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archaeology and history links
lists of historical sites
Both Provincial and Federal governments maintain sites that list
heritage sites in their domain.
List
of Archaeological sites in Canada. The list can be sorted by province.
National
Historic Sites of Canada This list can be sorted by province
but many of the entries provide limited information on the site.
In the sidebar there is a
link to virtual (video) tours of some Canadian parks and historic
sites. Some of the most interesting links are in the history
section which is separate from the historic sites section.
Ontario
Heritage Properties Database allows visitors to search for
historic and heritage buildings in towns across the province.
Some of the listings in the database contain extensive information
and photos. Others are more sparse.
The Virtual
Museum of Canada lists many historical and other museums and events
in its database. They provide directions to the site and an overview
of its focus.
Online
Hiways lists travel desitinations, including re-enactments,
historic villages and homes, monuments and archaeological sites.
The information is not in-depth but you will find addresses. Select
the province and then select the category "history".
topics and themes
Library
and Archives Canada is a top source that will lead you into
a wealth of articles, scanned original documents and virtual exhibits
on various themes including the opening the west, the fur trade,
and treaties. Part of the fascination is the ability to look at
scanned copies of the original documents, which will give you
a sense of how difficult the historian's art can be, trying to
decipher illegible scripts. Look under
Browse Selected Topics/More Topics for more.
Another federal government initiative is Canada's
Digital Collections, a vast collection of websites produced
by different hands, that include texts, photos, and scanned documents
on a miscellany of topics. There is little conformity between
sites, so in a sense the information is uneven, but the idiosyncratic
selection is part of the charm.
Histor!ca has helped placed the Canadian
Encylopedia online. It contains a timeline of major events
in history with popup windows giving brief information on the
subject. Also added are good articles on a variety of topics,
the Encyclopedia of Music, and games. Most of the entries are
short, as befits an encyclopedia, and the whole is inclusive with
articles linked together effectively.
The Canadian
Museum of Civilization website works like a museum in that
it has online exhibits on a range of topics. There is also a
timeline of exploration. Civilization.ca also links to the
War Museum, Children's Museum, Postal Museum and Virtual Museum
of New France. If you are doing research it is worth checking
to see if they have a relevant exhibit.
Native Tech
is an interesting site that explores First Nations' technology
from arrowpoints to quillwork, games and clothing.
Canada's
Digital Collections includes many links to sites pertaining
to First Peoples.
Pre-European America is given an overview at Native
American History as determined by anthropologists and archaeologists.
Enter the site through his table of contents.
The Government of Canada runs an Aboriginal
Canada Portal that with patience, will link you to a variety
of webpages by different native organizations.
McGill has a large digital library.
"In Pursuit of Adventure: The Fur Trade in Canada and the
North West Company" has a wonderful collection of documents
and maps. Use the links at the top of the page.
Online documents, Collections and Virtual Museums
Early Canadiana
online contains 1000s of original documents, many of which
are accessible to the public and some of which require membership.
To find a document you will need to know its title, author or
a keyword for it. If you don't know where to start, try the section
"Canada
in the Making" which brings together thematically linked
texts, graphics and maps. Or start with the "Primary
Sources" page that separates the documents into categories.
Collections Canada posts descriptions of over 70,000 archived
documents in ArchiviaNet,
the Colonial Archives. Search by keyword. Not everything directly
relates to Canadian history so this can be a useful way of contextualizing
your topic. For the most part, the actual document is not available
online here, but you may be able to find it elsewhere on the web
by doing a search and you can view the documents by contacting
the Archives.
The David Rumsey Historical
Map Collection has a number of large scale maps online, many
of which are early rare editions. Unfortunately, the viewer is
tedious to download and so far I've only been able to get it to
work in Internet Explorer. When it works, the maps are fabulous.
The Virtual Museum of Canada
has
an image gallery with 1000s of illustrations.
If you are looking for specific items, like clothing, try Artefacts
Canada, database of some 2.5 million object records and images
searched by keywords or by who, what, when, where or how.
The
Canadian Heritage Gallery has photos and illustrations on
almost every topic from people to art to bridges and railways.
Illustrations are a decent size and clearly seen. They also have
a smaller
books section with an overview of Canadian history.
Another image gallery can be found at Images
Canada. Not everything in this collection is historic and
if you need more contemporary photos of Canada, this would be
a good place to start.
Early Canadiana
online uses its 1000s of original documents to create a history
of Canada in the words of the people who lived it. Among the valuable
resources are short
biographies, and specific
events.
New
France, New Horizons provides a history of New France using
archival documents, images and audio clips to illustrate and explain.
A
database of French Canadian documents is also available on
the site in French with some English translations.
Toronto's
Virtual Museum is under construction and intends to include
some of the 100,000 objects in the city's collections.
American
Journeys includes over 180 eyewitness accounts which means
that it includes many documents from New France and British North
America before lines were drawn to divide the continent into its
current political shape. The earliest is the Viking Sagas of 1000AD
and they include journals from the 17th and 18th century explorers.
There are also almost 1000 illustrations and maps including such
delights as "Dragons chained for later roasting".
For a list of other sites with online documents and graphics,
visit Canadian
History on the Web maintained by Dr. Susan Neylan of Laurier
University.
The Solon Law Archive has a section on
Canadian Constitutional documents.
Read letters from Canadian soldiers written over decades. The
Canadian Letters & Images Project archives letters and
photographs, providing an informal perspective on war.
Early
Americas Web Gateway should not be missed. They provide a
formidible list of original (1492-1820) documents online from
Acosta's Historia natural y moral de las Indias to Yeardley's
Narrative of Excursions into Carolina, 1654. You can search by
author, subject, period, location or genre.
Canadian
Heritage Gallery offers many photos and maps online and for
purchase. A good place to check.
While it has a long way to go
The Historical Atlas of Canada Online Project already has
some useful historical maps online, so check it out. And if you
want more general maps on the distribution of populations and
resources, etc., try The
Atlas of Canada. Most of the maps are 20th century, but there
are a few that show older data.
Overviews of Canadian history
Canada's Digital Collections developed the
Canada Heirloom Series. This is a rather school text like
history of Canada which would benefit from a more complete table
of contents or an index to complement the search engine. But it
contains lots of illustrations and it is thorough. Volume
6 contains biographies of prominent Canadians.
About.com includes a useful list of General
Canadian History Resources including stories about specific
events like the founding of the railways and sites offering a
variety of documents and texts. You'll find links to a variety
of general and specialty sites, some more interesting than others.
A
Brief History of Canada is more of a timeline than an overview.
Back up one level to get some basic Canadiana facts such as
a list of all the Governor Generals or pictures of all the provincial
coats of arms
The
Virtual Museum of New France gives a sweeping introduction
to Quebec history from its earliest days until it was surrendered
to Britain. There are extensive quotes from the people who lived
the events plus maps, timelines and glossaries.
The
History of Canada is a very readable overview.
A
Scattering of Seeds is based in the television series of the
same name. It provides briefs synopses discussing the many ethnic
groups entering Canada over the centuries.
biography and geneology
Many of the sites listed on this page include profiles of prominent
Canadians. A handful of sites, like
Our Ancestors of European Origin, are dedicated to geneology.
It includes tips on researching ancestors. To get at the details
you need to register and pay.
The
Dictionary of Canadian Biography provides short profiles of
many Canadians.
Michel
Robert has posted a number of documents listing people living
in New France, including census information and ships records.
You can search your French ancestry at FrancoGene.
It also has links to Quebec Geneological Societies including
Le Centre de Généologie francophone d'Amérique.
Other resources and specialty sites
The Upper
Canadian Heritage servers act as a portal to a variety of
sites including re-enactment societies
The John
Bland Collection of Canadian Architecture is an interesting
overview of Canadian architecture based on the studies of the
Prof. Bland. The
opening page into the online collections is very red, but
from here you can access a host of images sorted by province and
type.
If you want links to almost any topic, Culture
Canada has tham arranged by topic including architecture,
people, music, communities and more. Very useful.
H-Net is an online forum covering topics in the humanities and
social sciences. One of these focuses on Canadian
History and studies.
The
Northwest Journal covers topics related to the fur-trade for
re-enactors and educators. It has articles on a range of subjects
including how to make a birchbark canoe or a fur-trading post.
What must surely be the most complete list of sites dedicated
to Canadian history can be found at World
Wide Web Virtual Library. One level up is the Canada
Index that includes maps, timelines, and scholarly societies.
If you need more information about Canada, try The
Canadian Resource Page which links to newspapers, newsgroups,
media, and associations, directories, etc.
The
Great Canadian Tunebook contains famous Canadian songs like
Robert Service's "When the Ice-worms Nest Again". You
can listen to the tune and read the words.
County Atlases published for Canada between 1874 and 1881 can
be found at The
Canadian County Atlas Digital Project from McGill. County
Atlases show property boundaries and owners' names. For example,
a search on people found in the Atlas, shows that Joesph E. Schneider
was a farmer living in Kitchener in 1881 and it is possible to
see the map of Waterloo Township where he lived.
Exhibits
and Museums list is deeply comprehensive list of history sites
The
Web Gallery of Art has over 12,000 works of art digitized
and online. They are listed by last name. There are also Guided
Tours that lead you through a selection of art.
General Sources
Columbus
and the Age of Discovery. A series of "permission granted"
articles dealing with the first contacts between Europeans and
First Nations in North, South and Central America. Also contains
numerous articles about pre-contact culture.
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