The history of Halifax, Nova Scotia, begins with its founding by the British in 1749 on territory gained from a war with the French. It was part of the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaq and settled by French Acadians. The new settlement was named for head of the British Board of Trade, Earl of Halifax, who authorized the settlement, becoming the colonial capital. Its location was chosen for its deep harbour. A permanent navy base, the Halifax Naval Yard was established in 1759. The city's fortunes were tied to the military presence. With the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the French were no longer a threat and military personnel were deployed elsewhere.
Nova Scotia was the fourteenth British colony on the Atlantic seaboard, and with political resistance on the southern Thirteen Colonies that led to the American War of Independence (1775-1783), the importance of Halifax to the British Empire increased. The importance remained through the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe in 1815, Britain relocated the major Royal Naval station to Bermuda in 1818, leading to an economic slump in the aftermath. The city recovered economically through the efforts of local entrepreneurs. Halifax continued to play a role in military conflicts in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The modern municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia was created on 1 April 1996, when the City of Dartmouth, the City of Halifax, the Town of Bedford, and the County of Halifax were amalgamated, forming the Halifax Regional Municipality. As of 2021, the community (defined by the boundaries of the City immediately prior to the 1996 amalgamation) has 156,141 inhabitants within an area of .
Early history
Indigenous population and French settlement The Halifax area (and the entire peninsula of Nova Scotia) has been populated by Miꞌkmaq, who called harbour around Halifax or Chebookt, meaning "Chief Harbour" or "Great Harbour" in the Mi'kmaq language, since long before recorded history. However, prior to European (French and British) colonization, Mi'kmaq communities were often mobile, alternating winter and summer seasons at different locations. In the area of Halifax, Mi'kmaq spent the summer on the shores of the Bedford Basin, moving to points inland before the harsh Atlantic winter set in. Examples of Miꞌkmaq habitation and burial sites have been found from Point Pleasant Park area, known by the Mi'kmaq as , to the north and south mainland. This seasonal cycle of Mi'kmaq occupation of this part of their lands remained largely unaffected by the initial establishment of French settlements elsewhere in the region during the 1600s and early 1700s, such as the colonial French capital, Port-Royal. The British conquered Acadia in 1710, but initially made no serious attempt to settle the area.
A notable exception to this bypassing of Halifax by Europeans was the catastrophic Duc d'Anville Expedition, sent by France in 1746 to recapture Annapolis Royal. It arrived in the Bedford Basin after a calamity-laden three-month crossing of the Atlantic, having suffered disease, lightning strikes that blew up ships, horrible storms, and attacks by the British Navy. After finally arriving in Nova Scotia, and bringing his fleet into the Bedford Basin, the Duc d'Anville died after suffering a stroke, throwing the expedition into even greater chaos. Eventually, the unfortunate expedition moved on towards Annapolis Royal, which it failed to attack, leaving the Mi'kmaq residents of the area, who had provided much-needed support to the French while they were based in the Bedford Basin, riven by the diseases (primarily typhus & typhoid fever) that had struck down many French sailors.
18th century British settlement The British settled Halifax in 1749, which sparked a conflict known as Father Le Loutre's War.Grenier (2008), pp. 143–149. To guard against Miꞌkmaq, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (Citadel Hill) (1749), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), and Lawrencetown (1754).
Despite their conquest of Acadia in 1710, the British made no serious attempt to colonize Nova Scotia, aside from keeping a presence at Annapolis Royal, the former French capital, and Canso. The peninsula was dominated by Catholic Acadians and Miꞌkmaq residents. The British founded Halifax in order to counter the influence of France's Fortress of Louisbourg at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence after returning the fortress to French control as part of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748).
The British founded Halifax under the direction of the Board of Trade under the command of Governor Edward Cornwallis in 1749. The founding of Halifax and the influx of British Protestant settlers led to Father Le Loutre's War. During the war, Miꞌkmaq and Acadians raided the capital region 13 times.
The first European settlement in the community was an Acadian community at present-day Lawrencetown. These Acadians joined the Acadian Exodus when the British established themselves on Halifax Peninsula. The establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the British Earl of Halifax, in 1749 led to the colonial capital being transferred from Annapolis Royal.
Father Le Loutre's War (1749-1755)
The establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutre's War. The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with thirteen transports and a sloop-of-war on June 21, 1749.Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2008; Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 7 The Mi'kmaq viewed the establishment of Halifax as violating a treaty they had signed with British colonial authorities in 1726 after the end of Father Rale's War.Wicken, p. 181; ; Also see Cornwallis brought along 1,176 settlers and their families. In 1750, the sailing ship Alderney arrived with 151 immigrants. Municipal officials at Halifax decided that these new arrivals should be settled on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour.
During Father Le Loutre's War, the Miꞌkmaq and Acadians raided in the capital region (Halifax and Dartmouth) twelve times. On September 30, 1749, about forty Miꞌkmaq attacked six men who were in Dartmouth cutting trees. Four of them were killed on the spot, one was taken prisoner and one escaped.Harry Chapman. In the Wake of the Alderney: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 1750-2000. Dartmouth Historical Association. 2000. p. 23; John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p. 150; For the primary sources that document the Raids on Dartmouth see the Diary of John Salusbury (diarist): Expeditions of Honour: The Journal of John Salusbury in Halifax; also see A genuine narrative of the transactions in Nova Scotia since the settlement, June 1749, till August the 5th, 1751: in which the nature, soil, and produce of the country are related, with the particular attempts of the Indians to disturb the colony by John Wilson. Also see History of Nova Scotia The men had been sent to retrieve wood for a sawmill commanded by Major Gilman. Two of the men were scalped and the heads of the others were cut off. The man who managed to escape brought back news of the attack with him. A detachment of rangers was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Miꞌkmaq and scalped one.Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 18 This raid was the first of eight against Dartmouth.
As a result of the raid, on October 2, 1749, Cornwallis offered a bounty on the head of every Miꞌkmaq. He set the amount at the same rate that the Miꞌkmaq received from the French for British scalps. As well, to carry out this task, two companies of rangers were raised, one led by Captain Francis Bartelo and the other by Captain William Clapham. These two companies served alongside that of John Gorham's company. The three companies scoured the land around Halifax looking for Miꞌkmaq.Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax. Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 19
In July 1750, the Miꞌkmaq killed and scalped seven men who were at work in Dartmouth.Thomas Atkins. History of Halifax City. Brook House Press. 2002 (reprinted 1895 edition). p 334 Four raids were conducted against Halifax Peninsula. The first of these was in July 1750: in the woods of peninsular Halifax, the Miꞌkmaq scalped Cornwallis' gardener, his son and four others. They buried the son, left the gardener's body exposed and carried off the other four bodies.
In August 1750, 353 settlers arrived on the Alderney and founded the town of Dartmouth. The town was laid out in the autumn of that year.Akins, p. 27. The following month, on September 30, 1750, the Mi'kmaq attacked the new settlement, killing five residents.John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p. 159.
In October 1750 a group of about eight men went out "to take their diversion; and as they were fowling, they were attacked by the Indians, who took the whole prisoners; scalped ... [one] with a large knife, which they wear for that purpose, and threw him into the sea ..."John Wilson A Genuine Narrative of the Transactions in Nova Scotia since the Settlement, June 1749 till August the 5th 1751. London: A. Henderson, 1751 as recorded by The next year, on March 26, 1751, the Miꞌkmaq attacked again, killing fifteen settlers and wounding seven, three of which would later die of their wounds. They took six captives, and the regulars who pursued the Miꞌkmaq fell into an ambush in which one of their sergeants were killed.John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p. 160 Two days later, on March 28, 1751, Miꞌkmaq abducted another three settlers.
Dartmouth Massacre (1751)
The worst of these raids was to take place three months later. On May 13, 1751, Joseph Broussard led a party of sixty Miꞌkmaq and Acadians to attack Dartmouth again, in what would be known as the "Dartmouth Massacre".Atkins, pp. 27-28. Broussard and the others destroyed the buildings of the settlement, killed twenty settlers, mutilating men, women, children and babies, among them a sergeant, and took more prisoners.John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p.160; Cornwallis' official report mentioned that four settlers were killed and six soldiers taken prisoner. See Governor Cornwallis to Board of Trade, letter, June 24, 1751, referenced in Harry Chapman, p. 29; John Wilson reported that fifteen people were killed immediately, seven were wounded, three of whom would die in hospital; six were carried away and never seen again" (See A genuine narrative of the transactions in Nova Scotia since the settlement, June 1749, till August the 5th, 1751). he British returned to Halifax with the scalp of one Miꞌkmaq warrior, however, they reported that they had killed six of them.See anonymous private letter printed by Harry Chapman, p. 30.
In 1751, there were two attacks by Mi'kmaq warriors on or near blockhouses located on the northern and southern ends of the isthmus of the Halifax Peninsula. The Mi'kmaq warriors attacked the north blockhouse and killed the men on guard there, and near the south blockhouse, at the end of the Northwest Arm, they attacked a sawmill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake and killed two men.Piers, Harry. The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress (Halifax, PANS, Pub. #7, 1947), p. 6 As cited in Peter Landry's. The Lion and the Lily. Vol. 1. Trafford Press. 2007. p. 370 (Map of Halifax Blockhouses | Map 2)