Distant dominion : Britain and the northwest coast of North America, 1579-1809 / Barry M. Gough.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gough, Barry M.

Series:

University of British Columbia Press Pacific maritime studies ; 2.

University of British Columbia Press Pacific maritime studies ; 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History--North America.

History.

Northwest Coast of North America--History.

Northwest Coast of North America.

British Columbia--History.

British Columbia.

Great Britain--History, Naval.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (215 p.)

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Press, 1980.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

";The voyages of Cook and Vancouver heralded a vast influx of irrepressible white men. They brought with them their morals, ideologies, knowledge, technology, plants and animals. They also brought diseases, rum and guns.powers to build and powers to destroy."; Until the 1700's, the Northwest Coast of North America stood largely apart from the civilized world. Formidable mountain barriers and remoteness from Atlantic sea lanes kept the territory outside the orbit of emerging European empires. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, however, Britain, Spain, France, Russsia, and the United States vied for control of this promising new frontier. Three of history's greatest mariners -- Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook, and Captain George Vancouver -- spearheaded British expeditions of discovery and trade to the Northwest coast. Despite competition from her European and American rivals, Britains ability to use and control the sea enabled her to establish by the late 1700's a ";beachhead of empire"; in the area now known as British Columbia.Gough shows how, by outmanoevring her Spanish rivals in a ";skilful game of diplomatic chess,"; Britain concluded the Nootka Agreement. Thus she was able to exploit her trading partnership with the coast Indians and cement a lucrative sea-borne commerce with the Far East. The arrival overland of the Nor'westers and other fur-trading groups further strengthened Britain's financial and political interests in the area -- ending forever the isolation of Northwest America, and 'changing beyond measure the culture of its Indian peoples.' Distant Dominion is the first comprehensive survey to examine Britain's motives for expeditions to this most distant frontier of British maritime development. It is also the first to draw the history of the coast into the general realm of Pacific history, relating its development to events in Europe, the American eastern seaboard, Australia, the Falkland Islands, and China. This entertaining book offers fresh insight into an exciting chapter of North American history.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Photographic Credits

Illustrations

Preface

1 Tyranny of Distance

2 Pacific Probes

3 Cook's Reconnaissance

4 Spanning the Pacific

5 The Fortune Seekers

6 Beachhead of Empire

7 Imperial Dreams and False Starts

8 Conflicts of Ambition

9 Dealing with the Dons

10 The Surveyor-Diplomats

11 The Overlanders

Epilogue

Abbreviations

h

Note on Sources

Select Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Companion volume to: The Royal Navy and northwest coast of North America, 1810-1914 / Barry M. Gough, Vancouver [B.C.] : University of British Columbia Press, c1971.

Includes index.

Includes bibliography and index.

ISBN:

9786613225474

9781283225472

1283225476

9780774854016

0774854014

OCLC:

244766147