In the years between 1858 and 1863, B.C. was under the gold rush fever.

In these years this previously

fur-trading territory was invaded by fortune seekers. This overflow of attention caused tensions
between the native people and the Europeans and Americans. Furthermore, all this focus led to
increased development in the mainland and the Vancouver Island. Also Victoria, a small fort, came
under heavy pressure as most of the miners stopped here to get mining licenses and to stock up on
provisions before making the journey up the Fraser canyon.
The first of the gold rushes, the Fraser River Gold Rush, brought heavy influx of miners to the shores
of the Fraser valley in1858. Most of these fortune seekers were from California where the word of
supposed gold find in the Fraser valley had been spread in 1857. This was after the California old rush
and people were looking for new opportunities. So, this gold rush was more of an extension of the
California mining operation and included miners seeking a second chance to find their fortunes. But
this influx of Americans made the local British government very nervous. And, in order to counter this
'invasion' of Americans the district of Caledonia, the center of the mining operation, was declared a
British colony in 1558 and the British justice system was implemented in the area. Furthermore, this
gold rush caused massive frictions between the native population as most of the Indian land were
invaded by a large number of miners. Though the Indians were not particularly violent at the mines,
their presence was surely felt and were quite troublesome to the miners in general.
The second of these gold rushes continued from 1860 to 1863 and was known as the Cariboo Gold
Rush. And the center of this rush was Baskerville. This gold rush was much more prolific in
comparison to the first one. The short lived Fraser valley gold rush paved the way for second gold rush
as people pushed their way from Fraser and Thompson river to further up north into Cariboo. These
immigrants included far more Canadians and British fortune seekers than did the first gold rush. But by
1865 almost all of the gold was gone. Moreover, the town of Barkerville was nearly wiped out by the
end of the decade. Despite this fact, the Cariboo gold rush spurred the growth of the area with
development of roads and bridges, that helped develop the adjoining areas.
From 1858-63 miners operated in rustic and crude constructions. Food was scarce and very expensive
and the miners worked without proper clothing and equipments. The living conditions were further
worsened by the lack of transportation and the fact that the Fraser river froze in the winters, making the
travel up north nearly impossible as the trail to Cariboo was still under construction. Furthermore ,
most of the miners had only the most basic of mining know how and lacked the capital to back their
operations. Despite these conditions some miners did find their fortunes, prominent among them being
Billy Barker and John Cameron in the Cariboo gold rush. But the majority of seekers lost all tey put
into the B.C. gold rush. Its been the called the great 'humbug' and for good reasons. The promises of
vast hordes of gold made by the valley were never fulfilled and left the miners broke and destitute.
These gold rushes, however, did happen to help in the development of the areas which might have been
overlooked otherwise since these were areas of treacherous trails and mountains and extreme winter.
To sum up, while it is difficult to take the account given in A Great Humbug at face value as they
were written by miners who might have been trying to dissuade competitors from going up there, they
do indeed paint a picture of a difficult and challenging time in which many sought the hand of Lady
Luck but only few gained it. While the gold rushes of 1858-63 might have been a disappointment for
the majority of the miners, it still helped in the development of an area which, for all intensive
purposes, offered little reward for a lot of work.
Ever since its formulation the New France, later known as British North America, steadily moved
towards independence. This independence was both the result of self-sufficiency of the local economy

and the massive costs of maintaining the colonies as both France and later Britain later realized. Before
its fall, New France was a highly trade dependent organ, which required constant support from the
mother country to continue surviving, for the only things of value there were the furs and the fisheries.
But slowly the area stated developing its own economy and even though trade remained an integral part
of the area, the growing economy made sure that the it didnt have to depend on the mother countries
for survival.
The massive immigration attempts by the French and later the British ensured that the local populace
was a unique combination that required drastically different form of handling than what the
government was used to. Later, the introduction of the refugee from America, the loyalists, added
further spice to the mixture of communities. The Constitution Act of 1791 had divided the province
into lower and upper Canadas. The lower Canad was comprised of mostly French speaking population
and were governed by a combination of French and English law. In contrast the Upper Canada mainly
contained English speaking population and were governed by the English law. The upper Canada saw
consistent immigration and development while the Lower Canada made significant strides in the area
of agriculture agricultural exports. Also, the Hudson's Bay Company with its employees from every
sector of Canadas populace cam to dominate the trade in the northwest. This was a significant step
towards development since Canada's economy had been based solely on resources such as fur, fish and
timber for centuries.
England wanted the colonies to become independent but at the same time it wanted as much economic
power over the colonies as it could get. The maintenance of the colonies was proving to be an
expensive undertaking. Even the trade with Canada was proving unfeasible. Furthermore, the conflict
with America could have led to more wars that England could not afford. All theses factors assisted the
British decision to support the 'responsible government' in the colonies which paved the road to the
confederation.
Hence, while the increasing expenses of maintaining the colony were enough to force England to
consider leaving the governance and defense of Canada in the hands of the local population, it was the
strength of the economy that made the move feasible in the long term. Also the rebellions of 1837-1838
had shown that the local population did not want to be under the rule of the current government even
though they wanted the benefits that went along with being part of the British Commonwealth. Even
the confederation was a way for the populace to maintain their imperial roots. So, while French
influence over Canada was violently stripped away by 1863, the British found themselves being swept
away because of its unwillingness to maintain much political power in the area. But England did intend
to keep as much economic control as it could.