History of Newfoundland and Labrador

The History of Newfoundland and Labrador is actually the story of two separate geographical regions that have been linked together for thousands of years through common interests and family ties. Newfoundland can trace its legal links with Labrador back to the commission issued to Newfoundland Governor Thomas Graves in 1763, which extended his jurisdiction to the "Coasts of Labrador." The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London later confirmed the current Labrador boundary as part of Newfoundland in 1927, and the two regions were joined in name when they entered Canada together in 1949.

Human inhabitation in Newfoundland and Labrador can be traced back about 9000 years to the people of the Maritime Archaic Tradition. They were gradually displaced by people of the Dorset Culture (paleoeskimos and finally by the Innu and Inuit in Labrador and the Beothuks on the island. The oldest known European contact was made over a thousand years ago when the Vikings briefly settled in L'Anse aux Meadows. Five hundred years later, European explorers (John Cabot, João Fernandes Lavrador, Gaspar Corte-Real, Jacques Cartier and others), fishermen from England, Portugal, France and Spain and Basque whalers (the remains of several whaling stations have been found at Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador) began exploration and exploitation of the area.

The overseas expansion of British Empire began when Sir Humphrey Gilbert took possession of Newfoundland in the name of England in 1583. Apart from St.John's, which was already established, early settlements were started at Cupids, Ferryland and other places.

During its history Newfoundland and Labrador have had many forms of government, including a time as the Dominion of Newfoundland (1907–1949), equivalent in status to Canada and Australia. Newfoundland and Labrador became the tenth province of Canada on March 31, 1949.

Newfoundland has been viewed to be of strategic importance in numerous early wars involving the United Kingdom and France and the United States. Royal Newfoundland Regiment fought with distinction in World War I. Numerous bases were built in Newfoundland and Labrador by Canada and the United States during World War II, particularly to safeguard the Atlantic convoys to Europe.

The first transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, in western Ireland and Heart's Content, in eastern Newfoundland was completed in 1866. The first transatlantic radio message was received by Guglielmo Marconi at Cabot Tower (Newfoundland) in St. John's. The first non-stop transatlantic flight was made from St. John's in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.

Colony of Newfoundland

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. Remnants and artifacts of the occupation can still be seen at L'Anse aux Meadows, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island was inhabited by the Beothuks and later the Mi'kmaq.

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. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, provided with letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I, landed in St John's in August 1583, and formally took possession of the island.

Colony

Newfoundland became England's first permanent colony in the New World

From 1610 to 1728, Proprietary Governors were appointed to establish colonial settlements on the island. John Guy was governor of the first settlement at Cuper's Cove. Other settlements were Bristol's Hope, Renews, New Cambriol, South Falkland and Avalon which became a province in 1623. The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir David Kirke in 1638.

Basques and French

Basque fishermen, who had been fishing cod shoals off Newfoundland's coasts since the beginning of the fifteenth century, founded Plaisance (today Placentia), a haven which started to be also used by French fishermen. In 1655, France appointed a governor in Plaisance, thus starting a formal French colonization period of Newfoundland. The rest of the island was nearly conquered by New France explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in the 1690s. The French colonization period lasted until the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. France ceded its claims to Newfoundland to the British (as well as its claims to the shores of Hudson's Bay). In addition, the French possessions in Acadia were yielded to England. Afterward, under the supervision of the last French governor, the French population of Plaisance moved to Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island), part of Acadia which remained then under French control.

Fishing

Explorers soon realized that the waters around Newfoundland had the best fishing in the North Atlantic. By 1620, 300 fishing boats worked the the Grand Bank, employing some 10,000 sailors; many were French or Basques from Spain. 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.

Before 1700 the "admiral" system provided the government. The first captain arriving in a particular bay was in charge of allocating suitable shoreline sites for curing fish. The system faded away after 1700. Fishing-boat captains competed to arrive first from Europe in an attempt to become the admiral; soon merchants left crewmen behind at the prime shoreline locations to lay claim to the sites. This led to "bye-boat" fishing: local, small-boat crews fished certain areas in the summer, claimed a strip of land as their own, and sold their catches to the migratory fishers. Bye-boat fishing thus became dominant, giving the island a semi-permanent population, and proved more profitable than migratory fishing.

The fishing admirals system ended in 1729, when the Royal Navy sent in its officers to govern during the fishing season.

International conflicts and agreements

In the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), France acknowledged British ownership of the island. However, in the Seven Years War (1756-63), control of Newfoundland became a major source of conflict between Britain, France and Spain who all pressed for a share in the valuable fishery there. Britain's victories around the globe led William Pitt to insist that nobody other than Britain should have access to Newfoundland. The Battle of Signal Hill was fought in Newfoundland in 1762, when a French force landed and tried to occupy the island, only to be repulsed by the British. In 1796 a Franco-Spanish expedition succeeded in raiding the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador.

By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), French fishermen were given the right to land and cure fish on the "French Shore" on the western coast. They had a permanent base on nearby St. Pierre and Miquelon islands; the French gave up their rights in 1904. In 1783, the British signed the Treaty of Paris with the United States that gave American fishermen similar rights along the coast. These rights were reaffirmed by treaties in 1818, 1854 and 1871 and confirmed by arbitration in 1910.

19th century

Cod fishing remained dominant but sealing also became important after 1820, as specially designed ships sailed each spring to intercept the great herds of seals on their annual southern migrations. The northern outports grew in importance ("outport" is used for all fishing ports except St. John's). By the 1850s new formed local banks became a source of credit, replacing the haphazard system of credit from local merchants. Prosperity brought immigration, especially Catholics from Ireland who soon comprised 40% of the residents.

Newfoundland was now a permanent settlement requiring a more established government. No elections were allowed but courts of law were set up in 1791 and the first civilian governor was appointed in 1817. In 1832 representative government was established with an elected General Assembly and a nominated Legislative Council consisting entirely of royal officials appointed by London. Newfoundland received a colonial assembly in 1832, which was and still is referred to as the House of Assembly, after a fight led by reformers William Carson, Patrick Morris and John Kent. The new government was unstable as the electorate was divided along religious and ethnic lines between the Catholic Irish and Protestant West Country populations of the colony. After religious riots in 1841 the Assembly was suspended. In 1842, the elected House of Assembly was amalgamated with the appointed Legislative Council. This was changed back after some agitation in 1848 to two separate chambers. After this, a movement for responsible government began. Canada and Nova Scotia obtained "responsible" government in 1848 (whereby the assembly had the final word, not the royal governor), and Newfoundland followed in 1855. Self-government was now a reality.

The Liberal Party, based on the Irish Catholic vote, alternated with the Conservatives, with its base among the merchant class and Protestants. With a prosperous population of 120,000, Newfoundlanders decided to pass in 1869 on joining the new confederation of Canada.

Small scale seasonal farming became widespread, and mines began to exploit abundant reserves of lead, copper, zinc, iron, and coal. Railways were opened in the 1880s, with the link from St. John's to Port aux Basques open in 1898. In 1895 Newfoundland again rejected the possibility of joining Canada.

Population history

In 1654 the number of permanent inhabitants was 1750. In 1680 it reached 2280; in 1763, 7,000; in 1804, 20,000. Immigration boosted the 1832 total to 60,000 in 1832 and 75,094 in 1836, and 124,288 in 1857. Growth continued at a slower pace reaching 161,374 in 1874 and 217,037 in 1901 (including 3947 in Labrador). The capital of St John's, doubled from 15,000 in 1835, to 29,594 in 1901. The religious census of 1901 reported: Roman Catholics, 76,000; Church of England, 73,000; Methodists, 61,000; Presbyterians, 1200; Congregationalists, 1000; Salvationists, 6600; Moravians, Baptists and others, 1600.

The Dominion of Newfoundland

Main article: Dominion of Newfoundland

Colonial Building, the national capital of the Dominion of Newfoundland

In 1854, Newfoundland was granted responsible government by the British government. In an 1855 election, Philip Francis Little, a native of Prince Edward Island, won a majority over Hugh Hoyles and the Conservatives. Little formed the first administration from 1855 to 1858. In 1861 in doubtful circumstances Governor Bannerman dismissed the Liberals and the ensuing election was marked by riot and disorder with both the Anglican (Feild) and Catholic bishops (Mullock) taking partisan stances. However when Hugh Hoyles was elected as the Conservative Prime Minister he worked to defuse tensions. Catholics were invited to share power, and all jobs and patronage were shared out between the various religious bodies on a per capita basis. This 'denominational compromise' was further extended to education when all religious schools were put on the basis which the Catholics had enjoyed since the 1840s. Alone in North America Newfoundland had a state funded system of denominational schools. The compromise worked and politics ceased to be about religion and became concerned with purely political and economic issues. By the 1890s St John's was no longer regarded in England as akin to Belfast, and Blackwood's Magazine was using developments there as an argument for Home Rule for Ireland. Newfoundland rejected confederation with Canada in the 1869 general election.

As part of the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale of 1904, France abandoned the `French Shore', or the west coast of the island, to which it had had rights since the Peace of Utrecht of 1713. Possession of Labrador was disputed by Quebec and Newfoundland until 1927, when the British privy council demarcated the western boundary, enlarged Labrador's land area, and confirmed Newfoundland's title to it.

Newfoundland remained a colony until acquiring dominion status on September 26, 1907, along with New Zealand. It successfully negotiated a trade agreement with the United States but the British government blocked it after objections from Canada. The Dominion of Newfoundland reached its golden age under Prime Minister Sir Robert Bond of the Liberal Party.

Schools

The school system was denominational until the 1990s, with each church receiving grants in proportion to numerical strength. The budget for 1905 was $196,000, which covered 783 elementary schools and academies with 35,204 students. About 25% of the population, chiefly the older folk, were illiterate.

Economy

Cod

Cod, supplemented by herring and lobster, was the economic mainstay until the late 20th century. Around 1900 the average annual export of dried cod-fish over a term of years was about 120,000,000 kilograms, with a value five and six million dollars. The cod were caught on the shores of the island, along the Labrador coast and especially on "the Banks." These Banks stretch for about 300 m. in a south-east direction towards the centre of the North Atlantic; depths range from 15 to 80 or 90 fathoms. In 1901 41,000 men and 21,000 women were engaged in the catching and curing of fish, about 28% of the labor force, compared to 31% in 1857. They used 1550 small boats, with a tonnage of 54,500. The cod were taken by the hook-and-line, the seine, the cod-net or gill-net, the cod-trap and the bultow; Brazil and Spain were the largest customers.

Whaling

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.

Farming and lumbering

Small-scale farming provided vegetables, wool, milk and meat for many fishing families. In 1901, 85,000 acres were under cultivation, producing chiefly hay, oats, potatoes, turnips and cabbages. Sheep grazing was common.

In 1901, the 200 saw-mills employed 2400 workers with an output of $480,000. The rope-walk in St John's produced rope and line valued at $300,000 annually. Other factories were of negligible importance before the 1940s.

20th century

File:Robert Bond.jpg

Robert Bond, prime minister 1900-1909

Sir Robert Bond (1857–1927) was a Newfoundland nationalist who insisted upon the colony's equality of status with Canada, and opposed joining the confederation. Bond promoted the completion of a railway across the island (started in 1881) because it would open access to valuable minerals and timber and reduce the almost total dependence on the cod fisheries. He advocated closer economic ties with the United States, and distrusted London for ignoring the island's viewpoint on the controversial issue of allowing French fisherman to process lobsters on the French Coast, and for blocking a trade deal with the U.S. Bond became Liberal Party leader in 1899 and premier in 1900. In 1904 he helped negotiate the end of all French fishing rights, and was reelected in a landslide. His efforts to restrict the rights of American fishermen failed. His party was badly defeated in 1909 and Bond proved an ineffective opposition leader. Bond formed a coalition with the new Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU), led by William Coaker (1871–1938).

FPU Official Banner

Founded in 1908, the FPU worked to increase the incomes of fishermen by breaking the merchants' monopoly on the purchase and export of fish and the retailing of supplies, and tried to revitalize the fishery through state intervention. At its peak, it had more than 21,000 members in 206 councils across the island; more than half of Newfoundland's fishers. It appealed to Protestants, and was opposed by Catholics. The FPU morphed into a political party in 1912, the Fisherman's Union party.

In 1909 Bond was succeeded as premier by Edward Morris (1859–1935), a prominent Catholic and founder of the new People's Party. Morris began a grandiose program of building branch railways, and adeptly handled the arbitration at the Hague tribunal on American fishing rights. He introduced old-age pensions, and increased investment in education and rural infrastructure. In the prosperous and peaceful year of 1913 he was reelected. As a result of a wartime crisis over conscription, and the decline of his popularity due to accusations of wartime profiteering and conflict of interest, Morris set up an all-party war government in 1917 to oversee the duration of the war. He retired in 1917, moved to London, and was given a peerage as first Baron Morris, the only Newfoundlander ever so honored.

World War

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 joined the Forestry Corps (which did lumberjack work at home), plus another 3,300 men joined Canadian units, and 40 women became war nurses. Without convening the legislature, Premier Morris and the royal governor, Sir Walter Davidson created the Newfoundland Patriotic Association, a politically neutral body involving both citizens and politicians, to supervise the war effort until 1917. With inflation soaring and corruption rampant, with prohibition of liquor in effect and and fears of conscription apparent, the Association gave way to an all-party National Government. The conscription issue was not as intense as in Canada, but it weakened the Fisherman's Union party, as its leaders supported conscription and most members opposed it. The Fisherman's party then merged into the Liberal-Unionist Party and faded away as an independent force.

During the great Battle of the Somme in France in 1916, the British assaulted the German trenches near Beaumont Hamel. The 800-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.

1919-34

In 1919, the FPU joined with the Liberal Party of Newfoundland led by Richard Squires to form the Liberal Reform Party. The Liberal-Union coalition won 24 of 36 seats in the 1919 general election with half of the coalition's seats being won by Union candidates.

The 1920 Education Act set up a Department of Education, to oversee all state schools, including teacher training and certification. It 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.

International capital was increasingly attracted by the island's natural resources. A Canadian firm opened iron mines in 1895 on Bell Island in Conception Bay. Paper mills were built at Grand Falls by the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company, a British firm, in 1909. British entrepreneurs set up a paper mill at Corner Brook in 1925 while the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company opened a lead-zinc mine on the Buchans River in 1927. In 1927, Britain awarded the vast, almost uninhabited hinterland of Labrador to Newfoundland rather than to Canada, adding potentially valuable new forest, hydroelectric, and mineral resources.

Politically the years from 1916 to 1925 were turbulent, as six successive governments failed, widespread corruption was uncovered, and the the postwar boom ended in economic stagnation. Labour unions were active, as Joey Smallwood (1900-1991) founded the Newfoundland Federation of Labour in the early 1920s.

Crisis of 1930s

Newfoundland's economic crash in the Great Depression, coupled with a profound distrust of politicians, led to the abandonment of self-government. Newfoundland remains the only nation that ever voluntarily relinquished democracy.

Newfoundland's economy collapsed in the Great Depression, as prices plunged for fish, its main export. The population was 290,000, and the people and merchants were out of money. The government had borrowed heavily to construct and maintain a trans-island railway and to finance the country's regiment in the World War. By 1933, the public debt was over $100 million compared to a nominal national income of about $30 million. Interest payments on the debt absorbed 63% of government revenue and the budget deficit was $3.5 million or over 10 percent of the island's GDP. There was no more credit; a short-lived plan to sell Labrador to Canada fell through. The Richard Squires government was ineffective and when Squires was arrested for bribery in 1932 he fell from power.

A royal commission under Lord Amulree examined the causes of the financial disaster and concluded:

"The twelve years 1920-1932, during none of which was the budget balanced, were characterized by an outflow of public funds on a scale as ruinous as it was unprecedented, fostered by a continuous stream of willing lenders. A new era of industrial expansion, easy money, and profitable contact with the American continent was looked for and was deemed in part to have arrived. In the prevailing optimism, the resources of the Exchequer were believed to be limitless. The public debt of the island, accumulated over a century, was in twelve years more than doubled; its assets dissipated by improvident administration; the people misled into the acceptance of false standards; and the country sunk in waste and extravagance. The onset of the world depression found the island with no reserves, its primary industry neglected and its credit exhausted. At the first wind of adversity, its elaborate pretensions collapsed like a house of cards. The glowing visions of a new Utopia were dispelled with cruel suddenness by the cold realities of national insolvency, and today a disillusioned and bewildered people, deprived in many parts of the country of all hopes of earning a livelihood, are haunted by the grim specters of pauperism and starvation."

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. The Newfoundland Royal Commission, 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 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. In 1934, the Commission of Government took control; its six appointed commissioners, who administered the country without elections. It lasted until 1949.

Second World War

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% of the people had recently 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. Newfoundlanders had regained both of their prosperity and their self-confidence, and eagerly looked forward to the future, but with uncertainty whether they should be an independent nation with close ties to the United States, or become part of Canada.

Postwar

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. 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 two options, return to dominion status or continuation of the unpopular Commission. Canada issued an invitation to join it 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. His main opponents were Peter J. Cashin and Chesley A. Crosbie. Cashin, a former finance minister, led the Responsible Government League, warning against cheap Canadian imports and the high Canadian income tax. Crosbie, a leader of the fishing industry, led the Economic Unionists, seeking responsible government first, to be followed by closer ties with the United States, which could be a major source of capital.

Smallwood carried his cause in a hard-fought referendum and a runoff in June-July 1948 as the decision to join Canada (rather than become an independent dominion) carried 77,869, as against 71,464, or 52.3%. 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.

Official Flower	Purple pitcher plant
Official Tree	Black Spruce
Official Bird	Atlantic Puffin
Official Animal	Caribou
Official Mineral	Labradorite
Official Dog	Newfoundland dog & Labrador Retriever
Provincial Anthem	Ode to Newfoundland
Provincial Holiday	June 24, Discovery Day
Patron Saint	St. John the Baptist
Official tartan
Great Seal
Official logo	File:Logo-NFLD.jpg

Newfoundland and Canadian Government delegation signing the agreement admitting Newfoundland to Confederation in December 1948. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and Albert Walsh shake hands following signing of agreement.

Not everyone was satisfied with the results, however. Peter Cashin, an outspoken anti-Confederate, questioned the validity of the votes. He claimed that it was the 'unholy union between London and Ottawa' that brought about confederation.

Province of Newfoundland and Labrador

In 1959, a local controversy arose when the provincial government pressured the Moravian Church to abandon its mission station at Hebron, Labrador, resulting in the relocation southward of the area's Inuit population, who had lived there since the mission was established in 1831.

1897 Newfoundland postage stamp, the first in the world to feature mining.

Economy

In the 1960s, Newfoundland developed the Churchill Falls hydro-electric facility in order to sell electricity to the United States. An agreement with Quebec was required to secure permission to transport the electricity across Quebec territory. Quebec drove a hard bargain with Newfoundland, resulting in a 75-year deal that Newfoundlanders now believe to be unfair to the province because of the low and unchangeable rate that Newfoundland and Labrador receives for the electricity.

Fishing

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 the 1960s some 2 billion pounds of cod were harvested annually from the Grand Bank off Newfoundland, the world's largest source of fish. Then disaster hit. The northern cod practically vanished--they were reduced to 1% of their historic spawning biomass. In 1992, the cod fishery was shut down by the Canadian government; cod fishing as a way of life came to an end for 19,000 workers after a 500 year history as a main industry.

The fishing 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.

Politics

Politics of the province were dominated by the Liberal Party, led by Joseph R. Smallwood, from confederation until 1972. In 1972, the Smallwood government was replaced by the Progressive Conservative administration of Frank Moores. In 1979, Brian Peckford, another Progressive Conservative, became Premier. During this time, Newfoundland was involved in a dispute with the federal government for control of offshore oil resources. In the end, the dispute was decided by compromise. In 1989, Clyde Wells and the Liberal Party returned to power ending 17 years of Conservative government.

In 1992, the federal government declared a moratorium on the Atlantic cod fishery, because of severely declining catches in the late 1980s. The consequences of this decision reverberated throughout the provincial economy of Newfoundland in the 1990s, particularly as once-vibrant rural communities faced a sudden exodus. The economic impact of the closure of the Atlantic cod fishery on Newfoundland has been compared to the effect of closing every manufacturing plant in Ontario. The cod fishery which had provided Newfoundlanders on the south and east coasts with a livelihood for over 200 years was gone, although the federal government helped fishermen and fish plant workers make the adjustment with a multi-billion dollar program named "The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy" (TAGS).

In the late 1980s, the federal government, along with its Crown corporation Petro-Canada and other private sector petroleum exploration companies, committed to developing the oil and gas resources of the Hibernia oil field on the northeast portion of the Grand Banks. Throughout the mid-1990s, thousands of Newfoundlanders were employed on offshore exploration platforms, as well as in the construction of the Hibernia Gravity Base Structure (GBS) and Hibernia topsides.

In 1996, the former federal minister of fisheries, Brian Tobin, was successful in winning the leadership of the provincial Liberal Party following the retirement of premier Clyde Wells. Tobin rode the waves of economic good fortune as the downtrodden provincial economy was undergoing a fundamental shift, largely as a result of the oil and gas industry's financial stimulus, although the effects of this were mainly felt only in communities on the Avalon Peninsula.

The Newfoundland Red Ensign was the Newfoundland civil ensign from 1904 to 1931.

Good fortune also fell on Tobin following the discovery of a world class nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay, Labrador. Tobin committed to negotiating a better royalty deal for the province with private sector mining interests than previous governments had done with the Churchill Falls hydroelectric development deal in the 1970s. Following Tobin's return to federal politics in 2000, the provincial Liberal Party devolved into internal battling for the leadership, leaving its new leader, Roger Grimes, in a weakened position as premier.

The pressure of the oil and gas industry to explore offshore in Atlantic Canada saw Newfoundland and Nova Scotia submit to a federal arbitration to decide on a disputed offshore boundary between the two provinces in the Laurentian Basin. The 2003 settlement rewrote an existing boundary in Newfoundland's favour, opening this area up to energy exploration.

In 2003, the federal government declared a moratorium on the last remaining cod fishery in Atlantic Canada - in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. While Newfoundland was again the most directly affected province by this decision, communities on Quebec's North Shore and in other parts of Atlantic Canada also faced difficulties.

James Cook's 1775 Chart of Newfoundland

Premier Grimes, facing a pending election that fall, used the Gulf cod decision and perceived federal bias against the province as a catalyst to try to rally citizens around his administration. Grimes called for a review of the Act of Union by which the province had become a part of Canada and on July 2, 2003, the findings of the Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada (which Grimes had created in 2002) were released. It noted the following stressors in the relationship between the province and Canada:

• the huge impact of the destruction of resources of cod
• development of hydroelectricity resources of Labrador by Quebec, primarily to their benefit
• chronically high unemployment
• lowest per-capita income in Canada
• the highest tax rates
• the highest emigration

The report called for the following:

• more collaborative federalism
• an action team to deal with the fishery
• collaboration between Canada, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador on the development of the Gull Island hydro site
• revision of the Atlantic Accord so that offshore oil and gas reserves primarily benefit the province
• immediate and realistic negotiations on joint management of the fishery

In October 2003, the Liberals lost the provincial election to the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Danny Williams.

From late October 2004 to the present, Premier Williams has argued that Prime Minister Paul Martin has not held up his promises for a new deal on the "Atlantic Accord". The issue is the royalties from oil: currently, 70 cents on each royalty dollar are sent back to the federal government through reductions in payments by the federal government with respect to its "equalization program". The province wants 100% of the royalties to allow the province to pull itself out of poverty on a long-term basis.

Toward the end of 2004, Williams ordered the Canadian flag to be removed from all provincial buildings as a protest against federal policies, and asked for municipal councils to consider doing the same. The issue, dubbed the "Flag Flap" in the media, sparked debate across the province and the rest of Canada. The flags went back up in January 2005 after much controversy nationwide and Paul Martin stating that he would not negotiate with the province if the flags were not flying. At the end of January, the federal government signed a deal to allow 100% of oil revenues to go to the province, resulting in an extra $2 billion over eight years for the province. However, this agreement has led other provinces such as Ontario and Quebec to try to negotiate their own special deals as they too claim that the federal government is taking advantage of them financially.

As of 2005, 4 of the 10 amendments to the Constitution of Canada since the 1982 patriation have been concerned with Canada's tenth province.

See also

• History of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Bibliography

• Joseph Smallwood ed. The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers, [1961] rev ed. 1984), 2 vol.
• Bannister, Jerry. The Rule of the Admirals: Law, Custom, and Naval Government in Newfoundland, 1699-1832. U. of Toronto Press for Osgoode Society, 2003.
• Blake, Raymond B. Canadians at Last: Canada Integrates Newfoundland as a Province. U. of Toronto Press, 1994. 252 pp.
• Cadigan, Sean T. Newfoundland and Labrador: A History U. of Toronto Press, 2009. Standard scholarly history
• Cadigan, Sean T. Hope and Deception in Conception Bay: Merchant-Settler Relations in Newfoundland, 1785-1855. U. of Toronto Press, (1995). 242 pp.
• Casey, G.J., and Elizabeth Miller, eds., Tempered Days: A Century of Newfoundland Fiction St. John's: Killick Press, 1996.
• Dickinson, Anthony B. and Sanger, Chesley W. Twentieth-Century Shore-Station Whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador. McGill-Queen's U. Press, (2005).
• 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.
• English, Christopher, ed. Essays in the History of Canadian Law. Vol. 9. Two Islands: Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. U. of Toronto Press, (2005).
• Fay, C. R.; Life and Labour in Newfoundland University of Toronto Press, 1956
• Greene, John P. Between Damnation and Starvation: Priests and Merchants in Newfoundland Politics, 1745-1855.McGill-Queen's U. Press, 2000. 340 pp.
• Guy, Raymond W. Memory is a Fickle Jade: A Collection of Historical Essays about Newfoundland and Her People. St. John's, : Creative Book Publ., 1996. 202 pp.
• Hale, David. "The Newfoundland Lesson," The International Economy. v17#3 (Summer 2003). pp 52+. online edition
• Halpert, Herbert; Widdowson, J. D. A.; Lovelace, Martin J.; and Collins, Eileen, ed. Folktales of Newfoundland: The Resilience of the Oral Tradition. New York: Garland, 1996. 1175 pp.
• Hiller, J. K. and Harrington, M. F., ed. The Newfoundland National Convention, 1946-1948. 2 vols. McGill-Queen's U. Press, 1995. 2021 pp.
• Hollett, Calvin. Shouting, Embracing, and Dancing with Ecstasy: The Growth of Methodism in Newfoundland, 1774-1874 (2010)
• Jackson, Lawrence. Newfoundland & Labrador Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd; (1999) ISBN 1-55041-261-2;
• 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.
• Gene Long, Suspended State: Newfoundland Before Canada Breakwater Books Ltd; ISBN 1-55081-144-4; (1999)
• R. A. MacKay; Newfoundland; Economic, Diplomatic, and Strategic Studies Oxford University Press, (1946)
• McCann, Phillip. Schooling in a Fishing Society: Education and Economic Conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1836-1986. St. John's: Inst. of Social and Econ. Res., 1994. 277 pp.
• 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.
• Pope, Peter E. Fish into Wine: The Newfoundland Plantation in the Seventeenth Century. U. of North Carolina Press, 2004. 464 pp.
• Prowse, David W. (1896). A History Of Newfoundland From The English, Colonial, And Foreign Records. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. Retrieved 2009-08-15. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Sider, Gerald M. Between History and Tomorrow: Making and Breaking Everyday Life in Rural Newfoundland. Revised ed. (original published as Culture and Class in Anthropology and History: A Newfoundland Illustration, 1986). Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2003.
• Wright, Miriam. A Fishery for Modern Times: The State and the Industrialization of the Newfoundland Fishery, 1934-1968. Oxford U. Press, 2001. 176 pp.

Vintage histories and primary documents

• Birkenhead, Lord. The story of Newfoundland (2nd ed. 1920) 192pp edition
• Joseph Hatton and Moses Harvey, Newfoundland: Its History and Present Condition, (London, 1883) complete text online* MacKay, R. A. Newfoundland: Economic, Diplomatic, and Strategic Studies, (1946) online edition
• Millais, John Guille. The Newfoundland Guide Book, 1911: Including Labrador and St. Pierre (1911)? online edition; also reprinted 2009
• 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)
• D. W. Prowse, A History of Newfoundland (1895), current edition 2002, Boulder Publications, Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. complete text online
• Charles Pedley, History of Newfoundland, (London, 1863) complete text online
• Philip Tocque, Newfoundland as it Was and Is, (London, 1878) complete text online
• Arnold Kennedy, Sport and Adventure in Newfoundland and West Indies, (London, 1885) complete text online
• Moses Harvey, Newfoundland, England's Oldest Colony, (London, 1897) complete text online
• F. E. Smith, The Story of Newfoundland, (London, 1901)
• Beckles Wilson, The Truth About Newfoundland, The Tenth Island, (second edition, London, 1901)
• J. P. Howley, Mineral Resources of Newfoundland, (St. John's, 1909)
• P. T. McGrath, Newfound in 1911, (London, 1911)

External links

• Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Newfoundland history by scholar; containing biographies and primary sources,