The missing piece

The excellent and erudite book Fantasyland by Kirk Anderson points out an American tendency toward self-styling distortion. Most of that, such as the fairy-tale rendering of the pilgrims and the natives, is entirely their business. However, regarding the Age of Discovery, there has been an effective smothering of the truth – which, because of the inundation of US influence, has actually diverted Canadians from their own history, or left us with a diminished view of its importance. For example, a list of explorers generated in the US rarely mentions John Cabot or Jacques Cartier. In the extreme, there is a linear and simplified portrayal that jumps from Christopher Columbus to Jamestown. That effectively sidesteps more than a hundred years of North American history.

Let’s take a look at the missing piece:

While the Tudor court was filled with intrigue, the Tudor monarchs were the indisputable initiators of world changing events. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, initiated England’s entry into the race for the New World when he sent John Cabot in search of a route to Asia. Cabot landed at Bonavista, Newfoundland in 1497 and claimed it for the King of England. During the next decade Henry dispatched several other voyages to solidify his claim to the continent, and to search for a northwest passage to the riches of Cathay.

Although his son, Henry VIII, did little to follow up on Atlantic exploration, he began a major expansion of the English Navy – notably with his avant-guard eighty-gun man-of-war, the Mary Rose. Henry’s son, King Edward VI, brought Sebastian Cabot back to England. Sebastian, who had risen to a position of prominence in Spanish maritime affairs, was the man chosen in 1551 as governor of the first joint-stock company in England – the organization that put England’s merchant-mariners in charge, and placed the island nation on the world stage of international trade – the Muscovy Company.

Bloody Mary, Edward’s sister, was preoccupied with other matters. But Elizabeth I, the third of Henry VIII’s offspring to wear the crown, brought the efforts of her grandfather and father together when she sent Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Saint John’s harbour in 1583. He reaffirmed England’s claim by declaring that English law would henceforth govern the activities of the new found land – which the navy was rapidly becoming capable of enforcing.

This little saga is no less than the commencement of the British Empire – which is our history. Granted, it skips over the claims of Jacques Cartier between 1534 and 1541 – during which he adopted the name Canada. Otherwise, it really is the history of most of North America, and the consequences reverberated around the world. Fine for the USA – but Canadians, for the sake of national unity and identity, cannot afford to overlook this segment. It is how we began, and we need to bring it home! Intimately knowing our history is to know who we are. Knowing who we are, we can never discount the preciousness of our “true north, strong and free.”