Nova Scotia

   A British colony on the northeast coast of North America, and from 1867 a province of the Dominion of Canada. In the eighteenth century, Nova Scotia included what later became New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. It was the only British colony on the coast of North America to remain loyal during the War of American Independence and thereafter saw a large influx of loyalist refugees, almost tripling its population. The port of Halifax, first settled in 1749, became a major British naval base, and was particularly important during the Anglo-American War of 1812. Although Lord Durham ’ s report of 1839 concerned the Canadas, and not Nova Scotia, it was quickly picked up by Nova Scotian reformers, who successfully demanded responsible government for themselves.

   In February 1848, Nova Scotia became the first British colony in which the principle was put into effect. Although Nova Scotia participated in the negotiations among the British North American colonies leading to the formation of the Dominion of Canada under the British North America Act of 1867, a majority of members hostile to confederation was elected in the first federal election. An effort to persuade the British Parliament to repeal Nova Scotia’s entry into the confederation failed, and the province became reconciled to its membership in the Dominion. Its economy in the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century centered on fish, lumber, coal, and shipping.

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   FURTHER READING:

    Pryke, Kenneth G. Nova Scotia and Confederation, 1864–1874. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979.

   MARK F. PROUDMAN