A Short History of Newfoundland

A short history of Newfoundland 

Hard evidence of early inhabitants of the area of Newfoundland and its surroundings is very sparse, sometimes just a single burial of a few caches of stone tools.

We have an idea that there was some habitation for at least 7,000 to 9,000 years. There was a constant list of one group of indigenous inhabitants being replaced by another. 

A succession of groups inhabited the region: Paleo-Eskimos, followed by Maritime Archaic Indians, then Dorset-Eskimos, finally replaced by the Innu and Innuit. It’s all very complicated, but by the time of first contact with Europeans, the dominant people of Newfoundland were the Beothuk Indians. The Innu were relegated to the south and the interior of Labrador and the Innuit to Northern Labrador.

The only indigenous people of which we have first-hand knowledge were the Beothuks who made contact with the first Europeans around the year 1200 AD.

Two Icelandic sagas describe the voyages of Viking exploration from Greenland and several landfalls on what would be the coast of Labrador. They finally settled at L’Anse-aux-Meadows on the Great Northern Peninsula, from which they tracked up and down the coast, possibly as far south as Nova Scotia and the St Lawrence.

The Beothuks didn’t take kindly to these newcomers and for a very good reason. According to the sagas, the Vikings killed the first Beothuks they encountered, so the feeling was mutual. The real reason that the settlement failed was the same as many subsequent attempts at settlement. There was no possibility of carrying out agriculture on the unforgiving terrain with terrible weather.

It would be 300 years before another European officially set foot on Newfoundland soil. John Cabot (an Italian from the same town as Christopher Columbus), working for the English King Henry VII, landed at what is now Bonavista. (Cabot never actually knew where he landed and Bonavista was a consensus after years of contention among other likely candidates). His single ship was small and lightly armed with a crew of 20 so when he saw evidence of habitation (leftover fire pits, trails through the woods) he planted 3 flags and set sail back to England. King Henry was disappointed. He had expected Cabot to return with gold and silver (like the Spanish explorers to the south) but Cabot returned only with tales of incredible fishing grounds where one only had to put a basket overboard and pull it up filled with cod fish.

The King was disappointed that Cabot did not return with treasures, but agreed to finance a return with more men and armaments. They left the following year. One of the 3 ships turned back and the others were never seen again. 

Cabot retained the title of ‘discoverer’ of Newfoundland until 1974 when evidence of the Viking settlement at L’Anse-Aux-Meadows was found.

The next stage of Newfoundland’s history is the one that defines it to this day. The 400 years of the migratory cod fishery.

After the discovery of the unprecedented and extraordinary proliferation of cod, vessels were dispatched from France and England to harvest this resource for the European markets. Ships were provisioned for the whole season (summer) as they always returned with their catch. Of course, there was no such thing as refrigeration so the cod had to be preserved by salting. Since this required land-based real estate (wooden platforms called flakes or gravel beaches) to process and dry, crews would be left on some rocky shore for the summer while the fish was brought to them. At the end of the season, everyone packed up and went home.

The migratory fishery was owned and controlled by merchants in France and the south of England and they forbade settlement, as that could start a competing industry.

Newfoundland remained unclaimed by any European power - it seemed hardly worth the effort. The rocky shoreline was a place to process the cod catch each summer, and no one ventured inland. Each year, the fishing fleets left from England and France determined to be the first to claim the best harbours along the rocky shoreline. There was no law and no government control. The first captain to occupy a spot became the Admiral, the absolute ruler of that area, settling disputes and dispensing justice. This was a rough and lawless time. Pirates roamed the shores, extracting tribute, kidnapping men to work on their vessels, and burning and looting as they went.

Merchants who never set foot in Newfoundland ran this industry from England and France. 

Settlement was discouraged, or even forbidden lest land-based fishermen provide competition to the European merchants and in any case, the prospects of full-time living were not very encouraging.

By the 17th century, there were settlement attempts on the Avalon Peninsula. First at Cupids, then at Renews and Ferryland. Lack of arable land, raids by pirates, French/English conflict and general lawlessness caused most of the organised settlements to disband, and the principals returned to Europe. A few stayed, however. 

Life was harsh for the early settlers, as few crops would grow on the rocky soil. The summers were short and damp; the winters were long and unforgiving. Many starved or froze to death. Gradually, the permanent settlements increased and the permanent inshore fishery was created. Outside the Avalon (‘around the bay’) people would settle wherever there was access to fishing resources and not too many in one place, sometimes just a single family. Since most of these communities were inaccessible by road, a network of supply ships based in St. John’s provided provisions in exchange for dried fish. 

Religion also played a part in the emerging Newfoundland and not in a good way. The divisions between Catholics and Protestants were raw and consequential. As a colony of England populated initially by settlers from England, the governance and power were initially by the Anglican Church. As the Catholic population grew mostly by Irish immigration, they demanded more influence and many epic struggles eventually resulted in some sort of parity. This was all in St. John’s as the folks around the bays were too involved in surviving to pay much attention. 

This division became clear during the Newfoundland referendum in 1949 when, despite the issues not being about religion, the electorate coalesced around sectarian leaders giving a result that closely mirrored the religious demographic.

World War 1 was big in the history of Newfoundland. When the mother country called, the colonists responded (remember that Newfoundland was a British colony at that time). Life was so bad, that for many young men, the prospect of steady pay and adventure encouraged young men to pour into recruiting centres from all over the province. This didn’t end well as the Newfoundland Regiment suffered disproportionate losses and was almost completely wiped out at the Battle of Beaumont Hamel. This traumatic event was a wake-up for Newfoundland and is generally accepted as propelling Newfoundland into the ‘modern age’.

It is difficult today to conceive of how harsh life was for the families who chose to occupy the hundreds of remote rocky bays and coves. Not only did they have to deal with the elements and control by the fishing merchants but there were the most cruel and inhumane punishments for the most minor infractions. A man could be flogged within an inch of his life for theft of a loaf of bread or being insubordinate to a fishing Admiral or Colonial Magistrate.

Newfoundland had been a full colony of England until 1855 when it became semi-autonomous in an arrangement called ‘responsible government’. By  1933 the country was bankrupt. Britain took full control again and appointed Commissioners to run the country. Britain was anxious to get rid of this drain on its purse and forced a referendum In 1949 where Newfoundland could choose to return to being a self-governing colony or join Canada as its 10th Province

 The ‘townies’ led by Peter Cashin voted for a return to responsible government while the rural areas voted with Joey Smallwood to become part of Canada. The vote was close,  51% to 49%.

On April 1st, 1949 Newfoundland became Canada’s 10th Province.

The cod fishery sustained Newfoundland for 400 years, but within the last 50 years through human stupidity and greed, the cod fish described by John Cabot as infinite were essentially gone. In 1992 John Crosby (Federal Fisheries Minister and Newfoundland’s favourite son in Ottawa) ordered the end to commercial cod fishing - a seismic event known as the cod moratorium. 

The population of Newfoundland plummeted as out-migration increased - the oil sands in Alberta was crying out for workers who knew how to work hard in a harsh climate and soon Fort McMurray became a Newfie outpost. Within a decade the population fell from 580,000 to 520,000 but with the discovery of oil and gas off the coast, there has been a partial rebound to 540,000. 

Today, Newfoundland survives (just barely). Several attempts have been made to have a BIG ONE. A blockbuster project that would catapult the Province ahead.

First there was the Churchill Falls Hydroelectric project. The problem was that the electricity had to pass through Quebec and they struck a hard bargain depriving Newfoundland of a lot of revenue and setting up animosity between Newfoundland and Quebec in the 1980s. 

40 years later Newfoundland had a second go. A new hydro project at Muskrat Falls (also in Labrador) would provide electricity but this time being transmitted across the Strait of Belle Isle to Newfoundland so Quebec could keep the hands out of the profits. The project has been a disaster due to poor planning and bad Engineering. Newfoundland was doubly cursed.

In the 1970s a large oil refinery was built at Come by Chance to refine foreign crude. The refinery was never profitable and went bankrupt.

In the 1990s Newfoundland produced significant quantities of offshore oil from the Hibernia oil field. Royalties contributed significantly to the Province’s budget and jobs in the oil service industry provided development mostly in the St. John’s area.

There are lots of new proposals based on mining and wind energy, but the proof is in the pudding. We have to wait and see what happens next, but for now, Alberta still calls.