The cosmopolitan Canadian city of Toronto now has a population of
more than three million and the most ethnically diverse culture on
the planet. But 3 hundred years back it was little more than a
portage in which the Humber River flows into Lake Ontario. It was
known simply to local natives and a few French voyageurs.
White Man Meets Indian
The very first settlers in the Toronto area were native North American Indians. Different tribes had inhabited the region around Lake Ontario not less than 10000 years. By the time Europeans first started exploring the region, the predominant Indian tribes were the Hurons and Petuns.
During the 1600s the Indian populations of much of the a part of The united states were devastated by diseases brought to the brand new world by European explorers and settlers. As Indian tribes were reduced by disease, tribes feuded with one another for their very survival. Indeed, some tribes did not survive.
This was your affairs in the southern Ontario region for much of the 1600s as Iroquois battled with Hurons. By 1688 nevertheless the Iroguois, who had moved into the Toronto area, were in turn displaced by the French, and gradually the southern Ontario region was dominated by the white man.
The Early French Period
The first European to reach the Toronto area is believed to have been Etienne Brule, who had served under Samuel de Champlain. Tradition has it that Brule "discovered" the Toronto site in 1615, but other scholars question whether Brule ever reached Lake Ontario at Toronto.
The very first verifiable proof of European presence in the area included Roman Catholic missionaries dealing with the local natives within the 1660s and 1670s. Seasonal traders also regularly passed through the area by now, the favourite of whom was the explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle.
By 1720 the French had established a trading post on the Humber River at the base of what was referred to as "Toronto Passage." And in 1750-51, in france they built Fort Rouille to safeguard French interests in the region from the British.
Fort Rouille, or Fort Toronto because it was more commonly known, was adopted like a trading post until 1759. In those days the French were kept in a protracted war using the British to determine which imperial power would have top of the submit dividing up worldwide colonial interests. In france they were forced to retreat from much of inland North America in 1759. Before retreating from Fort Rouille they burned the fort to the ground rather than having it fall into English hands.
Ten York
The British Take Over
This marked no more French control of the regions we now know as Toronto and Ontario, and the beginning of English domination, which was formalized in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris.
During the following decades the fate of Toronto was largely decided by events happening south of the great lakes within the American Colonies. Within the late 1770s and throughout the 1780s much of southern Ontario was settled by United Empire Loyalists who have been forced to flee from the newly independent American authorities. And, together with British settlers, missionaries, and governing elite the populace and culture of the Toronto region slowly developed and grew.
The threat from an openly antagonistic United States was foremost on the minds on most residents of the British colonies towards the north, and for that reason, Toronto and the rest of southern Ontario experienced only slow growth for a number of decades.
In 1793 the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, moved the capital of the province from Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) to Toronto and renamed the city York. At that time it was still a very small town composed of no more than 50 families. In 1813 one of the most decisive events of the War of 1812 using the U.S. saw York captured through the Americans and several of their major buildings burned to the ground.
10 York
However in spite from the damage completed to York, the War of 1812-14 represented the end of hostilities between the U.S. and British The united states. Consequently the Toronto and southern Ontario regions experienced accelerated immigration plus much more rapid development through the 1800s.
Toronto Develops Together with Canada
In 1834 the name of York was changed to Toronto, as well as in 1841 Toronto had become the capital from the newly minted Canada West region from the United Province of Canada.
In 1867 once the Canadian confederation was reformed and expanded, Toronto carried on as the capital of the new provice of Ontario.
Toronto's population grew rapidly in the late 1800s, with the population going from 30,000 in 1851 to 181,000 in 1891. This rapid population growth was almost completely caused by immigration. The 1891 population figure included as well recent annexations of numerous smaller, outlying towns for example Parkdale, Brockton Village, West Toronto, East Toronto, and many others.
Most of the immigration in the early and mid 1800s was from Britain and Ireland. Consequently Toronto was a thoroughly English-Scottish-Irish town and remained this way until immigration patterns changed in the late 1800s.
White Man Meets Indian
The very first settlers in the Toronto area were native North American Indians. Different tribes had inhabited the region around Lake Ontario not less than 10000 years. By the time Europeans first started exploring the region, the predominant Indian tribes were the Hurons and Petuns.
During the 1600s the Indian populations of much of the a part of The united states were devastated by diseases brought to the brand new world by European explorers and settlers. As Indian tribes were reduced by disease, tribes feuded with one another for their very survival. Indeed, some tribes did not survive.
This was your affairs in the southern Ontario region for much of the 1600s as Iroquois battled with Hurons. By 1688 nevertheless the Iroguois, who had moved into the Toronto area, were in turn displaced by the French, and gradually the southern Ontario region was dominated by the white man.
The Early French Period
The first European to reach the Toronto area is believed to have been Etienne Brule, who had served under Samuel de Champlain. Tradition has it that Brule "discovered" the Toronto site in 1615, but other scholars question whether Brule ever reached Lake Ontario at Toronto.
The very first verifiable proof of European presence in the area included Roman Catholic missionaries dealing with the local natives within the 1660s and 1670s. Seasonal traders also regularly passed through the area by now, the favourite of whom was the explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle.
By 1720 the French had established a trading post on the Humber River at the base of what was referred to as "Toronto Passage." And in 1750-51, in france they built Fort Rouille to safeguard French interests in the region from the British.
Fort Rouille, or Fort Toronto because it was more commonly known, was adopted like a trading post until 1759. In those days the French were kept in a protracted war using the British to determine which imperial power would have top of the submit dividing up worldwide colonial interests. In france they were forced to retreat from much of inland North America in 1759. Before retreating from Fort Rouille they burned the fort to the ground rather than having it fall into English hands.
Ten York
The British Take Over
This marked no more French control of the regions we now know as Toronto and Ontario, and the beginning of English domination, which was formalized in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris.
During the following decades the fate of Toronto was largely decided by events happening south of the great lakes within the American Colonies. Within the late 1770s and throughout the 1780s much of southern Ontario was settled by United Empire Loyalists who have been forced to flee from the newly independent American authorities. And, together with British settlers, missionaries, and governing elite the populace and culture of the Toronto region slowly developed and grew.
The threat from an openly antagonistic United States was foremost on the minds on most residents of the British colonies towards the north, and for that reason, Toronto and the rest of southern Ontario experienced only slow growth for a number of decades.
In 1793 the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, moved the capital of the province from Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) to Toronto and renamed the city York. At that time it was still a very small town composed of no more than 50 families. In 1813 one of the most decisive events of the War of 1812 using the U.S. saw York captured through the Americans and several of their major buildings burned to the ground.
10 York
However in spite from the damage completed to York, the War of 1812-14 represented the end of hostilities between the U.S. and British The united states. Consequently the Toronto and southern Ontario regions experienced accelerated immigration plus much more rapid development through the 1800s.
Toronto Develops Together with Canada
In 1834 the name of York was changed to Toronto, as well as in 1841 Toronto had become the capital from the newly minted Canada West region from the United Province of Canada.
In 1867 once the Canadian confederation was reformed and expanded, Toronto carried on as the capital of the new provice of Ontario.
Toronto's population grew rapidly in the late 1800s, with the population going from 30,000 in 1851 to 181,000 in 1891. This rapid population growth was almost completely caused by immigration. The 1891 population figure included as well recent annexations of numerous smaller, outlying towns for example Parkdale, Brockton Village, West Toronto, East Toronto, and many others.
Most of the immigration in the early and mid 1800s was from Britain and Ireland. Consequently Toronto was a thoroughly English-Scottish-Irish town and remained this way until immigration patterns changed in the late 1800s.
