2. OUTLINE HISTORY AND PO LITICAL DEVELOPMENT (1534 to 1918). When the Dominion of Canada came into existence in 1867 the word re ceived a wholly new signification. Its origin is doubtful but it was applied loosely in the early time to the regions occupied by France on the Saint Lawrence, called by the French themselves New France. When in 1763 France surrendered her North American territory to England the term *Canada* was commonly used for the new British dominions. In 1774 these dominions, including part of the Canadian Northwest and what is now the northern tier of western Ameri can States, were officially called the *Province of Quebec.* Canada does not appear techni cally until 1791, when the name was used in a constitution given to Upper and Lower Canada, practically the Quebec and Ontario of the present time. Later these provinces were known as Canada East and Canada West. Not until 1867 did Nova Scotia and New Brunswick be come a part of Canada. In considering the his tory of Canada as we now understand the word, it is important to remember that it includes a separate record of detached provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, etc., until 1867.
In the succeeding articles the epochs in Canadian development are treated in detail. It is sufficient here to outline the chief phases of Canada's history. The first of these, the age of discovery in the 16th and early 17th centuries, has received much attention, but there is still great obscurity as to the range of French effort on the Saint Lawrence. Jacques Cartier (q.v.) and Champlain (q.v.) are the most honored names in this pioneer work. Though few de tails are known, an extensive fur trade and fishing industry existed in the Saint Lawrence region long before the end of the 16th century. Early in the 17th century French trading com panies were fighting for the monopoly of this trade.
The second epoch is that of French coloniza tion and exploration until the final struggle with Britain for the country. When the first pioneer
efforts were over France undertook the serious work of colonization, with Quebec as her centre of influence. Her aim was to transplant French social life to North America. Huge grants of land were given to seigniors who were to play the parts of lords in Canada, with vassals look ing to them for light and leading and paying rent for the land which they occupied. The system was uncongenial to the new world, but it survived during the whole period of French supremacy and is a picturesque and interesting if not a successful feature of French coloniza tion. See article SEIGNIORIAL TENURE.
The first permanent settlement apart from trading posts occupied only in the summer was at Port Royal, now Annapolis, in Nova Scotia. Here the French planned really to till the soil and develop the country. From the first the colony had a terrible struggle for life. In 1613 the English from Virginia destroyed it and, after it was restored to France in 1632, the adjacent American colonies were always planning to drive out the French. After a chequered his tory they at last succeeded in 1710, during the reign of Anne, in taking final possession of the fort, and it became Annapolis. The quiet vil lage of the present day was thus the object of strife between two nations for well nigh 100 years.
Samuel de Champlain was one of the pioneers at Port Royal, but in 1608 he turned to the Saint Lawrence and made the beginnings of Quebec, long the centre of political and commercial life in Canada. By instinct Cham plain was an explorer. Like others of that and a later time he hoped that the Saint Lawrence would in some way lead to a water route to China. To Lake Huron and Lake Ontario Champlain penetrated, but the obstacles were enormous. The Iroquois Indians were hostile to the French from the first, and it is hardly strange that with their menace added to the natural difficulties Champlain could do but little of lift the veil from the North American interior.