The history of Prince Edward Island covers several historical periods, from the
pre-Columbian era
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
to the present day. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the island formed a part of
Mi'kma'ki, the lands of the
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
people. The island was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. The French later laid claim over the entire
Maritimes region, including Prince Edward Island in 1604. However, the French did not attempt to settle the island until 1720, with the establishment of the colony of ''
Île Saint-Jean''. After peninsular
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...
(present-day
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
) was captured by the British in 1710, an influx of
Acadian migrants moved to areas still under French control, including ''Île Saint-Jean''.
In 1758, the British gained control of the island as a result of the
Ile Saint-Jean Campaign during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
. Shortly thereafter, British forces began to
deport a number of Acadians from the island. The island was formally established as the British colony of St. John Island in 1769, later renamed to ''Prince Edward Island'' in 1798. Although the colony's capital hosted
one of the conferences that led to
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...
in 1867, the colony itself did not enter Canadian Confederation until 1873.
Early history
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
was first inhabited by the
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
people, who have lived in the region for millennia.
[, Native Languages of the Americas website. Retrieved on 2015-04-20.] They named the island ''Epekwitk'' (the pronunciation of which was changed to ''Abegweit'' by the Europeans), meaning "cradle on the waves."
[Island Information: Quick Facts](_blank)
, website of the Government of Prince Edward Island, 2010-04-27. Retrieved on 2010-10-25. The Mi'kmaq mythology is that the island was formed by a great spirit placing some dark red clay which was shaped as a crescent on the pink waters. There are two Mi'kmaq First Nation reserves on Prince Edward Island today.
French colony
![Acadie1744 IPE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Acadie1744_IPE.jpg)
In 1604, France claimed the lands of the Maritimes and established the
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...
of
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...
. After the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...
in 1713, the island was called ''Île Saint-Jean''. The first French settlers arrived in 1719 on a ship wrecked at Naufrage. The settlers lived primarily at
Port-LaJoye Port-LaJoye was founded in 1720 on Île Saint-Jean, now Prince Edward Island. Settlement in the area began with the arrival of an expedition sent by the Comte de Saint-Pierre, who settled West of the Harbour entrance to the site named Port-LaJoye. ...
and Havre Saint-Pierre (St. Peter's Harbour). At Port-LaJoye there was an administrative unit and a garrison, detached from Louisbourg, where sat the government for both Ile Royale and Île Saint-Jean. While new settlements were established along the Rivier-du-Nord-Est and at but Havre Saint-Pierre remained the largest population throughout the French occupation of the Island.
[Lockerby, p. 3]
King George's War
After the
Siege of Louisbourg (1745)
The siege of Louisbourg took place in 1745 when a New England colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg, the capital of the French province of Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) during the War of the Austrian S ...
during
King George's War, the New Englanders also captured Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). An English detachment landed at Port-la-Joye. Under the command of
Joseph de Pont Duvivier Joseph Dupont Duvivier (12 November 1707 – 24 November 1760) was an Acadian-born military leader of the French.
Life
Joseph Dupont Duvivier was born in Port Royal, Acadia, the second of the three surviving sons of François du Pont Duvivier an ...
, the French had a garrison of 20 French troops at Port-la-Joye. The troops fled and New Englanders burned the capital to the ground. Duvivier and the twenty men retreated up the Northeast River (Hillsborough River), pursued by the New Englanders until the French troops received reinforcements from the Acadian militia and the Mi'kmaq.
[Harvey, p. 111] The French troops and their allies were able to drive the New Englanders to their boats, nine New Englanders killed, wounded, or made prisoner. The New Englanders took six Acadian hostages, who would be executed if the Acadians or Mi'kmaq rebelled against New England control.
The New England troops left for Louisbourg. Duvivier and his 20 troops left for Quebec. After the fall of Louisbourg, the resident French population of Ile Royal were deported to France. The Acadians of Ile Saint-Jean lived under the threat of deportation for the remainder of the war.
Battle at Port-la-Joye
The New Englanders had a force of two war ships and 200 soldiers stationed at Port-LaJoye. To regain Acadia, Ramezay was sent from Quebec to the region. Upon arriving at Chignecto, he sent Boishebert to Ile Saint-Jean on a reconnaissance to assess the size of the New England force. After Boishebert returned, Ramezay sent Joseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson along with over 500 men, 200 of whom were Mi'kmaq, to Port-LaJoye. In July 1746, the battle happened near York River. Montesson and his troops killed forty New Englanders and captured the rest. Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command.
Acadians
![Deportation of the Acadians (22289143685)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Deportation_of_the_Acadians_%2822289143685%29.jpg)
During
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the Briti ...
, at the beginning of the
Acadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus (also known as the Acadian migration) happened during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories. The thr ...
from mainland Nova Scotia, many Acadians migrated to the Island. The population increased dramatically from 735 to approximately three thousand. New settlements began at Pointe-Prime (
Eldon), Bedec, and other places.
The British captured Port Royal, the capital of Acadia in
1710
In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January–March
* January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin by ...
, and established Nova Scotia in the peninsular part of Acadia. Over the next forty-five years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period, Acadians and Mi'kmaq participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour. During the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(the North American theatre of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
), the British sought both to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed, and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg, by deporting Acadians from the region.
Once the first wave of the
Expulsion of the Acadians
The Expulsion of the Acadians, also known as the Great Upheaval, the Great Expulsion, the Great Deportation, and the Deportation of the Acadians (french: Le Grand Dérangement or ), was the forced removal, by the British, of the Acadian peo ...
began in mainland Nova Scotia, Acadians arrived on the Island as refugees. After the
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal operation of the Seven Years' War (known in the United States as the French and Indian War) in 1758 that ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led to the subsequent British campaign to cap ...
, the second wave of the expulsion began. On the eve of 1758, the population had grown to almost 5000. Commander Rollo accomplished the
Ile Saint-Jean Campaign. One of the most dramatic removals was of
Noel Doiron
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
*Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
*Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
* Mount Noel, Britis ...
and his family from Eldon.
British colony
The British claimed dominion over all of the Maritimes in 1763. A separate colony on Prince Edward, named "St. John's Island" was established on June 28, 1769, after determined lobbying by the island's settlers.
American Revolutionary War
![Prince Edward Island map 1775](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Prince_Edward_Island_map_1775.jpg)
During the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, Charlottetown was
raided in 1775 by a pair of US-employed privateers. Two armed pirate schooners, Franklin and Hancock, from
Beverly, Massachusetts, made prisoner of the acting Governor Phillips Callbeck, and Justice of the Peace, and Surveyor-General Thomas Wright, at Charlottetown, on advice given them by some Pictou residents after they had taken eight fishing vessels in the Gut of Canso.
During and after the war, the colony's efforts to attract exiled
Loyalist refugees from the United States met with some success. Walter Patterson's brother, John Patterson, one of the original grantees of land on the island, was a temporarily exiled Loyalist and led efforts to persuade others to come. The new British colony of "St. John's Island", also known as the "Island of St. John", was settled by "adventurous Georgian families looking for elegance on the sea. Prince Edward Island became a fashionable retreat in the 18th century for British nobility".
New names
In 1798, Great Britain changed the colony's name from St. John's Island to Prince Edward Island to distinguish it from similar names in the Atlantic, such as the cities of
Saint John and
St. John's. The colony's new name honoured the fourth son of
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
,
Prince Edward Augustus, the Duke of Kent (1767–1820), who was then commanding British troops in
Halifax. (Prince Edward later became the father of the future
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
.) The majority of the colony was owned by absentee British landlords such as the shipping magnate
Samuel Cunard.
Protracted disputes, which lasted until Confederation, arose between the colonial office, tenants and the absentee landlords who owned most of it.
Towards Confederation
![Charlottetown Conference Delegates, September 1864](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Charlottetown_Conference_Delegates%2C_September_1864.JPG)
In September 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thr ...
, which was the first meeting in the process leading to
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
and the creation of Canada in 1867. Prince Edward Island did not find the terms of union favourable and balked at joining in 1867, choosing to remain a separate British colony.
In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including the possibility of becoming a discrete dominion unto itself, as well as entertaining delegations from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, who were interested in Prince Edward Island joining the United States.
Canadian Confederation
In the early 1870s, the colony began construction of a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
and frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States. In 1873,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Sir
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, anxious to thwart US expansionism and facing the distraction of the
Pacific Scandal The Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving bribes being accepted by 150 members of the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract. As part of British Colu ...
, negotiated for Prince Edward Island to join
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The Government of Canada assumed the colony's railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure and from any new migrants entering the island. Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873. The problem of absentee landowners was subsequently addressed by the passage of the ''
Land Purchase Act, 1875''.
Post-Confederation history
![Confederation bridge pei 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Confederation_bridge_pei_2009.JPG)
As a result of having hosted the inaugural meeting of Confederation, the
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thr ...
, Prince Edward Island presents itself as the "Birthplace of Confederation" with several buildings, a
ferry vessel, and the
Confederation Bridge
The Confederation Bridge (french: Pont de la Confédération) is a box girder bridge carrying the Trans-Canada Highway across the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait, linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the province of Ne ...
, the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world, using the term "confederation" in many ways. The most prominent building in the province with this name is the
Confederation Centre of the Arts
Confederation Centre of the Arts (french: Centre des arts de la Confédération) is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
History
Construction of Confede ...
, presented as a gift to Prince Edward Islanders by the 10 provincial governments and the Federal Government upon the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, in Charlottetown as a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation."
Religion played a central role in the development of institutions with non-denominational (i.e. Protestant) and Roman Catholic public schools , hospitals (Prince Edward Island Hospital vs. Charlottetown Hospital), and post-secondary institutions (
Prince of Wales College
Prince of Wales College (PWC) is a former university college, which was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. PWC merged with St. Dunstan's University in 1969 to form the University of Prince Edward Island.
PWC traces its his ...
vs.
St. Dunstan's University :''St. Andrew's College, Prince Edward Island'' redirects to here.
St. Dunstan's University (SDU) is a former university which was located on the northern outskirts of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. SDU merged with Prince of Wales C ...
) being instituted. St. Dunstan's was originally developed as a seminary for training priests, and the Maritime Christian College was founded in 1960 to train preachers for the
Christian churches and churches of Christ
The group of churches known as the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ is a fellowship of congregations within the Restoration Movement (also known as the Stone-Campbell Movement and the Reformation of the 19th Century) that have no forma ...
in
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
and the
Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
.
As with most communities in North America, the
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarde ...
shaped Charlottetown's development in the latter half of the twentieth century, when outlying farms in rural areas of Brighton, Spring Park, and Parkdale saw increased housing developments. The Charlottetown airfield in the nearby rural community of
Sherwood was upgraded as part of the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and operated for the duration of World War II as
RCAF Station Charlottetown, in conjunction with
RCAF Station Mount Pleasant
RCAF Station Mount Pleasant was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station in Mount Pleasant, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Two of its runways remain in use by members of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
World War II
The aerodrome opened ...
and
RCAF Station Summerside. After the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
the airfield was designated
Charlottetown Airport
Charlottetown Airport is located north of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The airport is currently run by the Charlottetown Airport Authority, is owned by Transport Canada and forms part of the National Airports System.
The airp ...
. Charlottetown's shipyards were used extensively during World War II, being used for refits and upgrades to numerous
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...
warships. Further post-war development continued to expand residential properties in adjacent outlying areas, particularly in the neighbouring farming communities of Sherwood, West Royalty, and East Royalty.
![Winter at the UPEI quad (5061486342)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Winter_at_the_UPEI_quad_%285061486342%29.jpg)
To commemorate the centennial of the
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 thr ...
, the ten provincial governments and the Government of Canada contributed to a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation". The
Confederation Centre of the Arts
Confederation Centre of the Arts (french: Centre des arts de la Confédération) is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
History
Construction of Confede ...
, which opened in 1964, is a gift to the residents of Prince Edward Island, and contains a public library, nationally renowned art gallery, and a
mainstage theatre which has played to the
Charlottetown Festival
The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which runs from late May to mid-October every year since 1965.
Named after its host city Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and its Charlottetown Conference, since its inc ...
every summer since. The PEI Comprehensive Development Plan in the late 1960s greatly contributed to the expansion of the provincial government in Charlottetown for the next decade.
The
Queen Elizabeth Hospital opened in 1982. In 1983, the national headquarters of the federal
Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
was moved to Charlottetown as part of a nationwide federal government decentralization programme. In 1986, UPEI expanded further with the opening of the
Atlantic Veterinary College
The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) is an accredited and globally recognized veterinary school in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at University of Prince Edward Island, located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
History
AVC ...
. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there was increased commercial office and retail development. A waterfront hotel and convention centre was completed in 1982 and helped to encourage diversification and renewal in the area, leading to several residential complexes and downtown shopping facilities. The abandonment of rail service in the province by
CN Rail
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
in December 1989 led to the railway and industrial lands at the east end of the waterfront being transformed into parks and cultural attractions.
On May 31, 2021, the
Charlottetown City Council
The Charlottetown City Council is the governing body for the city of Charlottetown, the county seat of Queen's County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The most recent civic election took place in November 5, 2018. City council meets at Charlotte ...
voted to remove a statue of
John A. MacDonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, the first Prime Minister of Canada, following
a year of vandalism in the wake of the
George Floyd Protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...
. The catalyst for the removal came following the
discovery of a mass grave at the
Kamloops Indian Residential School
The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...
in British Columbia.
See also
*
History of Charlottetown
*
Further reading
* ; also
* Harvey D. C. ''The French Régime in Prince Edward Island'' (Yale U.P., 1926).
* Livingston, Ross. ''Responsible Government in Prince Edward Island: A Triumph of Self-Government under the Crown'' (1931
online* Whitcomb, Dr. Ed. ''A Short History of Prince Edward Island''. Ottawa. From Sea To Sea Enterprises, 2010. . 56 pp.
References
{{British overseas territories