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What kind of people set off for a New World? Why did they leavetheir homes to make the dangerous voyage across the ocean?

Some people wanted to make a new start. They set off alone or with their families, hoping to find a piece of land they could farm.

Others arrived as indentured servants. Employers in North America paid the servants' passage in return for several years of service.When their contract expired, they obtained their own land or worked for a wage. Many indentured servants were sent to North America in punishment for a crime, or for failure to pay a debt.

Some people never intended to stay. Every year, hundreds of migrant fishermen came to communities all along the easternseaboard. Year-round residents built taverns and inns to take advantage of the sudden influx of people.

Artisans such as stonecutters and ironworkers came to erect government buildings and fortifications. Many were brought over on three-year contracts. Before they returned to Europe, however, they trained local artisans to carry on their work.

Some people were posted to North America. Governors, engineers and other officials came to administer the colony and returned to their lands and family back in Europe. Others married local girls,had a family, and never returned to Europe.

Whole companies of soldiers also set sail. Many of these soldiers were poor boys, who had enlisted simply to obtain food and shelter. Some eventually left the army to marry and set up a farm orbusiness. Others were killed in battle shortly after setting foot on North American soil.

Priests, nuns and missionaries regularly crossed the ocean. Those who were not called back to Europe remained to establish schools, hospitals and convents. Many missionaries spent their lives withnative tribes, learning the language and adapting to a native lifestyle.

Rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief - they all arrived in NorthAmerica eventually. Not everyone was welcome. Thieves facing theend of a rope in Europe sometimes escaped to a new land. Somewent straight and became respectable citizens; others simplycontinued their old life of crime.

Merchants, pedlars, naturalists and astronomers also set sail from European docks. Not all people arrived from Europe, however. Africa, too, committed many people to the North Americancontinent. Many arrived as slaves; a few as free men and women.They, and everyone else who arrived, brought along new customsand traditions to enrich an already complex culture.
   
 
   
    NAVIGATION

Because the currents in the South Atlantic pull westward, many ships sailed along the southern route to North America (43 to 47o lat.). On the return voyage, they took advantage of easterly currents on the northern route. (51o lat.)

A crucial decision was when to sail. A ship which set out too early on the northern route risked running into ice floes. At worst, it could run into an iceberg and sink. At best, the sailors would use poles to push the ice aside. This lengthened the voyage, however.

If a ship sailed too late, it risked running into the autumn gales that blew off the coast of Nova Scotia. Ships could be blown far off course or onto a reef.

Navigators checked their latitude daily by measuring the angle of the midday sun above the horizon. At night, they took sights on the polar stars. Without a measurement of longitude, they could not tell how far they had sailed, however. Instead, they calculated the speed of the vessel using a line with knots tied in it at equal distances. The number of knots played out overside in 30 seconds allowed them to measure the distance travelled in an hour. By comparing these measurements with those already noted in the log book, the navigators could estimate how far they had travelled since setting out.

In spite of these careful calculations, ships' captains often found themselves off course. Fog or cloud cover often made it difficult to take celestial observations. Fog off the coast also brought the danger of collision with another vessel. To avoid this, the captain had the drums beaten or the cannons fired at regular intervals to signal the ship's presence.

(Fishermen sailed without the sophisticated navigational aids used by navy or merchant captains. To track the speed of a vessel, for instance, some fishing boat captains threw a wood chip overboard and measured the time it took to travel the length of the ship.)

The crew used sounding leads [pronounced "leds"] to discover if they were nearing the end of the ocean crossing. A sounding lead was simply a line with a long leaden weight attached. When the lead hit bottom, the crew measured the depth of the ocean. The pebbles, mud or sand sticking to a greased cup on the bottom of the lead revealed the composition of the ocean floor. For example, the ocean floor on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland is sandy. When the navigators consistently encountered sand on the lead, they could assume they were off Newfoundland.

Because of the uncertainties of navigation, each officer carried his own logbook. These books were often a lifeline to the navigators. They described headlands, soundings, the presence of reefs, and the colour of the water in a given area -- anything that would give them a clue to their location. When ships met sea, the navigators compared notes.

On the northern route, navigators were relieved when depth soundings indicated they were off the Grand Banks. Arrival on the Grand Banks was known as "banking." On French ships, the sailors cried "Long live the King!" at this moment. The Grand Banks was one of the sites where passengers crossing for the first time had to go through an initiation ceremony. The other sites included the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, the Arctic Circle, the Equator, and the Tropics. (The International Date Line had not yet been established.) On French ships, the initiate was made to sit on a pole over a barrel of water. Anyone who did not pay a sum of money to the crew was pushed into the barrel.

Once in sight of land, navigators used rutters, or routiers. These were books which contained hand-drawn pictures of the shape of the land. They helped navigators determine their approximate location. Navigators also relied on known landmarks such as headlands, or crosses erected as navigational aids.

LIFE ON BOARD SHIP

Seamen spent their days on watch, tending the sails and performing maintenance work on the ship. The crew was divided into groups, each known as a "watch." Since each watch worked four hours on, and four hours off, the sailors never slept for more than four hours at a time.

Under the French naval code, the sailors swept the decks twice a day. They also gathered in small groups to "pick oakum." Oakum consisted of the fibres of old rope, which were pulled apart by the seamen to form fluffy wads. The oakum was driven between the seams of the planks and covered with pitch or tar. This kept the water from seeping in.

Sailors slept between decks, in hammocks suspended from the beams. Their sleeping quarters between decks were crowded and uncomfortable. Sometimes, these spaces only 3 ft. high. The gunports were usually closed. Lanterns or candles were forbidden in case they caused a fire.

These dark holes were aired twice daily and sometimes swabbed with vinegar, but this work was suspended during a storm. One of the first priorities after a storm was to air the ship! During a storm, the rain and water sometimes penetrated even as far as their quarters, leaving everything soaking wet. Seamen slept fully clothed, in case of emergency. When a storm struck, the sailors had to quickly trim the sails to prevent the ship from being flung about by the wind. Sometimes sails were blown into the sea.

Sailors might also be called upon to pump out the water filling the hold. In the event of serious damage, divers sealed the holes with a
leaden plate.

Fire was one of the greatest dangers on board ship. Although sailors were permitted to smoke, they had to remain near the foremast with a bucket of water close by. No cooking fires were permitted during storms so crew and passengers ate cold food in bad weather.

Tobacco was one of the sailors' few pleasures. Singing and dancing on deck in fine weather was also permitted. Although they played cards, they were forbidden to play for money. Their captains feared fights breaking out among the crew.

The sailors' wages were low, especially on naval ships. Captains sometimes had a difficult time finding crew. During wartime, sailors were often "pressed" into service by gangs of recruiters whose methods were anything but gentle.

It's not surprising that many seamen jumped ship. If caught, they were flogged. Alternatively, they were strung up on a hoist and dropped into the water a few times. In keel hauling, the sailor was dragged under the keel to the other side of the vessel. The unlucky ones who banged their heads against the ship were drowned. In tropical waters, sailors who were cut and bleeding from the barnacles on the hull of the ship were in danger of being eaten by sharks. Unpopular crew members were pulled especially slowly through the water. They usually drowned.

The ship provided a perfect breeding ground for disease. Fresh water was used for drinking, not washing, and salt water would have dried out their skin. (From 1762 on, sailors on French ships were required to change their shirts at least once a week.) Sometimes fever raged through the ship, killing passengers and crew. Bodies were thrown overboard. If a priest or minister were on board, a brief funeral service was conducted.

Ordinary sailors did not receive a uniform. A seamen was lucky to own an extra shirt to change into if his shirt was wet. Many sailors covered their pants in tar to keep them dry.

The sailors' diet left them poorly equipped to fight off cold and disease. On French ships, hard tack, or ship' s biscuit, provided fully half of their daily food ration. Unlike meat or vegetables, this biscuit could be preserved indefinitely. The biscuit was accompanied by wine, well diluted with water. Sailors on British ships drank rum, brandy, or ale. Only officers received hot drinks.

The sailors helped themselves from a single large pot. In fine weather, the crew ate a hot meal of salt meat, usually boiled together with peas or beans to form a thick soup or stew. On Catholic ships, salted beef or pork was replaced with fish on meatless days.

Today we know that scurvy is caused by a lack of Vitamin C. In the 18th century, people believed scurvy came from eating too much salt food. They realized that fresh fruits and vegetables prevented the disease, and some captains regularly carried lemons, herbs, or spruce beer on board. In most cases, however, the steady diet of hard tack, salt meat, and dried peas invited scurvy, especially on long voyages. One of its symptoms was night blindness. This was especially dangerous for sailors who had to scramble up the rigging at night.

Poor passengers shared the seamen's rations. Captains were careful to lock up the good food. Animals in the hold were slaughtered for the captain's table. The meat was shared with his officers and wealthy passengers.

Father Labat, a missionary travelling from France to West Indies, describes the midday meal at the captain's table:

"Dinner consisted of a large tureen of soup served with the boiled meat, which was always fowl, Irish beef brisket, pickled pork and fresh mutton or veal; these were accompanied by chicken fricassée or something else. These three dishes were then withdrawn, and replaced with a plate of roast meat, two bowls of stew and two salads. For dessert, we had cheese, some stewed fruit, fresh fruit, chestnuts and preserves."

[Gilles Proulx, Between France and New France: Life Aboard the Tall Sailing Ships. Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited, 1984.]

Coffee was usually served at the end of the meal. Ships' captains tried to place some musicians among their crew to provide after-dinner entertainment.

The officers and wealthy passengers slept in locked cabins. Yet in spite of their privileged status, wealthy passengers suffered the inevitable discomfort of life aboard ship.

"No words can describe the suffering that we endure in this miserable vessel. The lurching is horrible and continuous. We don't know where to place ourselves or how to hold on. We could break our necks at any moment. The almost continuous beating of the waves inundates us with vile salt water. It is not a mere matter of buckets of water; our animals and fowl are dying by the numbers. I won't even speak of the damp and cold that must be endured without a fire and out in the open every day. The despotic lurching rules more than our lives, our movements, our attitudes, our rest; we must fight it at every morsel we bring to our lips and every time we must satisfy a need." (Comte de Bougainville)

[Gilles Proulx, Between France and New France: Life Aboard the Tall Sailing Ships. Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited, 1984.]

According to the Jesuit Nau, writing in 1734:

"Each time we left the between-decks we found ourselves covered in lice. I even found them in my slippers. The source of the infection: 80 dealers in contraband salt who had languished in prison for a year and who were veritable ant-hills of lice."

[Gilles Proulx, Between France and New France: Life Aboard the Tall Sailing Ships. Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited, 1984.]

After a month at sea, the fresh water was full of bacteria. And once illness began to rage through the ship, few people escaped.

Wealthy passengers shared the ship with indentured servants, soldiers, migrant fishermen and settlers. Lower class passengers were sometimes asked to help the crew during a storm. They slept in the gun room, on 2-3 tier bunkbeds. Ships' goods were also crammed into this space. Some passengers slept in the between decks with the crew. A curtain hung from one of the beams gave families some privacy. On naval ships, the sick were housed in the infirmary.

PIRATES

In spite of the stories of pirates' gold, most pirates were likely to be content with a load of salt cod or ships' gear which they could sell at a profit. Pirates located in the many coves of Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland preyed on ships fishing off the Grand Banks. Canadian pirates awaited ships at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. The hidden coves and inlets of islands in the West Indies provided a haven for Caribbean pirates who roamed the Eastern Seaboard.

Some of the pirates were former sailors in the royal navies. Some were fishermen who had been pressed into into service by pirate crews. There is a story of one of these men being taken to the Caribbean, where he escaped into a jungle. After two years, he made his way back home to Marblehead.

PRIVATEERS

In most cases, pirates were thugs who cared little for the nationality of ships or settlements. Privateers, on the other hand, were thought of as patriots. Governments gave them permission to attack any ship flying an enemy flag. Governments appreciated the privateers, since their services put less strain on the royal navies. The French tended to rely more on privateers than did the British. One explanation for this is that the British navy was much more powerful than the French. Although French ships were quite as good as British ships, there were not enough of them. Historians have also argued that British naval officers were more capable than their French counterparts, who tended to be promoted based on birth, rather than on merit.

Privateers were encouraged to attack commercial vessels and fishing boats on the grounds that it would weaken the economy of the enemy nation. In wartime, New England ships blockaded the French town of Louisbourg. They tried to weaken the Fortress by cutting off its food supply and hope of reinforcements.

When hostilities were at a peak, warships escorted convoys of merchant vessels on their voyages across the ocean to protect them from privateers. Unescorted fishing boats or heavily laden merchant ships were easy targets, usually captured with one or two shots. When the aggressor was French, a percentage from the sale of the captured vessel went to the King of France, and the rest went to the privateer and his crew. (England did not tax booty.) Another source of funds for privateers came from the ransom of captured prisoners.

Unlike the pirates (who were likely to attack or kill the passengers), privateers conducted the business of ransom in a businesslike, and often amiable, way. In one instance, an Irish prisoner gave birth to twins on board a privateer and asked its French captain to stand as godfather to one of the children.


   
   
 
   
   

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a major British naval base. During the Seven Years' War, over 3000 soldiers were stationed in the city. Thousands more passed through during the American Revolution. By the 1770's, there were two rum distilleries in Halifax and over 200 taverns. These served the soldiers stationed in the cities.

LOUISIANA

The land beyond the Alleghenies had been settled by the French in the 17th century. Their plantations stretched from New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico, up the length of the Mississippi River. The Ohio Valley and Missouri River were also settled by France. Detroit had been founded as a French fur trading post. This territory was known as Louisiana.

THE FUR TRADE

The French river system facilitated the extensive exploration of the Canadian West early in the 18th century. These western lands were dedicated to the fur trade. In their race west, French traders competed with British traders from Hudson Bay for the loyalty and furs of the various native groups.

Only the fur-trading explorers, known as coureurs de bois, were familiar with the west. Many of these young Frenchmen adopted the native lifestyle. Often these young Europeans married native women and had children who became known as Métis. In New France, the independence of the coureurs de bois was frowned upon. Government officials preferred to welcome the fur-bearing natives to Montreal rather than lose all the able young farmers to the wilderness.

THE TREATY OF UTRECHT, 1713

With the Treaty of Utrecht, France lost her lands in Acadia and southern Newfoundland. On the east coast, France retained only its fishing properties on the north and west coasts of Newfoundland and on the coast of Labrador. It also regained two small islands: Ile Royale (now known as Cape Breton Island), and Ile St. Jean (modern-day Prince Edward Island). The Fortress of Louisbourg was built on Ile Royale to protect France's fishing interests.

Both British and French settlers knew another war was inevitable. To secure Nova Scotia, the British built the naval base of Halifax, just up the coast from Louisbourg. Thousands of Swiss-German settlers were shipped in to strengthen the Protestant presence in Nova Scotia.

THE TREATY OF PARIS, 1763

The struggle for control of North America ended with the capitulation of Montreal in 1760. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 left France with only the small islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, as well as fishing rights on the north and west coasts of Newfoundland. A British governor now ruled in what was formerly New France. He was accompanied by a small number of British officials, together with English and American merchants. They came to live among the 140,000 French-speaking, Roman Catholic Canadians.

SPANISH TERRITORY

The Proclamation Line of 1763 restricted the native populations tothe land beyond the Alleghenies. Beyond this "Indian Territory" lay the former territory of Louisiana, which France had ceded to Spain in 1762. This vast land stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rockies. It would return to France for a brief period between 1800 and 1803. In 1803, Napoleon sold it to the United States. With this sale, the territory of the United States stretched from the Eastern Seaboard to the Rocky Mountains.

Florida had been ceded to Britain in 1763 and returned to Spain following the American Revolution. Spain continued to control New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico until well into the next century.

RUSSIAN TERRITORY

In 1784, some Russian settlements were established in what is now Alaska. This territory was ceded to the U.S. in 1867.

THE LOYALISTS

At the end of the American Revolution, approximately 50,000 Loyalists began a new life in the British colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia. Their success varied according to the land they received, the skills they brought with them, and their ability to adapt to new conditions.

Many of these Loyalists came from the towns and ports of Americas; others came from long-established farming areas. Some survived and prospered; others returned to American territory. All found themselves changed by the experience.

The Loyalists had gathered together in New York, the port of embarkation for their new homes. The British government had secured 183 vessels for their evacuation. These refugees represented a broad cross-section of American society: here were farmers, carpenters, bookbinders, hatters, tailors, bookbinders and sea-captains. They came from rural areas and from port cities. They represented every social class and every age group.

Former slaves who were promised their freedom in return for military service arrived to settle in Nova Scotia. Iroquois tribes who had sided with Britain during the conflict relocated to Canada.

Every household head was to receive a free grant of 100 acres, with an additional 50 acres for every member of the family. Military personnel received slightly more. In addition, the authorities promised to provide food, tools, and lumber for the first six months. Shipments of beef, pork, butter, flour, rice, oatmeal, peas, vinegar, rum, and molasses were sent to the new settlements.

Approximately 40,000 Loyalists sailed to the British Colony of Nova Scotia, which at the time, was still a remote frontier. Half of these landed in peninsular Nova Scotia while the other half sailed to what is now the Province of New Brunswick. Port Roseway in Nova Scotia, later renamed Shelburne, was a popular destination. Several thousand went to Halifax.

The towns of Saint John, and Fredericton in the St. John River Valley were founded by Loyalists. In 1784, the people of Saint John petitioned the British Government for a separate colony, which in turn became the Province of New Brunswick. Loyalists were also settled on the former French Ile St. Jean, which would become known as Prince Edward Island. The town of Sydney was founded by Loyalists in 1784.

Many Loyalists were unskilled at farming; others were not accustomed to farming so far north. They had to learn under which conditions the land produced the best harvest. In the coastal settlements, for example, Loyalists learned that potatoes grown with kelp and seaweed for fertilizer were superior to potatoes grown without. On this rough coast, winter vegetables and root crops such as turnips, potatoes, onions, cabbage and beets grew best. The settlers also grew the hardy pumpkins and beans. Small berries such as blueberries, strawberries and cranberries grew in abundance.

While the majority of Loyalists had sailed from the port of New York, approximately 10,000 had entered Canadian territory via the Richelieu River. Local authorities could not contemplate placing these Loyalists in the St. Lawrence Valley. They were used to American institutions of free landholding and self-government and could be expected to react strongly against Canada's seigneurial system of landholding. Instead, the British government opened territory that the French government had reserved for the fur trade. Loyalists were settled on the west bank of the Niagara River and on the shores of Lake Ontario. Surveyors were hurriedly sent to the places chosen for settlement. The Mississauga tribe, a branch of the Algonquins, were already settled in southern Ontario and authorities had to negotiate with them for land. Decisions were made regarding the size, number and location of the new farms.

This territory was governed from Quebec City until 1787. The Loyalists were uncomfortable with French civil law, however, and petitioned the British government to separate the two territories. By 1791, they were known as Upper and Lower Canada. Quebec City remained the capital of Lower Canada, while York was established as the capital of Upper Canada in 1793. In the next century, it would be known as the city of Toronto.

Slowly, the settlements took shape. The land given the Loyalists varied widely. Much of it was drawn for by lots, so that the quality of the land depended very much on the luck of the draw. Some of the land grants proved to be infertile. Of the almost 40,000 Loyalists who came to the British Colony of Nova Scotia, almost one-fifth left soon after. Still others rejected their allotted lands and set off on their own in search of new territory.

Many military officers settled in regimental groups, according to the regiment they had fought in during the American Revolutionary war. With their distinctive uniforms, regimental flag, and music, the officers, soldiers and their families were used to thinking of themselves as a community. Accordingly, land was ceded to them in blocks, which were laid out on grid systems with strict military precision. Each colonist received a town lot and a farm lot, and were expected to build their houses in town. A town commons was established to pasture everyone's animals, while a market square allowed them to trade products and services.

Some Loyalists became woodcutters and shipbuilders. In New Brunswick, they built sawmills to process the province's rich stands of timber. In fact, the merchants involved in the timber trade became the new elite of New Brunswick. Others bought a share in a schooner and were soon providing fabrics, shoes, fishing gear, farming utensils, tobacco and rum to the new farmers and fishermen.

By 1800, those Loyalists who had remained in British territory were beginning to build towns throughout British North America. They were creating a diversified economy built on not only agriculture, but on the fisheries, shipping, and lumber as well. And they were beginning to identify themselves with their new homes. Before long, the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Upper Canada would stand as independent colonies.

THE ACADIANS

In the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries, the Acadians were farmers. Since that time, several communities have earned their livelihood from the sea and forest. The reason for this abrupt change lies in their history.

The first Acadians settled along the Bay of Fundy. There, the highest tides in the world have left rich sediments deposited in the soil. The early Acadians used their knowledge of French dyking techniques to turn these tidal marshes into some of the best farmland in the world.

They began by driving five or six rows of large logs into the ground, just at the tidewater mark. Between each row, logs were laid, one on top of the other. To stem the flow of water, the spaces between them were carefully filled with well-pounded clay.

Although the technology was probably first brought over from France in the mid-1600's, the Acadians developed a unique feature for their dykes. Just as the word "igloo" is linked to the Inuit people of the Canadian north, the word "aboiteau" is identified only with the Acadians. It designates the wooden gate that controlled the flow of salt water. This one-way gate opened outward towards the sea so that water draining from the marshes pushed it open. In contrast, the weight of the rising tides from the other direction slammed it firmly shut, so that no salt water entered the fields. By the second year, the rain had washed the salt away and the field was ready for planting. The lands on the seaward side of the dykes produced saltmarsh hay, which the Acadians cut for their cattle.

By 1700, the Acadians had dyked all the great marshlands bordering the Bay of Fundy. Throughout the first half of the 18th century, these Acadian farms were producing a small surplus of crops and livestock, which was generally sent to the fishing towns of the coast. In return, they purchased cloth, ceramics, and other luxury goods. By 1713, the Acadian lands had been ceded to Britain by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. The change in government had little impact on the day-to-day life of the Acadians. They were permitted to keep their French Roman Catholic priests and even maintained an unofficial trade with the French Fortress Louisbourg.

Just before the outbreak of the Seven Years War, however, tensions were high between Britain and France. The British authorities feared that Nova Scotia's Acadian population would side with France in the coming war. When the Acadians refused to swear to take up arms for Britain, the British deported them to the American colonies.

In 1764, however, they were given permission to return to Nova Scotia, provided they took the oath of allegiance and settled in isolated areas of the colony.

Many of these areas were rocky, coastal lands. There were no marshlands to dyke and no rich meadowland for their cattle. The Acadians would no longer be a farming people. Instead, they turned to the sea, rowing their small boats out to the fishing grounds each morning. Before long, some were setting out in their own schooners, which they themselves had built. Some of these were as large as 100 tons and sailed to the West Indies, where they traded their cod fish for sugar products and rum.

The Acadians also turned to the forests, becoming master woodworkers and shipbuilders. They could no longer raise the fine cattle that had once flourished in Grand Pré; they could, however, hunt the moose which occupied the high tundras near their new homes. In spring, they set off in their flat-bottomed boats for the great ice-fields that drifted in from the north. The seals from this hunt provided them with both meat and clothing. Today, the Acadians live in prosperous communities in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The story of the Acadians is in some respects a sad one. It is also a story of great tenacity and courage. The Acadians' flexibility in accepting and adapting to the conditions they encountered ensured their survival as a people. It is also a poignant example of the close connection between the land and the people who settled it.

 

Also covered on the CD ROM (available from Folkus Atlantic):

  • Natives
  • Blacks
  • Pirate Game