Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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12:21 PM
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Before the arrival of Europeans, the first Nations followed a wide array of mostly animistic religions. The first Europeans to settle in great numbers in Canada were French Latin rite Roman Catholics, including a large number of Jesuits dedicated to converting the natives, an effort that had only limited success.
The first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after they were conquered by the British. Unable to convince enough British immigrants to go to the region, the government decided to import continental Protestants from Germany and Switzerland to populate the region and counterbalance the Roman Catholic Acadians. This group was known as the Foreign Protestants. This effort proved successful and today the South Shore region of Nova Scotia is still largely Lutheran.
This pattern remained the same after the British conquest of all of New France in 1759. While originally plans to try to convert the Roman Catholic majority were in place, these were abandoned in the face of the American Revolution. The Quebec Act of 1774 acknowledged the rights of the Roman Catholic Church throughout Lower Canada in order to keep the French- Canadians loyal to Britain.
The American Revolution brought about a large influx of Protestants to Canada. United Empire Loyalists, fleeing the rebellious United States, moved in large number to Upper Canada and the Maritimes. They comprised a mix of Christian groups with a large number of Anglicans, but also many Presbyterians and Methodists.
In the early nineteenth century in the Maritimes and Upper Canada, the Anglican Church held the some official Position it did in the United kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland apart from Scotland where the official church, the Church of Scotland was Presbyterian.
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laura
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