Policies In Atlantic Canada :: essays research papers

From the arrest of early contact from 1534-1736 it wasconcluded that Indian righteousness was useless and therefor didnot pose an impediment in the process of convertingIndians to Christianity. The process of conversion includeda period of persuasion and instruction followed by baptism.The French missions were prosperous in areas where therewas permanent Aboriginal settlement. These effortsinfluenced all areas of social policy especially the belief thatall Aboriginals should be converted to Christianity. Theperiod of the Royal declaration from 1783-1839 was aresult of British Military policy that recognised theimportance of First Nation allies in the victory oer France.In 1755 during the initial stages of the war, the Britishdeveloped an Indian department with a completesuerintendent of Indian Affairs. This was not successful inpreventing colonists from appropriating First Nation land.When Britain was successful in the war with France,France ceded most of its North American terr itory and theFirst Nations were not satisfied being under British rule.This led to Pontiacs disintegration where several British fortswere captured. The Royal Proclamation was essentiallydrafted on the advice of the colony concerning measures toreconcile with First Nations. It was the first constitutionunder British rule that recognized that the territory outsideof the colonial boundaries was reserved as hunting groundsfor First Nations. The Royal Proclamation was the legalbase for British-Indian policy. The transition of the RoyalProclamation into Canadian social policy occurred whencolonial correspondents indicated that First Nations werenot longer military allies. Colonial policies were changed byan administration aimed at civilizing First Nations way oflife. Of bad-tempered importance was the schooling of FirstNation children. Gifts that were originally used tocompensate for land surrendered to the British were nowconditional on the basis of whether or not First Nationparents sent their kids to school. Those parents who didnot abide by this rule were subject to criminal charges.