Post 10: Fur and Farming and Wood: Huzzah!

November 12, 1793

I recently discovered that the fur industry is something that I could really get into. At times they can keep some of the furs that they trade for, and I could sell them for a lot of money back home. So, because I was interested in the fur trade, I decided to do a little bit of research on it. So here it is:

- The Hudson's Bay Company set up the first trading post in 1670.
- There are now two systems of fur trade.
- The HBC's system is to wait at trading posts for Natives to come with fur to trade.
- The North West Company use Montreal as their base, then travel west to find fur to trade for.
- At the Moment, The NWC has dominated the market.
- The NWC are the ones who have the very high quality furs that everyone wants.
- Another reason that NWC has been so successful is because they have the Métis. The Métis have trader fathers and Native mothers. They have connections with the Natives and usually work with the NWC, so they get all the good furs.

I consider The HBC's method the "Lazy method" and the NWC's method the "PLEASE GIVE US FUR!!" method. I haven't decided who I should consider yet, maybe I will ask my friends for advice. Until next time.


December 2, 1793

After a long time and many discussions with my family and friends, Jeffery and Kaden, (Yay! He's back!), I decided (Or, they convinced me...) that the fur trade industry isn't a good idea. Kaden said that he thinks that the fur trade is eventually going to die down, and when that time comes, I'll be left with no supply of income. Both him and Jeffery think that agriculture and timber will soon become the main industry. I reluctantly chose to believe them. After all, they are usually right... I already have been farming since I was a child, and my family and I farm now too. So, agriculture won't be much of a problem. I didn't get why they thought timber would be a main industry at first, but then they told me all of their reasons. They said that everyone is going to need wood, they already do! To build boats and houses and make paper. Also, it's used for shoes, furniture, wagons, and forks and knives, you get the picture. They think that I should continue farming, and then work half of the time in the lumber industry when everything turns around. I suppose that their idea is a good idea, and joining the fur industry would result in me having to leave my family often, and if I can avoid that situation, by all means count me in. That's all for today, I'm meeting Kaden and Jeffery, and I don't want to be late.

Post 9: York again!

September 4, 1793

York has been quite the topic for conversations lately. Everyone I talk to has brought it up, and because of this, I have learned more than I knew before. One thing that has been mentioned very often is Elizabeth Simcoe, John Simcoe's wife. Because of her enthusiasm, many have been convinced that York is a good place to live. As a matter of fact, many of my neighbors or people I know in general have packed their bags and left for York. It has my town feeling a bit empty, so I’m not sure what to think of it. I myself have briefly thought of moving there, but after thoroughly considering the good and bad, I decided to stay, and my family fully agreed. Anyways, back to the topic of Elizabeth, She has been doing everything she can to create the image of York being an okay place. Hah. She might as well be begging on her knees going "PLEASE COME!!! PLEEEAAASE!! I BEG OF YOU!!" The funny thing is, it actually works. She just disguises it as painting or letters. I have heard that people die there, and that many become very sick. Me and Jeffery spend many nights with a smaller party than we'd like, and York is to blame. One of my friends, Kaden, left for York and I haven't heard from him since, despite his promises to write. I truly hope he's alright. I have to go; Jeffery and I are going out for the night.


September 28, 1793

I have very good news! I got a letter in the mail today addressed from York, and at first I was confused. Then I thought that it was another invite to come live there. I've gotten those before, they say "York. It's a new place with new opportunities BLAH BLAH DE BLARGH DE BLARG." Or something along those lines. Anyways, so I was GOING to throw it out, but someone (*COUGH, COUGH* My wife *COUGH, COUGH*) told me that "It might be something important, you should always check." So I opened it. I am SO happy I listened to her. (Don't tell her I said that by the way...) It was a letter from my friend Kaden! (Remember him?) I guess he really wasn't dead! I have recorded the letter here.

My good friend Alister,

I cannot express my apologies enough for not keeping my promise. Though I can't stop myself from making excuses. Things up here in York are very different than I thought they would be. My original impression of York was that things were already going well there, and that there would not be very many problems to deal with. Of course I didn't think there wouldn't be any problems at all, but I thought that most would have been resolved by now. I was dead wrong, and I would pay for my mistake later. When my family and I arrived, things were in disarray. We settled into a tent for the night, as I began to worry that this was not the best idea. Weeks passed as we tried to settle in and the days grew colder and shorter. We all struggled in our new home with new surroundings, and I tried to keep faith in my decision. It was later into the winter when disaster struck. My young son Joseph caught a horrible fever that refused to cease. One week later it got worse and three days after that he could barely take the pain. That night the moans from his bed suddenly stopped. I went to check on him to find that he had left us for good. My son was taken from me because of this place! I should have listened to your protests Alister. Needless to say, I will be moving back to our settlement next month, where we are at least safe. We have to leave, before this land claims another of my family. I hope all is well with you, tell Jeffery I say hello. That is all to say for now good friend, until I return.

-Kaden


When I read that his son Joseph died, I couldn't believe such a thing. At least his daughter Mary and his eldest son Alexander are all right. I am glad to here he is alive though, he was always a good friend of mine. I have to go, my nights have been busy lately and today is as well.

Post 8: New Governor, New Rules

March 8, 1792

I have a big piece of news! There is a new governor here in Upper Canada, and his name is John Graves Simcoe. He arrived in Newark a few days ago, and thanks to some of my friends, I was able to find out quite a bit about him. He had led a loyalist unit by the name of "The Queen's Rangers" during the war against the Crazy Rebels, but was injured in 1781 and had to return to England. When he came here, he still had mental scars from the Crazy Rebels, so he happened to be very concerned of future wars between them. He thought that our capital, Newark, wasn't a good one because it was too close to the border between us and the Crazy Rebels. I have to say that I totally agree. Those Rebels are NOT to be trusted. They are bound to attack again sometime soon for another stupid reason. Maybe this time it will be because we accidentally looked at their cows funny or something. Well THEY threw all of their tea into the harbour. HOW COULD THEY!!! THE TEA!!!! I STILL can never forgive them for doing such a thing! Oh, back to Simcoe. In any case, I also heard that he wants to build a city called London to be our capital, but first, we need a military base. According to other people, he wants the new base to be in York, because it is further than Newark is from the border. I haven't heard much about York, so I am going to do some studying on it. I will write again soon.


August 4, 1793

I am so horrible at keeping up with my Journal, but I have done much studying about York and the recent events. It seems York used to be a very important part of the Natives transportation routes, and a small French fort was built there in 1620. In 1787, we bought it from the Natives. It doesn't seem like much to me, but I guess Simcoe thinks other wise. Speaking of Simcoe, he travelled to York five days ago to make sure that the fort was built right. He also had some town plans made because he was going to live there I guess. I also heard that Sir Guy Carleton (You remember him right?) doesn't like Simcoes choice, so he isn't supporting him. I couldn't believe that when I heard it. We are all part of the same proud country are we not? Why couldn't he put his preferences aside and think of what is best for the country instead? Because if this, Simcoe has to convince other governors to live in York, which is basically the wilderness right now. I wish him luck in that. However, protecting the city was easy because Simcoe has The Queen's Rangers. They also help build some of the buildings and roads. I also heard that he needs people to come and live at his settlement, but due to a war going on in Europe, no one from there is moving here. So even though he doesn't trust the Rebels, he is trying to get them here with tempts of more land. I think this is a horrible idea, but oh well. He is also trying to create an upper class, like in England, by giving some people more land than others. I rather liked it here without an upper class, and trying to add one isn't such a good idea in my opinion. One thing that I actually liked from his plans was that he is continuing to let "Late Loyalists" in and giving them land. At least that was a good idea! That is all that is available to me right now, I will try to write again soon, but I can't make any promises.

Post 7: The New Act: More Changes?!?

January 13, 1791

I can't believe this. The British government has passed ANOTHER act! I mean, how many of those can they pass anyways? They called this one the Constitutional act, and its purpose was to respond to the complaints from some of the loyalists about not completely owning the land that they farm. I am happy that the government is paying attention to the loyalists and trying to help them, but MORE changes? I'm getting a bit annoyed by all of the changes. Anyways, here is what they changed:


- Quebec is now divided into two parts, Upper Canada and Lower Canada

- Every colony now has an assembly that will be elected by the people. This assembly would have the power to raise taxes.

- Upper Canada now has a new land ownership system called the English Freehold system. This system lets the farmers fully own their land. Lower Canada however, still has the seigneurial system. (I feel bad for them!)

- One 7th of the land in Upper Canada has been reserved as "Clergy Reserves". These pieces of land were for the Anglican Church only! Another 7th of the land has been called "Crown Reserves". This land is controlled by the lieutenant-Governor.


This is all the information I have been able to gather so far. I will try to find out more and write again the second I do.


February 2, 1791

I have been snooping around as much as I can, and I finally have found out as much as I could about the new Constitutional act. In my last entry, I simply wrote the things that were obvious to see, and were announced to all. I spent a lot of time and have found out a lot of things that were not mentioned, and were hard to see. I noticed that back in Crazy Rebel land, all of the citizens had been very active in the way their government worked, while here, the government is the government and that's final. So, naturally, when the loyalists came here, they weren't used to our type of government. They complained to the government and so, the government changed the way it worked. Now, male property owners can vote for people in the "Legislative Assembly", who propose laws and approve taxes. Other than that, there is the Executive Council, The Legislative Council and The Governor. Those three are appointed by the Sovereign. Even though they have given use influence, it still is barely any. That is all I was able to find for now. I will see if I take a liking to this system, I guess I will have to let you know next time.

Post 6: Studying and More Trouble from Natives

October 6, 1782

The days once again grow short and cold. I haven't been able to write as much because of this. With so much prepareing to do, writing is one of the less important things to do on my list. Anyways, lately I have been spending most of my free time studying the topic of loyalists in general, and I have learned many interesting facts in the process. I found that both in both Quebec and Nova Scotia the loyalists who settled there have had to face many different problems, leading to difficult times. In Nova Scotia, they would first have to receive a land grant, which takes much time to obtain. Once they finally receive the grant, they would need to clear the land. You can imagine how long and hard it would be to do that! After that they have to plant crops and build a house. Only then do they finally get a house to live in. How's that for tough times? In Quebec however, things are abit different. There are temporary refugee camps for the loyalists to stay in untill they recive their land, which is given out through a system like a lottery. Even so, both Quebec and Nova Scotia had shortages of food, clothes and tools, making living in either place hard. There are also black loyalists, who have to go through even tougher times than the other loyalists. They are the last to receive supplies and are treated much worse than the already badly treated loyalists. I have to go, there are more preperations to be made for the winter, and time is running out.


March 12, 1283

It seems that the natives are on the verge of another stupid revolt. Ever since the Treaty of Paris, I have heard rumors of hostile Natives. From what I have heard, they are angry because the Treaty of Paris gave all of the land west of the Mississippi river to the United States, otherwise known as the crazy Rebels. I think I'll start calling them that from now on. Crazy Rebels. It has a nice ring to it... Oh! I'm getting off topic! Anyways, the Natives had been the ones taking up most of that land, so when they found out that we, the British, had simply given their land to the Crazy Rebels, they were very angry. They had though that we "didn't have the right to give their land away like that." Honestly? They really think that? Who do they think they are anyways?! We OWN this land! We can do WHATEVER WE WANT with it! If they don't like it, that's TOO BAD!! They can just live some where else for all I care if they don't like it but this land is ours to control, so how DARE they think they have such power over the place they live, which is on our property. I also heard that there is this guy who is going to go to London with a petition requesting their land back. Hah! Good luck with that. The higher ups will not give in, and I have faith in the fact that they won't. Untill next time.


October 25, 1784

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!! I can not BELEIVE  the news I have just heard. The higher ups have AGREED to the natives request! They WILLINGLY gave up some of our land to a grant!!! HOW COULD THEY! I don't think I have EVER been angrier than this... I heard it just a little while ago. That guy with the petition, whos name happenes to be Thayendanegea, (I know, what kind of name is that?) went with the petition and the governer Fredrick Haldimand granted them their land! It's been called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and me and many others are VERY upset about it. I still can't beleive that the government has let our country down like that. Now the Natives will have it in their heads that they can get whatever they want from our cowardly government. It just makes me so angry! Too angry to write... I will have to continue later, when I am cooled down. Untill then.