Canada Since Confederation

CANADA SINCE CONFEDERATION

The Lands Act of 1872 was a respond to the challenge of Rupert 's Land anti settlement outlook of the Canadian prairie . George Simpson Governor of Rupert 's land , maintained the argument that the lack of adequate transportation facilities , frost difficulties , drought , and lack of wood were great hindrances for settlement possibilities . In 1872 , the Dominion Government responded to the challenge by enacting the Dominion Lands Act . This legislation provided that the newly acquired territory would be surveyed according to the rectangular system used in the United States

, and those certain sections of the township should be made available for agricultural settlement

The Dominion land policy also offered free land to homesteaders . In the 1871 land policy , a request for homesteads of 160 acres (a quarter-section ) was accepted for a fee of ten dollars and a residence requirement of three years . All persons must be 21 years of age or over or the head of the family . This limitation profoundly affected women and often prevented them from acquiring land

One of the challenges faced by the settlers was their need for land Hence , the government encouraged them to buy adjacent lands for as little as 1 an acre . This allowed the settlers to expand their farms before others buy the adjoining land . However , this practice led to land speculation . In to acquire this extra land , some farmers mortgaged their homes and farms while hoping that this land 's value would go up If it did , these farmers could later sell their land at a huge profit Unfortunately , many of them lost their homesteads as they failed to make mortgage payments to the government to acquire extra land . However , this problem was solved when the federal government discontinued the practice

The Dominion Lands Act set aside land rights for the Mytis , the people of mixed native and European origin and was particularly successful at establishing culture and national identity ' This encouraged conflict with the Canadian government during two rebellions over land rights in 1870 and 1885 . The Mytis began pursuing their rights though in 1920 's and 1930 's . With these issues , peace and for the Canadians all in all were not settled

The settler 's initial difficulty was how to grow wheat because of the very dry lands and frost difficulties in some areas , but Canadian scientists and researchers developed new ways on how to cultivate the prairie . They also found new breads of wheat like Red Fife and Marquis These types of wheat were used initially by rich and famous ranchers and later on adopted by other land owners . Though the rewards of farm life were not easy to achieve for the first settlers , the Canadian government sought ways on the how to improve and develop ways to cultivate the land

Problems do not stop there . One of the dilemmas that the settlers encountered was the establishment of the Canadian Pacific Railway . Historiographer Donald Creighton depicted the Canadian Pacific Railway or CPR as an...