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Eastern Canada, ca 1800 attempts to consolidate much of the information found in other regional plates in the Historical Atlas of Canada. It is estimated that in 1800 the population of what is now Eastern Canada was about 340,000, and the patterns to be followed in the next two centuries were being established.
By 1800 a Europe-based civilization was overpowering Native lands and Native civilizations and bringing immigrants into northeastern North America. The interactive map: Population and Economy, ca 1800 shows a necklace of outports in eastern Newfoundland, narrow belts of settlement in the Maritimes, and a fuller band along the St. Lawrence River in Lower Canada. Tiny impressions of settlement were evident in the forests of Upper Canada and in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada, just north of the American boundary. The swirling trade patterns of Native peoples and fur traders in the vast northern country make a striking contrast with the solidly occupied area of the United States in the south, where 5.3 million people lived and sent population spurs edging northward. Close Native contact with Eurocanadians was occurring at this time not only on the Canadian Shield; in the Montreal district the Native communities of Caughnawaga and Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes were in place, as were the communities on the Grand River, north of Lake Erie, in Upper Canada.
The map reveals fundamental contrasts in language. These are represented as well in the static map: Population and Language in Eastern Canada, ca 1800. Here the different proportions across the colonies are shown. It must be emphasized that these population numbers are fairly rough estimates; see the Authors and Sources page for details of their calculation.
