British Columbia & The Railway

British Columbia

• British Columbia was founded as a British colony in 1849

• It was a quiet colony that lived in harmony with the First Nations population until 1858 when the population exploded!

• Why do you think the population expanded in 1858?

GOLD!!

• Gold was found• It could be found in river beds and certain

mines• It was hard work, but a quick way to get rich!

Problems Quickly Surface

• Gold made British Columbia very rich very fast and they were one of Britain’s favourite colonies

• Their population and infrastructure (buildings and towns) quickly grew

• Why did Britain like BC so much? • But the Gold Rush did not last long

Aboriginals

• The Aboriginal groups of BC relied on salmon to live

• Searching for gold in the river scared the fish away

• First Nation groups attempted to block the river and many fights broke out, and many people died

End of the Gold Rush

• The rush only lasted 10 years and ended in 1868.

• They did not have the technology to find any more gold at the time. Many immigrants left or did not have a job

• You now have a modern colony, completely bankrupt

The Solution

• With the colony in debt and no gold to be found, Britain abandoned BC and stopped helping them

• Needing help to survive, BC turned to another option:

• CANADA!

What BC Wanted

• BC had some demands if it was going to allow itself to be governed by Canada:– Canada had to pay their debts– They wanted to be linked to Canada by a paved

road– They wanted Canada to give them money each

year

Canada Agrees!

• Canada says yes to all their demands• They pay the debts• Instead of a paved road, Canada offers

something better:• A Railway!!!!• On July 20th, 1871 British Columbia becomes

Canada’s 6th province

THE RAILWAY

• Every province was promised to be connected to the rest of the country via railway

• Two things were needed:– Money– People