The ENTIRE History of Canada in 46 Minutes

Canada is the second-largest country on Earth, yet almost everyone lives in a thin strip along the U.S. border. Why? This documentary tells the full story of Canadian history, from the Vikings at L’Anse aux Meadows to the trade fight with the United States today. The idea behind it all: Canada was always too big and too cold for any one power to control. So everyone who wanted a piece of it had to make a deal, with Indigenous nations, with rival empires, and with each other. Canada was never simply conquered into existence. It was bargained into existence. In this video you’ll learn about the Norse settlement and the butternuts that prove they traveled farther than the sagas admit, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Tree of Peace, John Cabot and the cod, Jacques Cartier and how “Canada” got its name from a misunderstanding, the beaver hat that changed a continent, Champlain and the founding of Quebec, the Beaver Wars, the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, the Acadian expulsion, Wolfe and Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, the Quebec Act of 1774 and the American Revolution, the Loyalists, the War of 1812, the 1837 rebellions, Confederation in 1867, Louis Riel and the Métis, the Canadian Pacific Railway, residential schools, Vimy Ridge, both World Wars, Medicare, the Quiet Revolution, the 1980 and 1995 Quebec referendums, the Constitution Act of 1982, the cod collapse, and the tariff dispute with the United States. The oldest problem in Canadian history is back: a huge, cold, thinly populated land, powers that want a piece of it, and a country that survives by making deals. This documentary is based on archaeological findings, peer-reviewed research, and historical records. We aim to bring history to life while staying faithful to the historical record. 👍 Like the video, subscribe for more full-history documentaries, and tell us in the comments which country we should cover next. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Night Flight 01:07 The Big Idea 02:01 The Vikings Reach Newfoundland 05:17 A Full and Busy Continent 06:42 The Haudenosaunee and the Tree of Peace 08:10 Cabot and the Cod 09:19 Cartier and the Name “Canada” 11:23 The Beaver Hat 11:51 Champlain Founds Quebec 14:23 The Beaver Wars 15:02 New France and the King’s Daughters 15:44 The Hudson’s Bay Company 16:44 The Great Peace of Montreal 17:41 Louisbourg 18:42 The Acadians 20:25 Wolfe, Montcalm, and the Plains of Abraham 22:52 The Treaty of Paris and the Quebec Act 24:24 The Loyalists 25:50 The War of 1812 27:20 The 1837 Rebellions 28:39 Union and Deadlock 29:17 The Road to Confederation 30:11 1867: The Dominion of Canada 31:31 The Railway to the Pacific 32:30 Treaties and Residential Schools 33:14 Riel, 1885, and the Last Spike 34:32 The First World War and Vimy Ridge 36:12 Conscription and Independence 36:43 The Second World War 37:34 Oil, Medicare, and a New Identity 39:02 The October Crisis 39:35 Quebec Referendums 40:24 The Constitution Act, 1982 41:15 The Cod Collapse 41:52 The 1995 Referendum 42:27 Reckoning with the Past 43:29 The Trade War with the United States 44:47 Old Questions Return 45:49 Bargained Into Existence SOURCES Kuitems, M. et al. (2022), “Evidence for European presence in the Americas in AD 1021,” Nature Parks Canada / UNESCO — L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site Ingstad, A. S. (1977), The Discovery of a Norse Settlement in America Trigger, B. (1987), The Children of Aataentsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660, McGill-Queen’s University Press Richter, D. (1992), The Ordeal of the Longhouse, University of North Carolina Press Dictionary of Canadian Biography — entries on Jacques Cartier, Donnacona, Samuel de Champlain, and Kondiaronk Havard, G. (2001), The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, McGill-Queen’s University Press Faragher, J. M. (2005), A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians, W. W. Norton Fowler, W. (2005), Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America Taylor, A. (2010), The Civil War of 1812, Knopf Berton, P. (1971), The Last Spike, McClelland & Stewart Library and Archives Canada — Confederation records Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015), Final Report Veterans Affairs Canada — Canadian National Vimy Memorial Government of Canada, Justice Laws — Statute of Westminster; Constitution Act, 1982 Fisheries and Oceans Canada — Northern cod moratorium (1992) Elections Québec — 1995 referendum results Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 — Japanese Canadian internment and 1988 redress Government of Canada — 2008 Prime Ministerial apology for residential schools Statistics Canada — population and geographic distribution The Canadian Encyclopedia — Quebec Act, Meech Lake Accord, October Crisis, Medicare #Canada #CanadianHistory #HistoryOfCanada #History #Documentary #NewFrance #Confederation #Vikings #FirstNations #WorldHistory