History of Nova Scotia

Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Nova Scotia (also historically referred to as Mi'kma'ki and Acadia) were inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the region was claimed by France and a colony formed, primarily made up of Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. This time period involved six wars in which the Mi'kmaq along with the French and some Acadians resisted British control of the region: the French and Indian Wars, Father Rale's War (1722-1725), and Father Le Loutre's War(1749-1755). During Father Le Loutre's War, the capital was moved from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to the newly established Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749). The warfare ended with the Burying the Hatchet ceremony (1761). After the colonial wars, New England Planters and Foreign Protestants immigrated to Nova Scotia in the 1760s. During and after the American War of Independence (1775-1783), both white and black Loyalists migrated to the colony. With American independence, British North America came into being. The huge influx of American Loyalists swelled the population of Nova Scotia, which the crown divided, creating New Brunswick in 1784. In the nineteenth century, Nova Scotia became self-governing in 1848 and joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867.

The boundaries of Nova Scotia shifted during the eighteenth century, and included the present-day Canadian Maritime provinces and northern Maine (see Sunbury County, Nova Scotia), all of which were at one time part of Nova Scotia. In 1763 Cape Breton Island and St. John's Island (what is now Prince Edward Island) became part of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's Island became a separate colony. Nova Scotia included present-day New Brunswick until that province was established in 1784, after the influx of British Loyalist refugees, following the British defeat in the American War of Independence.^A