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Thehistory of Prince Edward Island covers several historical periods, fromprehistory before European contact, the settlement of Europeans in the seventeenth century, to the present day. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the island formed a part ofMi'kma'ki, the lands of theMi'kmaq people. The island was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. The French later laid claim over the entireMaritimes region, includingÎsle Saint-Jean, what the British later called Prince Edward Island, in 1604. The French did not initially attempt to settle the island until 1720. After peninsularAcadia (present-dayNova Scotia) wascaptured by the British in 1710, an influx ofAcadian migrants moved to areas still under French control, includingÎle Saint-Jean.
In 1758, the British gained control of the island as a result of theIle Saint-Jean Campaign during theSeven Years' War. Shortly thereafter, British forces began todeport a number of Acadians from the island. The island was formally established as the British colony of St. John Island in 1769, later renamedPrince Edward Island in 1798. Although the colony's capital hostedone of the conferences that led toCanadian Confederation in 1867, the colony itself did not enter Canadian Confederation until 1873.
Prince Edward Island was first inhabited by theMi'kmaq people, who have lived in the region for millennia.[1] They named the islandEpekwitk (the pronunciation of which was changed toAbegweit by the Europeans), meaning "cradle on the waves."[2] The Mi'kmaq mythology is that the island was formed by a great spirit placing some dark red clay which was shaped as a crescent on the pink waters. There are two Mi'kmaq First Nation reserves on Prince Edward Island today.
In 1604, France claimed the lands of the Maritimes and established thecolony ofAcadia. After theTreaty of Utrecht in 1713, the island was calledÎle Saint-Jean.[3] The first French settlers arrived in 1719 on a ship wrecked at Naufrage. The settlers lived primarily atPort-LaJoye and Havre Saint-Pierre (St. Peter's Harbour).[4] At Port-LaJoye there was an administrative unit and a garrison, detached from Louisbourg, where sat the government for both Ile Royale and Île Saint-Jean. While new settlements were established along the Rivier-du-Nord-Est and at but Havre Saint-Pierre remained the largest population throughout the French occupation of the Island.[5]
After theSiege of Louisbourg (1745) duringKing George's War, the New Englanders also captured Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). An English detachment landed at Port-la-Joye. Under the command ofJoseph de Pont Duvivier, the French had a garrison of 20 French troops at Port-la-Joye.[6] The troops fled and New Englanders burned the capital to the ground. Duvivier and the twenty men retreated up the Northeast River (Hillsborough River), pursued by the New Englanders until the French troops received reinforcements from the Acadian militia and the Mi'kmaq.[7] The French troops and their allies were able to drive the New Englanders to their boats, nine New Englanders killed, wounded, or made prisoner. The New Englanders took six Acadian hostages, who would be executed if the Acadians or Mi'kmaq rebelled against New England control.[7] The New England troops left for Louisbourg. Duvivier and his 20 troops left for Quebec. After the fall of Louisbourg, the resident French population of Ile Royal were deported to France. The Acadians of Ile Saint-Jean lived under the threat of deportation for the remainder of the war.[8]
The New Englanders had a force of two war ships and 200 soldiers stationed at Port-LaJoye. To regain Acadia, Ramezay was sent from Quebec to the region. Upon arriving at Chignecto, he sent Boishebert to Ile Saint-Jean on a reconnaissance to assess the size of the New England force.[9] After Boishebert returned, Ramezay sent Joseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson along with over 500 men, 200 of whom were Mi'kmaq, to Port-LaJoye.[10] In July 1746, the battle happened near York River.[11] Montesson and his troops killed forty New Englanders and captured the rest. Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command.[12]
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DuringFather Le Loutre's War, at the beginning of theAcadian Exodus from mainland Nova Scotia, many Acadians migrated to the Island. The population increased dramatically from 735 to approximately three thousand. New settlements began at Pointe-Prime (Eldon), Bedec, and other places.[5]
The British captured Port Royal, the capital of Acadia in1710, and established Nova Scotia in the peninsular part of Acadia. Over the next forty-five years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period, Acadians and Mi'kmaq participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour.[13] During theFrench and Indian War (the North American theatre of theSeven Years' War), the British sought both to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed, and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg, by deporting Acadians from the region.[14]
Once the first wave of theExpulsion of the Acadians began in mainland Nova Scotia, Acadians arrived on the Island as refugees. After theSiege of Louisbourg (1758), the second wave of the expulsion began. On the eve of 1758, the population had grown to almost 5000.[15] Commander Rollo accomplished theIle Saint-Jean Campaign. One of the most dramatic removals was ofNoel Doiron and his family from Eldon.
The British claimed dominion over all of the Maritimes in 1763. A separate colony on Prince Edward, named "St. John's Island" was established on June 28, 1769, after determined lobbying by the island's settlers.
During theAmerican Revolutionary War, Charlottetown wasraided in 1775 by a pair of US-employed privateers.[16] Two armed pirate schooners, Franklin and Hancock, fromBeverly, Massachusetts, made prisoner of the acting Governor Phillips Callbeck, and Justice of the Peace, and Surveyor-General Thomas Wright, at Charlottetown, on advice given them by some Pictou residents after they had taken eight fishing vessels in the Gut of Canso.[17]
During and after the war, the colony's efforts to attract exiledLoyalist refugees from the United States met with some success. Walter Patterson's brother, John Patterson, one of the original grantees of land on the island, was a temporarily exiled Loyalist and led efforts to persuade others to come. The new British colony of "St. John's Island", also known as the "Island of St. John", was settled by "adventurous Georgian families looking for elegance on the sea. Prince Edward Island became a fashionable retreat in the 18th century for British nobility".[18]
In 1798, Great Britain changed the colony's name from St. John's Island to Prince Edward Island to distinguish it from similar names in the Atlantic, such as the cities ofSaint John andSt. John's. The colony's new name honoured the fourth son ofKing George III,Prince Edward Augustus, the Duke of Kent (1767–1820), who was then commanding British troops inHalifax. (Prince Edward later became the father of the futureQueen Victoria.) The majority of the colony was owned by absentee British landlords, such as shipping magnateSamuel Cunard.Protracted disputes, which lasted until Confederation, arose between the colonial office, tenants and the absentee landlords who owned most of it.[19]
In September 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted theCharlottetown Conference, which was the first meeting in the process leading toConfederation and the creation of Canada in 1867. Prince Edward Island did not find the terms of union favourable and balked at joining in 1867, choosing to remain a separate British colony.
In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including the possibility of becoming a discrete dominion unto itself, as well as entertaining delegations from theUnited States, who were interested in Prince Edward Island joining the United States.[20]
In the early 1870s, the colony began construction of arailway and frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States. In 1873,Prime Minister SirJohn A. Macdonald, anxious to thwart US expansionism and facing the distraction of thePacific Scandal, negotiated for Prince Edward Island to joinCanada. The Government of Canada assumed the colony's railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure and prevent any new migrants entering the island. Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873. The problem of absentee landowners was subsequently addressed by the passage of theLand Purchase Act, 1875.
As a result of having hosted the inaugural meeting of Confederation, theCharlottetown Conference, Prince Edward Island presents itself as the "Birthplace of Confederation" with several buildings, aferry vessel, and theConfederation Bridge, the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world,[21] using the term "confederation" in many ways. The most prominent building in the province with this name is theConfederation Centre of the Arts, presented as a gift to Prince Edward Islanders by the 10 provincial governments and the Federal Government upon the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, in Charlottetown as a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation."
Religion played a central role in the development of institutions with non-denominational (i.e. Protestant) and Roman Catholic public schools, hospitals (Prince Edward Island Hospital vs. Charlottetown Hospital), and post-secondary institutions (Prince of Wales College vs.St. Dunstan's University) being established. St. Dunstan's was originally created as a seminary for training priests, and the Maritime Christian College was founded in 1960 to train preachers for theChristian churches and churches of Christ inPrince Edward Island and theMaritime Provinces.
As with most communities in North America, theautomobile shaped Charlottetown's development in the latter half of the twentieth century, when outlying farms in rural areas of Brighton, Spring Park, and Parkdale saw increased housing developments. The Charlottetown airfield in the nearby rural community ofSherwood was upgraded as part of theBritish Commonwealth Air Training Plan and operated for the duration of World War II asRCAF Station Charlottetown, in conjunction withRCAF Station Mount Pleasant andRCAF Station Summerside. After thewar the airfield was designatedCharlottetown Airport. Charlottetown's shipyards were used extensively during World War II, being used for refits and upgrades to numerousRoyal Canadian Navy warships. Further post-war development continued to expand residential properties in adjacent outlying areas, particularly in the neighbouring farming communities of Sherwood, West Royalty, and East Royalty.
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To commemorate the centennial of theCharlottetown Conference, the ten provincial governments and the Government of Canada contributed to a national monument to the "Fathers of Confederation". TheConfederation Centre of the Arts, which opened in 1964, is a gift to the residents of Prince Edward Island, and contains a public library, nationally renowned art gallery, and amainstage theatre which has played to theCharlottetown Festival every summer since. The PEI Comprehensive Development Plan in the late 1960s greatly contributed to the expansion of the provincial government in Charlottetown for the next decade.TheQueen Elizabeth Hospital opened in 1982. In 1983, the national headquarters of the federalDepartment of Veterans Affairs was moved to Charlottetown as part of a nationwide federal government decentralization programme. In 1986, UPEI expanded further with the opening of theAtlantic Veterinary College. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there was increased commercial office and retail development. A waterfront hotel and convention centre was completed in 1982 and helped to encourage diversification and renewal in the area, leading to several residential complexes and downtown shopping facilities. The abandonment of rail service in the province byCN Rail in December 1989 led to the railway and industrial lands at the east end of the waterfront being transformed into parks and cultural attractions.
On May 31, 2021, theCharlottetown City Council voted to remove a statue ofJohn A. MacDonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada, followinga year of vandalism in the wake of theGeorge Floyd Protests. The catalyst for the removal came following thediscovery of a mass grave at theKamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.[22]
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