 1793

Dear Journal,

Will, Cameron, James, Spenser and I have decided that I well we will work part time in the timber industry and the farming industry (yes James’ wife convinced him to quit his existing job). We will tend the farm in the summer and work with the timber industry in the winter. While we are away, our wives will take care of the houses, barns, animals and of course the children. I know I did not write too much but no interesting things have happened.

Post #12: Fur: is it good or bad?

September 30, 1793

Dear Journal,

I didn’t understand the proses of the fur trade, so I asked one of my friends James, because he works in the industry, this is what I learned.

·         The fur trade was continuing in the background while the administrators were busy (of course)

·         The Hudson’s Bay Company set up shop along the Hudson’s Bay River (*sigh* I wonder why they called it that?) in 1760

·         In the north, the traders wait at their posts for the first nations to arrive with furs

·         However in the south, traders use Montreal as their base and travel west in search for furs

·         Somehow they started a who can collect the better fur competition

·         The North West Company(NWC) is currently in the lead because of their advantages- they had access to top quality furs and that they have metis traders (these are children from trader fathers and native mothers this gave the fathers a trading advantage)

·         This is causing traders to explore new lands and discover new cultures

This is very well the best industry to join but I might have to research more into which company is better. I am most likely to join the North West Company. If I am going to be a fur trader.

Post #11: Settling with Simcoe

July 31, 1793

Dear Journal,

Not much has happened lately until now. Just yesterday Simcoe (I already told you about him); arrived in York with his wife and servants he was going to make sure that the fort was being built. As soon as he came he had town plans drawn up because he and his family were living there it became a base for the government. He also faced many challenges he is currently living in a canvas house because he does not have a real house. I have a feeling that he might be in there for a while. Also, Sir Guy Carleton preferred Kingston as the capital of Upper Canada so Simcoe didn’t get any financial support. I don’t know how they are going to do that because York is all wildernesses. The Queen’s Rangers helped Simcoe with some of the challenges that he faced. They protected the city and served as laborers. That is a lot of events in only two days.

August 20, 1793

Dear Journal,

Now there is going to be a war. This is probably going to prevent more Europeans from coming here.  Anyways Simcoe didn’t like the United States until he realized the potential source of new settlers and that people from the Ohio valley know how to carve a farm from wilderness. He bribed the Americans to come with offers of land. His interest in creating a society like England’s leaded him to give land grants of up to 5000 acres; these people were the wealthier type. Simcoe set aside 100 acre lots to in the future grant to government officials that moved from Newark. I thought that you would like to know that he also granted land to Late Loyalists. They received between200-1000 acres.

Post #10: Purchased?

December 25, 1792

Dear Journal,

The site John Graves Simcoe chose was thought to be an unused land space, but I have a secret. I thought that is was strange that the land was cleared and flattened although the land around this spot was rolling and full of trees, so I went asking  around and I figured out that the land was used by the French and a First Nation group called Teiaigon. ln 1620, the French built a fort there. Before that the first nations ruled the land. Don’t tell Simcoe, I don’t want to crush his dreams.

Also Sir John Johnson, another one of my friends, sent me a letter that probably was supposed to come around 1790. This is what it says:                                                                                                                                                  

Good friend,

I have had quite an interesting time the past couple of years. Starting with my consultation with the Mississauga at the bay of Quinte, we agreed to a sale of the land along the north shore along Lake Ontario that includes both sides of the Humber River and Lake Simcoe. But the crown made a mistake when purchasing the land. The deed was not found for a year, and when it was found it was blank! So technically we did not purchase the land. When the crown figured out what they did wrong, they told Mississauga and redid the purchase. The government said that the new agreement was a conformation of the previous one. They gave us more land than the first one (hey not a problem).

Until next time

Sir John Johnson

Post #9: John Graves Simcoe

October 3, 1792

Dear Journal,

There is a man called John Graves Simcoe. He led the loyalists unit called the Queens Rangers during the American Revolution. Back in 1781 he was injured and brought back to England. When he got better, he married a woman from a wealthy family, and so of course he got advanced in his career. He was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.

In 1792, he arrived in Newark-the capital of the colony. He was to report to Sir Guy Carlton, governor general for the two Canadas- he was stationed in Quebec at this time. John believed that Newark was a bad choice as a capital. He was concerned about future conflict with the United States. He was concerned because Newark was close to the border between the United States and Canada, therefore being an easy target for a future conflict. His dream is to build a colony that was like England. He wanted to make a capital city called London. He first wanted to make a strong military base, he then chose York. He thought that York should be Upper Canada’s military stronghold because it is farther away from the border than Newark. Also it has a natural harbor.

Post #8: The Government

September 21, 1792                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Dear journal,

Sorry, yesterday my candle burnt out so I could not continue writing. Today I have two candles so I can finish writing. Okay, where was I…  Most people in our British government thought that the American Revolution resulted from too much democracy. I think that the elected assemblies had gained too much power  over the appointed governors. We then faced demands from the loyalists who wanted an elected assembly. They proved their loyalty to us, but they were used to having a voice in their government. We knew that we owed something to these people, so in the Constitutional Act of 1791 they were given as little influence as possible.

The government in Upper Canada is… different. Is consists of the Lieutenant-Governor, the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Lieutenant-Governor had control over the colony’s crown reserves. The Executive Council advises the Lieutenant-Governor on all government matters. The Legislative Council has the power to impose taxes and laws… turns out that I didn’t need the second candle after all.

post #7: The Constitutional Act

September 20, 1792

Dear journal,

The loyalists are moving to Nova Scotia mostly in the area of the Bay of Fundy. They thought that Halifax was too far away to understand their needs. In Quebec the loyalists were moving west of Montreal they thought that they should have the same rights as us- Brittan.  But Quebec was still under the Quebec Act of 1774 (the one where the colony used the French civil law and the seigneurial land holding system). This was very offensive to the loyalists. The farmers had a right to occupy the land but did not have ownership of it.

In the next year, the loyalists sent a petition to the king that said that they should be freed from the load of French Tenures. The government responded by last year they passed The Constitutional Act of 1791. This is similar to the systems that made New Brunswick and Cape Breton. 

These are the terms and conditions of the act:

·         Quebec was then divided into two separate colonies: Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

·         The colonies had to have an assembly to raise taxes.

·         Lower Canada is allowed to continue the seigneurial system.

·         Upper Canada is allowed to fully own their land.

·         Part of Upper Canada is set aside as clergy reserves.

·         Part of Lower Canada is set aside as crown reserves.

Post #6: Thayendanegea

Dear Journal,

Nothing important has happened lately well not important enough to write down. The only interesting thing that happened is that there is a first nation that is called Thayendanegea he had helped us in the seven years’ war. He is still an ally for us-the British. A while ago he sent me a letter/journal to read, I will summarize it for you because it was very long. Man he can write. Enjoy:

Thayendanegea traveled in disguise through the rebel-controlled country side to Haudenosaunee territory. He convinced them to support us-Britain. He knew that we would honour the First Nations rights than the United States. The Haudenosaunee assisted us in many successful battles-that’s right successful. However we kind of ignored them during their peace negotiations.  During the Treaty of Paris, we transferred the claim of land all the way to the Mississippi river to the Americans, this land was occupied by the First Nations and they were angry to find that we gave the land to the Americans.

Most of the First Nations felt betrayed by our actions. Thayendanegea traveled to London to petition for his people. Finally we agreed that we would provide land for them. The governor of Quebec granted land for them, the grant included land six miles on either side of the Grand River. He and 2000 other First Nations moved onto the land.

September 16, 1792

Post #5: The Loyalists

June 15, 1785

Dear Journal,

Those Loyalists here in Nova Scotia are facing difficult times.  They have no idea how to survive the cold winters.  We are supplying them with some basic tools and some food only for the winter, but by summer their crops should be fine and they won’t need our help any more.  But if they ask, we will be pleased to help.  I heard that the Loyalists in Quebec are not getting help at all.

June 1, 1792

Dear Journal,

Slaves, owned by the rebels, had been promised freedom if they help us.  When the American Revolution ended there were around 3000 Black Loyalists coming to North Nova Scotia.  Their first goal, much like the others, was to build homes but we only had a short supply of tools and wood.  Most of them were forced to work and they often had to settle on poor land.

I just got a letter from a friend of mine about an inspiring Black Loyalist Thomas Peters.  Here is the letter.  Enjoy:

Thomas peers came here to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution.  Even by 1791, many people were having a difficult time finding land to build their homes.  If they got some land, it would only be around half of a hectare, while the Loyalists got hundreds of hectares.

He wrote many petitions on behalf of the Black Loyalists.  I am pretty sure that they got rejected because he always left angry and sad.  After, he left North America for a while, probably to show his petitions to the Crown.  They were rejected as well, he said when he got back.  He told me that while he was in London, he caught the attention of the Sierra Leone Company.  As you might already know, they are trying to establish a settlement for freed slaves in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Thomas Peters had few alternatives.  He was only offered some poor land in Nova Scotia or he could serve in the army.  Most people, like him, decided to go to Sierra Leone to get more freedom.  When they got to Sierra Leone, the conditions were almost the same as in Nova Scotia- poor weather, delays in receiving grants and difficult relationships with the local Africans.

Post #4: Us V.S the Thirteen Colonies

April 14 1776

Dear Journal,

A war is starting.  We are fighting the Thirteen Colonies.  The parts of the Thirteen Colonies that support us are facing difficult times as to whether they should help their country or help the ones that they like better - us.  Apparently the patriots are on guard against anyone who is against their cause.  People who were trying to be neutral were targets for abuse.  I have a bad feeling that we might not win.

May 23, 1782

Dear Journal,

The war is finally over.  Sorry, I did not have time to write, as I was too busy keeping myself safe. Anyway, we lost the war a couple weeks ago.  So many people had to leave their homes from the United States, and come to Canada and Quebec.  Some chose to go and some were forced to go.  They are called the United Empire Loyalists, or as we call them The Loyalists.  The Loyalists mostly came north. They had all different jobs - farmers, clergy, lawyers, solders, crafts people, former slaves and recent immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies.  Some were rich, some were poor, but they all had one thing in common: they had better connections to us than the United States.  Some of the migrators were First Nation’s people. The Loyalists stayed loyal to us because they were angry with their country.

Post #3: The Quebec Act

 March 11, 1776

Dear Journal,

I am horrible at writing every week. Two year catch up. The Quebec Act worked but the Thirteen Colonies have been mad because we gave the Ohio Valley to Quebec instead of them. In 1775, the Colonies were really mad. They had these meetings; I think they were called the Continental Congress. I even think that they asked Quebec and Nova Scotia to be part of the Congress but thankfully they refused the offer.

I don’t remember writing this, but I’ll tell you again anyway. Back in 1765, our parliament told the Colonists to pay a tax for every piece of paper that they used. I personally think that was a little harsh. But the money was used to pay some of the costs of defending the colonies. But they got mad that they had to spend so much money to write a letter that they organized a boycott which caused us to cancel the Act in 1766.

Post #2: Decisions Decisions

October 8. 1763

Dear Journal,

I have been so busy that I forgot to write.  So now I am going to tell you what has been happening.    Just in case there are any more problems in North America, we wrote a Royal Proclamation.  It will organize the North American Territories that we got from the Treaty of Paris and it will also keep peace with the First Nations and will help to make the French in Quebec like us.

But, we noticed that the First Nations people truly have a right to their land.  To make more room for us, the King had to make an agreement with them.  So, they agreed that we can use their land only if we give them an annual payment.  But in some cases, issues were resolved without such agreements an we were able to use the land.

February 17, 1774

Dear Journal,

The people of Virgina and North Carolina are very unhappy because we were telling them that they should move north to Quebec instead of moving west.  They did not want to go to Quebec because the good farming land was all taken.

Governor James Murray has been sent back to Britain because he has been favouring the French by giving them more rights than the British colonists.  Now, Sir Guy Carleton is going to replace him as governor of the colony.

But when Sir Carleton got here we found that he was not much different from Governor Murray because he too found the French easier to deal with.  The British merchants are still complaining that their rights are being violated. 

Sir Carleton is concerned about the Thirteen Colonies being unsettled and he thinks that the French in Quebec could be our allies if we had to fight the Thirteen Colonies.  He said that we should keep the French as happy as possible so when we need the help, they will return the favour.  He is also thinking of writing the Quebec Act, that will change the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

Post #1: Finally Peace

February 10, 1763.

Dear Journal,

Finally, those French people signed the Treaty of Paris to end the war.  The war was seven years long - can you believe it?  We devoted so much time and effort to the war that now we really need some time and peace to rest and recover.  But, we still have problems with the Thirteen Colonies and Québec.   

While I was in Quebec, we had to decide how to rule those French Catholics.  They obviously are not going to welcome us onto their land.  How could us few administrators take charge of the thousands of Canadiens?

About those Thirteen Colonies that I was talking about before, some of the settlers are anxious to move to the Ohio Valley.  I don’t understand why they want to move now that France has been defeated.

The First Nations are a little upset about the whole thing too because they had to give up their land in the Ohio Valley – but who cares anyway.

April 21, 1763

Dear Journal,

Here is a quick note to catch up on what has been happening lately.  The First Nations are very upset with us because they think we are treating them disrespectfully and apparently this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

The leader of the Odawa First Nations , Pontiac, formed an alliance with the other First Nations and they took over several of our forts close to the Ohio Frontier.  Hopefully when winter comes they will leave to go to their winter hunting grounds and with any luck we can make peace.