Indigenous Relations

In this episode, we explore the Great Hunger of Ireland, not as a simple crop failure but as a devastating social and economic catastrophe shaped by poverty, colonial policies, and inequality. As potato blight ravaged Ireland in the 1840s, millions faced starvation, eviction, or exile, despite food continuing to leave the country. We follow the journey of Irish refugees aboard overcrowded “coffin ships” to Canada, examine quarantine stations like Grosse Île, and trace how survivors helped sha...

What happened after the rebellions of 1837-38? We’ll look at the creation of the Province of Canada and the attempt to unite Upper and Lower Canada under one government. We'll reference the Durham Report, debates over representation and responsible government, and the political alliances that shaped the new province. Along the way, we’ll see how these changes affected Bytown and set the stage for the political system that would eventually lead to Confederation.

Hamnett Pinhey, an English businessman who came to the Ottawa Valley hoping to recreate the life of a country gentleman on a large rural estate founded his settlement at Horaceville. His political career, and his strong conservative views, give a backdrop to what life looked like for the region’s wealthy landowners. Through Pinhey’s story, the episode highlights a different vision of the Ottawa area, one rooted in rural estates rather than the growing town of Bytown.

Hamnett Pinhey, an English businessman who came to the Ottawa Valley hoping to recreate the life of a country gentleman on a large rural estate founded his settlement at Horaceville. His political career, and his strong conservative views, give a backdrop to what life looked like for the region’s wealthy landowners. Through Pinhey’s story, the episode highlights a different vision of the Ottawa area, one rooted in rural estates rather than the growing town of Bytown.

This episode looks at the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 and the growing frustration with the colonial government that led to it. We meet Louis-Joseph Papineau and the Patriote movement as political disputes turned into armed resistance. Along the way, we’ll learn about the key battles of Saint-Denis, Saint-Charles, and Saint-Eustache, the roles played by both rebel and Crown forces, and the failed follow-up uprising in 1838. Although little of the action happened in Bytown itself, the rebell...