Summary Of 'The Character Of The British Columbia Frontier'

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The article “The Character of the British Columbia Frontier” by Barry M. Gough discusses the forces and institutions that influenced British Columbia to change from Ingenious land to a fur trade territory and then to a colony. Additionally, the character of the British Columbia Frontier was influenced by an imperial tide from 1846-1871 that caused a change in the character of human occupation and it brought new political and social institutions whose legacies can still be seen in present society. The thesis of this article claims that geographical features, resource extraction and the British role in extending political jurisdiction and sovereignty was taken to oppose American influences, which influenced the character of the British Columbia Frontier.
The author examines how environmental determinants and the British role in countering American influences played a role in the development of the character of the British Frontier. For instance, explorers knew that the nature of an environment would influence the type of human occupation that could occur in an area. European settlers found that British Columbia did not have suitable land for agriculture instead it consisted of mountain terrains where the physical landscape varied.
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Instead of farming the European settlers exploited the sea and land resources for sea otter, beaver, salmon and timber and spars. Therefore, the environment determined the type of human occupation and economic activity that could occur within a region not preferences of the settlers. For example, settlers would like to have farmlands like those of Ontario and Quebec; however, British Columbia did not have land suitable for agriculture, which led to the development of fishing, lumber and mining industries that exist today. Therefore, the environmental determinants were an important factor that influenced the development of the British Columbia Frontier. Additionally, the British tried to counter American influences in British Columbia, which influenced the nature of political society. In 1849, Vancouver Island was established as a British colony to counter the threat of American settlement and encourage little settlement on Vancouver Island. Furthermore, the Hudson’s Bay Company was given the task of developing a colony with strict regulation. However, the author claims that it was the mountainous, non-agarin character of British Columbia that prevented American settlement. The purpose of establishing British Columbia as a colony was so that imperial government would be able to increase British administrative control. Self- government was not given to British Columbia until it joined the Canadian confederation because settlers at the time were wild, assorted and transitory (some settlers only came for the duration of the gold rushes). Additionally, a colonial government could regulate the activities of miners through the establishment of mining boards. This displays that the type of people that came to British Columbia in its early developmental years and their migration influenced the type of government authority, which reinforces the thesis statement. The author did an effective job of proving his thesis statement to readers with supporting arguments and facts. For instance, the author explains in-depth how the factors environmental determinants and British role in influencing the development of the character of the British Columbia Frontier. One estimates that the introduction is split into two paragraphs because the end of the second paragraph contains the main arguments that the author will examine, which signals the end

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