British Columbia in the balance : 1846-1871 / Jean Barman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barman, Jean, 1939- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elite (Social sciences).

Canada--Politics and government.

Canada.

Douglas, James.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (278 pages)

Place of Publication:

Madeira Park, British Columbia : Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., [2023]

Summary:

"Esteemed historian Jean Barman brings new insights on the seemingly disparate events that converged to lay the foundation of the present-day province. By examining newly accessible private correspondence exchanged with the Colonial Office in London, Barman pieces together the chain of events that caused the distant colony of British Columbia to join the Canadian Confederation as opposed to the very real possibility of becoming one or more American states. Following the division of the Pacific Northwest between Britain and the United States in 1846, it took British Columbia just a quarter of a century to be transformed from a largely Indigenous territory in 1871, into a province of the recently formed Canada Confederation. In this detailed exploration of colonial politics, including fur trader and politician James Douglas's governance and the critical role played by the many unions between white settlers and and Indigenous women, Barman expertly weaves together seemingly disparate events that converged to lay the foundations of today's Canadian province."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Table of Contents

Map

Sensing the Past

Sensing the past

A remarkable quarter of a century

Two complementary approaches

Turning to gold miners

Surfacing the past thanks to many others

Today's British Columbia Coming into View

Dividing the Pacific Northwest

Enter the Colonial Office

Vancouver Island becoming a British colony

James Douglas in charge

Colonizing Vancouver Island

Turning to the mainland

Encouraging non-Indigenous settlement

Managing the economy

Minding the United States and Russia

A waiting game, with British Columbia in the balance

Responding to gold finds

The Colonial Office in action

The Year That Changed Everything (1858)

Enter the 1858 gold rush

Indigenous miners initially in charge

Non-Indigenous gold miners' arrival at Victoria

Black arrivals from California

Douglas's May 8, 1858, query to the Colonial Office

Maintaining everyday control over cascading events

Douglas experiencing the gold rush first-hand

Minding gold miners

Attending to the mainland

Enter Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton

Lytton looking ahead in time

Implementing British Columbia's colonization

The House of Commons debate

Enter the Royal Engineers

Lytton's expectations for Douglas

Douglas updating the Colonial Office

The new order of things

Upping the demands on British Columbia

Lytton and Douglas jointly in charge of the gold rush

Douglas reporting on gold miners

In the matter of finances

Managerial assistance for British Columbia

The need for roads

The Royal Engineers' cost coming into view

Ongoing unease with the United States

Funding the Royal Engineers

Concluding the year that changed everything

James Douglas and the Colonial Office (1859-64).

James Douglas's governorship

Judge Begbie's perspective

Colonial Office uncertainty

Minding the Fraser River gold rush

The dilemma posed by the Royal Engineers

Commending what the Royal Engineers did accomplish

Roadbuilding's complexities

Managing the two colonies

Enter the Cariboo gold rush

Uncertainty over the mainland colony

The Colonial Office rethinking the Royal Engineers

Funding roads

Assessing British Columbia's finances

Tallying up the cost of the Royal Engineers

The Royal Engineers' departure

Change in the making in British Columbia

Douglas's unrelenting roadbuilding

Funding roadbuilding

The changing positions of British Columbia and Vancouver Island

Repeated requests for more equitable governance

The many functions of roadbuilding

Still the Royal Engineers

Douglas on the way out

The Colonial Office in Action (1864-67)

From one to two governors

Governing Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island in disarray

Governing British Columbia

Attention to Indigenous peoples

Effecting British Columbia's governance

Colonial Office dissatisfaction

Evening out the relationship between the two colonies

Seymour's reflections while on leave

"A lunatic House of Assembly, and a bankrupt Government"

James Douglas's watching brief

Uniting the two colonies

Deciding on a capital

The Moderating Influence of Bishop Hills (1860-63)

Introducing Bishop Hills

Four fractures

Visiting Freezy

Getting to know his new home

"The colour question"

In the business of saving souls

An array of learning experiences

Hills reflecting on what he had learned

Expanding obligations and new complexities

Back to the everyday

Entertaining Lady Franklin

Back to the everyday life of Bishop Hills

Another yearly round in British Columbia.

Hills's perceptions of the state of affairs

Another mighty adventure

Yet another adventure

Victoria's conflicted sense of self

The middle way

Taking Gold Miners Seriously (1858-71)

Taking gold miners seriously

The gold rush's appeal

The superiority of Englishness

Gold miners from their own perspectives

The nature of gold mining

Minding the gold rush

Estimating numbers of miners

British Columbia's non-Indigenous population

Everyday consequences of a skewed gender balance in the white population

Turning to the Cariboo

Miners thinking of settling down

Crediting Indigenous Women

Indigenous women during the fur trade

Absence of white women

Indigenous women coming into view

Indigenous women as objects of sexual desire

Indigenous women used and abused

The dance houses phenomenon

The challenge of being perceived as Indigenous

Consequences

Along the Pathway to Canada (1866-71)

Overland dreams

American proximity

Prospecting annexation

Two competing visions of British Columbia's future

Hard economic times

Another petition

Seymour cast on his own resources

The American alternative

Better news at hand

The Legislative Council in action

A new governor

A critical breakthrough

Musgrave in charge

A final lunge for British Columbia joining the United States

Support and opposition in the Legislative Council

Public pensions

Musgrave completing his designated task

Life goes on

British Columbia becoming Canadian

Musgrave on his way

British Columbia saved for Canada

Appendix

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies

Secretary of State for the Colonies

People who wrote or received letters

Colonial Office staff whose initialled minutes are referenced in notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781550179897

1550179896

OCLC:

1348485862