[II. NOVA SCOTIA.]
Limits—Conquest by the English—Settlement—Annexation to the British Crown—Policy of England in relation to the Country—Situation of the English Settlers—English Treatment of the Acadians—State of the Province during the Wars of the United States—Results of the War of 1812.
Limits.—Nova Scotia is a large peninsula on the south-eastern part of British America, united to the continent by a narrow isthmus, between Chignecto bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is three hundred and eighty-eight miles in length from north-east to south-west, and contains an area of sixteen thousand square miles. It is a rough, mountainous country, barren on the sea-board, but very fertile in some of the interior parts.
Settlement.—De Monts, a French gentleman, sailing from France with a view to settlement in this part of America, touched, in the first instance, at Nova Scotia, on the 16th May, 1604; but no settlement was effected until the year after, and that was at Port Royal (now Annapolis). The whole country, including New Brunswick, was then known by the name of Acadia. The settlement above spoken of was soon after, in 1614, broken up by Argall, an English captain, engaged in the Virginia settlement. The whole region was viewed with indifference on the part of the English, because it did not contain gold and silver. They, however, made an attempt, under Sir William Alexander, to occupy it, some years after Argall's success against Port Royal; but were obliged to desist, from finding it in possession of the French. In 1628 and 1629, the English succeeded in taking Nova Scotia and Canada; but by the terms of a treaty in 1632, the whole country was restored to France.
Conquest by the English.—A period of several years was passed in the infelicities of a deadly feud between the rival chiefs who held possession of the country. But amidst their contentions, an expedition was sent against Nova Scotia in 1654 by Cromwell, who had then declared war against France; and the result was the reduction of the warring parties, and the submission of the whole country to the English authority. This was but a temporary acquisition. By the peace of 1667, Nova Scotia was again ceded to the French.
In the course of a few subsequent years, Nova Scotia was twice invaded and taken by the English from the colony of Massachusetts; the first time under Sir William Phipps, and the second time by a body of five hundred men from Boston. Acadia was now held by the British until the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, when it again reverted to France.
Permanent Annexation to the British Crown.—There was a speedy return of the war between France and England, and the reduction of Nova Scotia was again left to New England. The first expedition, under Colonel Church, and a subsequent one, three years after, effected little for the object in view. The determination of the New Englanders, however, could not be shaken. After two years spent in preparing, they assembled a large force of five regiments; and under the command of General Nicholson, they arrived at Port Royal on the 24th of September, 1716, which in its weakness capitulated without resistance. The month following, when the deed of surrender was made, forms the era of the permanent annexation of Nova Scotia to the British crown.[85] The Indians of the country, who were strongly attached to the French, were not satisfied with the transfer, and for many years became extremely troublesome to the English, frequently surprising them, and carrying off their property. It was in the course of these disturbances, that the Massachusetts troops in 1728 defeated the tribe of the Noridgewocks; among the results of which invasion, was the death of the celebrated Father Rolle, their missionary.