NA Settlement and Early Agriculture Flashcards
Why is it hard to farm in Canada?
Canadian shield - rocky areas cover 1/3 of our country
lots of Canada is cold - temperature changes limit growing time
Precipitation - plants can’t grow without water
Plants can’t grow on mountians
Why are the most populated areas farther south?
because thats where plants could grow
how can you help crops in the best way possible?
manures and compost
Fallow - don’t plant for a season
irrigation - rivers flood the land, delivering nutrients
Nitrogen and fixing plants - beans
chemical fertilizers
Swidden - slashing and burning of fields - to replenish soils, ashes help provide nutrients
difference between European ag and American ag
European - cereal crops
domesticated animals
animal fertilizers and fallowing
metal tools
making land productive
American - three sisters
no domesticated animals
swidden
stone and wooden tools
share in wealth and land
what is Agrarianism?
the culture behind agriculture
Agriculture in the Wendat communities
had multiple long houses surrounded by land that they rotated using, new, older, old fields
women tended to fields, watched children, while men hunted, made houses, traded, fought
Acadia
French settlement by the bay of Fundy
first settlement - Port Royal
the land was constantly changing between the British and french possession, sometimes US
couldn’t plant crops, because it flooded twice a day due to floods, so they built dykes made of sod to block rising sea levels. Had one way water drainage in the dykes called Sluice
New France
Based on commercial trade, eventually slowed down, less populated.
Wanted to replicate the french Feudalism while farming, hierarchy, no private property
later developed the Seigneurial system - more private property for land owners
fields in New France were planted along rivers, used fallow technique to get nutrients into the soil - didn’t work - moved to cities
Why didn’t people like old growth forests?
they got in the way of farming
you got taxed if you had land and didn’t get rid of enough trees had to clear 3 acres in 5 years
What did a typical farm look like in New France?
had multiple long fields by the river on the edge of the woods, access to transportation, fishing, water, timber
a mill
church
Seigneurs - tenants had rights to the land, could pass down or sell.
soil changed the farther away it was from the river
History of Upper Canada population.
Southern Ontario and lower great lakes
- more populated from Britain because it was an english speaking area
- population quadrupled in one generation
What is Freehold land tenure?
you own the property that you paid for - property rights
Land was divided up, migrants received free land to cultivate and be productive with.
Wheat production
large increase in wheat production and exports of wheat
Made a cash crop economy based on a new staple
started from family farms, but then big industrial business took over, putting the locals out of business = moved to cities.
declined becasue of soil exaustion = farmers turned to dairy farming or moved to cities
What is the chain reaction that occurs with deforestation?
the land can’t absorb water, no roots to secure it, increases erosion, the weeds come in. like the Canadian thistle.
