Colony of Nova Scotia

Origins

The Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 ceded peninsular Acadia to Britain, which renamed it Nova Scotia, reviving an earlier Scottish claim. For decades a small garrison at Annapolis Royal ruled a population of French-speaking Acadians and Mi'kmaq. In 1749 Edward Cornwallis founded Halifax as a naval base and new capital.

Rule and society

Doubting the Acadians' loyalty, governor Charles Lawrence began their deportation in 1755, and New England Planters took their farms. Nova Scotia's assembly, first elected in 1758, was the oldest in what is now Canada. After 1783 tens of thousands of Loyalists arrived, including Black Loyalists at Birchtown, and New Brunswick was split off in 1784. Fishing, shipbuilding and timber drove the economy, and in 1848 Joseph Howe's reformers won responsible government.

Decline and legacy

In 1867 Nova Scotia joined New Brunswick and the Province of Canada to form the Dominion of Canada, of which it remains a province. Union was unpopular at first, and Howe led a campaign for repeal before accepting better financial terms in 1869.