Newfoundland and Labrador

The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the ten provinces of Canada. A British colony from the time of Elizabeth the First, Newfoundland joined confederation in 1948. Since 2001 the official name of the province has incorporated the names of the island of Newfoundland and its mainland territory of Labrador, which has only 28,000 people or 6% of the total population. In everyday conversation the province is called "Newfoundland". According to the 2006 Canadian Census, The province has a population of 505,469. Newfoundland and Labrador cover 405,720 square kilometres in total.

Economy

Whale hunting became an important industry around 1900. At first slow whales were caught by men hurling harpoons from small open boats. Mechanization copied from Norway brought in cannon-fired harpoons, strong cables, and steam winches mounted on maneuverable, steam-powered catcher boats. They made possible the targeting of large and fast-swimming whale species that were taken to shore-based stations for processing. The industry was highly cyclical, with well-defined catch peaks in 1903–05, 1925–30, 1945–51, and 1966–72, after which world-wide bans shut it down.

When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, it relinquished jurisdiction over its fisheries to Ottawa; the Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that the federal government also has jurisdiction over offshore oil drilling.

After 1945, the fishing economy was transformed from a predominately labor-intensive inshore, household-based, saltfish-producing enterprise into an industrialized economy dominated by vertically integrated frozen fish companies. These efficient companies needed fewer workers, so about 300 fishing villages, or outports, were abandoned by their residents between 1954 and 1975 as part of a Canadian government-sponsored program known as the Resettlement. Some areas lost 20% of their population, and enrollment in schools dropped even more.

In 1992, the northern cod fishery off Newfoundland and Labrador (the world's largest ground fishery) was shut down. The northern cod had been reduced to 1% of their historic spawning biomass and cod fishing as a way of life had come to an end after a 500 year history as a main industry.

The fishing industry crisis of the 1990s saw the already precarious economic base of the many towns further eroded. The situation was made worse by both federal and provincial pursuit of programs of economic liberalization that sought to limit the role of the state in economic and social affairs. As the effects of the crisis were felt, and established state supports were weakened, tourism was embraced by a growing body of local development and heritage organizations as a way of restoring the shattered economic base of many communities. Limited, short-term funding for some tourism-related projects was provided mostly from government programs, largely as a means of politically managing the structural adjustment that was being pursued.

History

Exploration

The first definite evidence of European contact with North America was that of the medieval Norse sailing from Greenland. For several years after 1000 AD they operated a small village on the tip the Great Northern Peninsula, known as L'Anse aux Meadows. Most historians believe explorer John Cabot (1450-1499), commissioned by King Henry VII of England, landed in Nova Scotia in 1497, but some historians have hypothesized he landed in Newfoundland.

17th-18th centuries

Explorers soon realized that the waters around Newfoundland provided the best fishing in the North Atlantic. By 1620, 300 fishing vessels a year worked the banks, employing some 10,000 sailors. They dried and salted the cod on the coast and sold it to Spain and Portugal. Heavy investment by Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, in the 1620s in wharves, warehouses, and fishing stations failed to pay off. French raids hurt the business, and the weather was terrible, so he redirected his attention to Maryland colony. After Calvert left small-scale entrepreneurs such as Sir David Kirke made good use of the facilities. Kirke became the first governor in 1639. A triangular trade with New England, the West Indies, and Europe gave Newfoundland an important economic role. By the 1670s there were 1700 permanent residents and another 4500 in the summer months.

The "admiral" system, by which the first captain arriving in a particular bay was in charge of allocating suitable shoreline sites for curing fish, was slowly replaced after 1700. Fishing-boat captains tried to arrive early from Europe each season in an attempt to become the admiral; soon merchant companies left crewmen behind at the prime shoreline locations to lay claim to the sites. This was a precursor to the establishment of private property and led to "bye-boat" fishing, wherein local, small-boat crews fished certain spots for the summer, claimed a strip of land as their own, and sold their catches to the migratory fishers. Bye-boat fishing then led to increased residency on the island, which in turn led to the elimination of migratory fishing enterprises as resident fishing became more profitable in the 18th century.

20th century

The First World War was supported with near unanimity in Newfoundland. Recruiting was brisk, with 6,240 men joining the Newfoundland Regiment for overseas duty, 1,966 joining the Royal Navy, 491 in the Forestry Corps (which did lumberjack work at home), plus another 3,300 men who joined Canadian units, and 40 women who became war nurses.

During the great Battle of the Somme in 1916, the British assaulted the German trenches near Beaumont Hamel, in France. The eight-hundred-man Royal Newfoundland Regiment attacked as part of a British brigade. Most of the Newfoundlanders were killed or wounded without anyone in the regiment having fired a shot. The state, church, and press romanticized the sacrifice Newfoundlanders had made in the war effort through ceremonies, war literature, and memorials, the most important of which was the Beaumont Hamel Memorial Park, which opened in France in 1925. The story of the heroic sacrifice of the regiment in 1916 served as a cultural inspiration throughout the turbulent years from 1916 to 1925 in which six successive Newfoundland governments failed, widespread corruption was uncovered, and the postwar economy plummeted.

The 1920 Education Act called for the establishment of a Department of Education, to oversee all state schools, including the processes of teacher training and certification. The act provided for four grades of certificated teachers. There was also a category of other "ungraded" teachers, who were unqualified and employed on a temporary basis.

Commission on Government 1934

Newfoundland's economic crash in the Great Depression, coupled with a profound distrust of politicians, led to the abandonment of self-government. The government had borrowed very heavily and had a weak tax base; 1933 interest payments on the public debt amounted to 63% of government revenue. There was no more credit; a short-lived plan proposed to sell Labrador to Canada; Canada offered no help. In return for British financial assistance, the newly elected government of Frederick Alderdice agreed to the appointment by London of a three-member royal commission, including British, Canadian, and Newfoundland nominees, "to examine into the future of Newfoundland and in particular to report on the financial situation and prospects therein." The Newfoundland Royal Commission was chaired by Lord Amulree, recommended that Britain "assume general responsibility" for Newfoundland's finances. Newfoundland would give up self-government in favour of administration by an appointed governor and a six-member appointed Commission of Government, having both executive and legislative authority. The solution was designed to would provide "a rest from politics" and a government free of corruption. The legislature accepted the deal, formalized when the British Parliament passed the Newfoundland Act, 1933. The commission began operations in 1934, and disbanded in 1949.

Newfoundland remains the only nation that ever voluntarily relinquished democracy.

World War II

In 1940 Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to an exchange of American destroyers for access to British naval bases in the Atlantic, including Newfoundland. The result was sudden prosperity as American money flooded the island, where 25% had been on relief. Some 20,000 men were employed in building military bases, but the government kept wages low so as to not destroy the labor force for fishing. Even more influential was the sudden impact of a large modern American population on a traditional society. American ideas regarding food, hygiene (and indoor plumbing), entertainment, clothing, living standards and pay scales swept the island. Fears of a permanent American presence in Newfoundland prompted the Canadian government to push the island to join the Canadian Confederation.

Joining Canada

As soon as prosperity returned (in 1942), agitation began to end the Commission. Newfoundland, with a population of 313,000 (plus 5,200 in Labrador), seemed too small to be independent. Joseph "Joey" Smallwood (1900–91) was a well-known radio personality, writer and organizer; he was a nationalist who long had criticized British rule. In 1945 London announced that a National Convention would be elected in Newfoundland to advise on what constitutional choices should to be voted on by referendum. Union with the United States was a possibility, but London rejected the option and offered instead options were presented by London, return to dominion status or continuation of the commission. Canada made an offer to join the Confederation in 1947 on generous financial terms. Smallwood was elected to the convention where he became the leading proponent of confederation with Canada, insisting, "Today we are more disposed to feel that our very manhood, our very creation by God, entitles us to standards of life no lower than our brothers on the mainland." Displaying a mastery of propaganda technique, courage and ruthlessness, he succeeded in having the Canada option on the ballot. He carried his cause in two hard-fought referendums in 1948 as the decision to join Canada (rather than become an independent dominion) carried 77,869, as against 71,464. A strong rural vote in favor of Canada overwhelmed the pro-independence vote in the capital of St. John's. The Irish Catholics in the city desired independence in order to protect their parochial schools, leading to a Protestant backlash in rural areas. The promise of cash family allowances from Canada proved decisive. According to the terms, Newfoundland would again have its own legislature and full local self-government, as well as seven members of the Canadian House of Commons. Canada assumed the Newfoundland debt of $63 million and and in return Canada would keep the income, corporation, and customs revenue. Newfoundlanders would immediately get Canadian welfare benefits and the province would be paid about $3 million annually, plus a transitional grant, starting at $6.5 million then phasing out over 12 years. "We are all Canadians now," exculted one minister; "Now it can truly be said that Canada stretches from sea to sea."

Smallwood was elected the Liberal party premier of Newfoundland (1949 to 1972), and promoted promoted economic development through the Economic Development Plan of 1951, championed the welfare state (paid for by Ottawa), and attracted favorable attention across Canada. He emphasized modernization of education and transportation in order to attract outsiders, such as German industrialists, because the local economic elite would not invest in industrial development. Smallwood dropped his youthful socialism and collaborated with bankers, and became hostile to the militant unions that sponsored numerous strikes. His efforts to promote industrialization were a mixed bag, with great success primarily in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills. He was narrowly defeated in the 1971 elections, and failed in several comeback attempts. He left politics in 1977 to create an outstanding Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador with over 200 authors.

Three postwar political eras can be discerned, each marked by a dramatic opening event. A first period began with confederation, and Joseph R. Smallwood's accession to power. A second period of politics started with the Progressive Conservative victory in the federal general election of 1957. A third period began with the sweeping Conservative victory in Newfoundland in the federal election of 1968. Running through these periods is a common theme: the continuing erosion of the traditional, stable, subsistence, outport economy of Newfoundland by the forces of urbanism and industrialism.

National identity

Nationalist sentiment in the 21st century is a powerful force in Newfoundland politics and culture. But that was a development of the late 20th century, for in the 1940s it was not strong enough to stop confederation with Canada. A Newfoundland identity was first articulated in the 1840s, embodied in a distinction between English-born and native-born Newfoundland residents.The relative absence of a strong sense of belonging to an independent country was the underlying reason for Joseph Smallwood's referendum victory. Most islanders were descendants of immigrants from either Ireland or the English West Country. It took centuries for them to view themselves as Newfoundlanders first and foremost. Gregory (2004) tried to date the transition from old (European) to new (Newfoundland) in the outport communities using vernacular song texts. Use of three collections of Newfoundland songs demonstrates how by 1930 or so a Newfoundland song culture had replaced earlier cultural traditions. These songs suggest that the island was still a cultural mosaic; some outports were completely Irish, others were English, and in a few ethnically mixed communities, including St. John's, there was an emergent, home-grown, patriotic song culture. Cultural nationalism was still a minority tradition in the Newfoundland of 1930. After joining Canada in 1949, Newfoundland culture underwent a significant transformation, notably in the cultural revival of the 1970s, which extolled the virtues of efficiency, centralization, and modernityTraditional Newfoundland heritage enjoyed a renaissance in the arts and crafts. For example, Wayne Johnston's novel The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (1999) develops insights into the unique identity of the islanders and challenges prevailing misconceptions about the area among both residents and outsiders. The protagonist of the book is premier Joseph R. Smallwood, with focus on his advocacy of confederation with Canada. Chafe (2003) sees the novel in terms of postcolonial literature with its attendant themes of displacement, identity, and history. Chafe explores Johnston's use of the phrase "scuttlework of empire" and its many interpretations of the often troubled relationship between the British Empire and Newfoundland settlers.

Further reading

• Harris, Leslie. Newfoundland and Labrador: A Brief History (1968),
• Hempstead, Andrew. Frommer's Newfoundland and Labrador (2008) excerpt and text search 2006 edition
• Jackson, Lawrence. Newfoundland & Labrador (1998)
• Rowe, Frederick. History of Newfoundland and Labrador (1980).
• Smallwood, Joseph, et al. eds. The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (5 vol 1981-94) 3900 pages; available on cd-rom portions online
• Walls, Martha, and John MacIntyre. Newfoundland and Labrador Book of Everything (2006)

Bibliography

Surveys

• Chadwick, Gerald William St. John. Newfoundland; Island Into Province (1967)
• Harris, Leslie. Newfoundland and Labrador: A Brief History (1968),
• Jackson, Lawrence. Newfoundland & Labrador (1999)
• MacNutt, W.S. The Atlantic Provinces: The Emergence of Colonial Society (1965)
• Prowse, D.W. A History of Newfoundland (1895) 744pp 1895 edition online
• Rothney, G.O. Canadian Historical Society's Historical Pamphlet #10, Newfoundland: A History (1964).
• Rowe, Frederick. History of Newfoundland and Labrador (1980).
• Smallwood, Joseph, et al. eds. The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (5 vol 1981-94) 3900 pages; available on cd-rom portions online

Specialized studies

• Bannister, Jerry. The Rule of the Admirals: Law, Custom, and Naval Government in Newfoundland, 1699-1832. (2003).
• Birkenhead, Lord. The story of Newfoundland (2nd ed. 1920) 192pp online edition
• Blake, Raymond B. Canadians at Last: Canada Integrates Newfoundland as a Province. U. of Toronto Press, 1994. 252 pp.
• Casey, G.J., and Elizabeth Miller, eds., Tempered Days: A Century of Newfoundland Fiction St. John's: Killick Press, 1996.
• Earle; Karl McNeil. "Cousins of a Kind: The Newfoundland and Labrador Relationship with the United States" American Review of Canadian Studies Vol: 28. Issue: 4. 1998. pp: 387-411. online edition
• English, Christopher, ed. Essays in the History of Canadian Law. Vol. 9. Two Islands: Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. (2005). 419 pp.
• Fay, C. R. Life and Labour in Newfoundland University of Toronto Press, (1956) online edition
• Fowler, Adrian. "Distinct Society: Cultural Identity in Twentieth-Century Newfoundland Literature." PhD dissertation U. of Ottawa 2003. 340 pp. DAI 2003 64(1): 149-A. DAQN76384 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Francis, R. Douglas, Richard Jones and Donald B. Smith. Origins: Canadian History to Confederation (3rd. ed. 1996), "Newfoundland to the 1860s," pp. 352-370.
• Greene, John P. Between Damnation and Starvation: Priests and Merchants in Newfoundland Politics, 1745-1855.McGill-Queen's U. Press, 2000. 340 pp.
• Hale, David. "The Newfoundland Lesson," The International Economy. v17#3 (Summer 2003). pp 52+. online edition
• Handcock, Gordon W. "So Longe as There Comes Noe Women": Origins of English Settlement in Newfoundland (Breakwater, 1989)
• Harris, R.C. ed. The Historical Atlas of Canada, vol. I: From the Beginning to 1800 (1988) and R. Louis Gentilcore, ed. The Historical Atlas of Canada, vol. II: The Land Transformed, 1800-1891 (1993)
• Harvey, M. Newfoundland in 1900. A treatise of the geography, natural resources and history of the Island, embracing an account of recent and present large material movements, finely illustrated with maps and half-tone engravings (1900) 187 pp.edition
• Head, Grant C. Eighteenth Century Newfoundland: A Geographer’s Perspective (1976)
• Hiller, James, and Peter Neary (eds.), Newfoundland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Essays in Interpretations (1980)
• Hiller, J. K. and Harrington, M. F., ed. The Newfoundland National Convention, 1946-1948. 2 vols. McGill-Queen's U. Press, 1995. 2021 pp.
• Hiller, James K. "Robert Bond and the Pink, White and Green: Newfoundland Nationalism in Perspective." Acadiensis 2007 36(2): 113-133. Issn: 0044-5851
• House, J.D. The Challenge of Oil: Newfoundland's Quest for Controlled Development. ISER Books (1985) re 1980s
• House, J.D. Against the Tide: Battling for Economic Renewal in Newfoundland and Labrador. (1999)
• Kealey, Linda, ed. Pursuing Equality: Historical Perspectives on Women in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1993. 310 pp.
• Ling, Katherine Anne. "'A Share of the Sacrifice': Newfoundland Service Wives in the Second World War." PhD dissertation Memorial U. of Newfoundland [Canada] 2001. 331 pp.  : DAI 2002 62(10): 3527-A. DANQ62451 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Long, Gene. Suspended State: Newfoundland Before Canada Breakwater Books Ltd; (1999)
• McCann, Phillip. Schooling in a Fishing Society: Education and Economic Conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1836-1986. St. John's: Institute of Social and Economic Res., 1994. 277 pp.
• MacKay, R. A. Newfoundland: Economic, Diplomatic, and Strategic Studies, (Oxford University Press, 1946) online edition
• Macpherson, Alan G. ed. Four Centuries and the City: Perspectives on the Historical Geography of St. John's (2005)
• Mannion, John J. Irish Settlements in Eastern Canada: A Study of Cultural Transfer and Adaptation (1974)
• Mannion, John J. ed., The Peopling of Newfoundland: Essays in Historical Geography (Institute of Social & Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1977)
• Matthews, Keith. Lectures on the History of Newfoundland 1500-1800 (1988),
• Neary, Peter. Newfoundland in the North Atlantic world, 1929-1949. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996
• O'Flaherty, Patrick. Old Newfoundland: A History to 1843. St John's: Long Beach, 1999. 284 pp.
• Ommer, Rosemary E., ed. The Resilient Outport: Ecology, Economy, and Society in Rural Newfoundland. (2002). 358 pp.
• Overton, James. "Nationalism, Democracy, and Self-determination: Newfoundland in the 1930s and 1940s." Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 2005 32(1-2): 31-52. Issn: 0317-7904
• Pope, Peter E. Fish into Wine: The Newfoundland Plantation in the Seventeenth Century. U. of North Carolina Press, 2004. 464 pp.
• Rowe, Frederick W. The Smallwood Era. (1985). 250 pp.
• Sider, Gerald M. Between History and Tomorrow: Making and Breaking Everyday Life in Rural Newfoundland. (2nd ed. Broadview, 2003); first edition was Culture and Class in Anthropology and History: A Newfoundland Illustration, (1986). 344 pp.
• Sweeny, Robert C. H. "What Difference Does a Mode Make? A Comparison of Two Seventeenth-century Colonies: Canada and Newfoundland." William and Mary Quarterly 2006 63(2): 281-304. Issn: 0043-5597 Fulltext: History Cooperative
• Wright, Miriam. A Fishery for Modern Times: The State and the Industrialization of the Newfoundland Fishery, 1934-1968. (2001). 176 pp.
• Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. Desperate measures: the Great Depression in Newfoundland and Labrador (1996) 55 pages; essays by Carmelita McGrath and Kathryn Welbourn. online edition

Historiography

• Bannister, Jerry. "'A Species of Vassalage': The Issue of Class in the Writing of Newfoundland History" Acadiensis 24:1 (Autumn 1994): 134-144.
• English, Christopher. "The Legal Historiography of Newfoundland," in Christopher English (ed.), Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Vol. 9. Two Islands: Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island (2005), pp. 19-38.
• Janzen, Olaf U. "Newfoundland and the International Fishery," in M. Brook Taylor, ed. Canadian History. A Reader's Guide. Vol. I: Beginnings to Confederation (1994). Chapter 4, pp. 280-324 online expanded version
• Matthews, Keith. "Historical Fence Building: a Critique of the Historiography of Newfoundland." Newfoundland Studies 2001 17(2): 143-165. Issn: 0823-1737
• Neary, Peter. "The Writing of Newfoundland History: An Introductory Survey," in James Hiller and Peter Neary (eds.), Newfoundland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Essays in Interpretations (1980), pp. 3-15
• Rowe, Fred. "Myths of Newfoundland", Newfoundland Quarterly 74:4 (Winter 1979): 3-16
• Sager, Eric. "Newfoundland's Historical Revival and the Legacy of David Alexander," Acadiensis 11:1 (Autumn 1981): 104-115

Primary sources

• Moyles, Robert Gordon, ed. "Complaints is Many and Various, But the Odd Divil Likes It": Nineteenth Century Views of Newfoundland (1975).
• Neary, Peter, and Patrick O'Flaherty, eds. By Great Waters: A Newfoundland and Labrador Anthology (1974)
• O'Flaherty, Patrick ed. The Rock Observed: Literary Responses to Newfoundland and Its People (1979)
• Rompkey, Ronald, ed. Terre-Neuve: Anthologie des Voyageurs Français, 1814-1914 [Newfoundland: anthology of French travelers, 1814-1914]. Presse University de Rennes, 2004. 304 pp.
• Smallwood, Joseph R. I Chose Canada: The Memoirs of the Honourable Joseph R. "Joey" Smallwood. (1973). 600 pp.

External links

• Canadian Encyclopedia (2008), complete text
  • Newfoundland Premiers, from Canadian Encyclopedia
• The Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1966- ), scholarly biographies of everyone of importance who died by 1930
• The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site
• "Religion, Society and Culture in Newfoundland and Labrador" ed. by Hans Rollmann
• Acadiensis: The Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region
• Newfoundland and Labrador Studies a scholarly journal founded in 1985
• Newfoundland and Labrador Studies from Memorial University Library
• "Atlantic Canada Portal" a comprehensive online bibliography on Atlantic Canada
• "A Reader's Guide to the History of Newfoundland and Labrador to 1869," by Olaf U. Janzen