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Cornwallis: The Violent Birth of Halifax
In June of 1749, Edward Cornwallis set into motion events that would determine the destiny of tens of thousands of people across half a continent. His actions in the following three years would also determine the future of not only Nova Scotia, but of the vast land that would become Canada.
To the Mi'kmaq people, the British governor brazenly stood on their ancestral home. For France, Cornwallis was entering "Acadie," heartland of their territorial ambitions on the New World. For Cornwallis, and for the British crown he represented, it was Nova Scotia, a land he intended to claim in the flesh with his massive influx of soldiers and settlers.
Steeped in a brutal militaristic philosophy he learned in Scotland's Battle of Culloden, Cornwallis devised a plan to force the Acadians and Mi'kmaq to swear loyalty to his king, be forced off the land, or face massacre. His conquest of Nova Scotia laid the groundwork for the Expulsion of the Acadians and created the conditions that allowed James Wolfe to claim a final British victory over France on the Plains of Abraham. His conquest also pushed the Mi'kmaq toward the brink of extinction.
Still an elusive, controversial figure to this day, Cornwallis's full story has never been told. This biography uses his own words and draws on a range of sources to provide a detailed account of his life. It includes rare first-hand accounts of his childhood growing up with the future king of Britain, his rise in the military, his part in the suppression of Scotland's Highland rebellion and his role in the birth of Halifax. It follows the military disasters that saw Cornwallis face the threat of his own execution and eventually his death in exile on Gibraltar.
Whether you see Cornwallis as the heroic founder of Halifax or a genocidal tyrant who ruthlessly destroyed those who dared stand against him, you cannot deny his crucial role in Canadian history. This book presents the evidence of his life: it is up to the reader to make the final judgment.
To the Mi'kmaq people, the British governor brazenly stood on their ancestral home. For France, Cornwallis was entering "Acadie," heartland of their territorial ambitions on the New World. For Cornwallis, and for the British crown he represented, it was Nova Scotia, a land he intended to claim in the flesh with his massive influx of soldiers and settlers.
Steeped in a brutal militaristic philosophy he learned in Scotland's Battle of Culloden, Cornwallis devised a plan to force the Acadians and Mi'kmaq to swear loyalty to his king, be forced off the land, or face massacre. His conquest of Nova Scotia laid the groundwork for the Expulsion of the Acadians and created the conditions that allowed James Wolfe to claim a final British victory over France on the Plains of Abraham. His conquest also pushed the Mi'kmaq toward the brink of extinction.
Still an elusive, controversial figure to this day, Cornwallis's full story has never been told. This biography uses his own words and draws on a range of sources to provide a detailed account of his life. It includes rare first-hand accounts of his childhood growing up with the future king of Britain, his rise in the military, his part in the suppression of Scotland's Highland rebellion and his role in the birth of Halifax. It follows the military disasters that saw Cornwallis face the threat of his own execution and eventually his death in exile on Gibraltar.
Whether you see Cornwallis as the heroic founder of Halifax or a genocidal tyrant who ruthlessly destroyed those who dared stand against him, you cannot deny his crucial role in Canadian history. This book presents the evidence of his life: it is up to the reader to make the final judgment.
238 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 6, 2013
A concise and revealing look at Nova Scotia's "founder," a man of little other historical significance it seems, other than supporting roles in various British victories and retreats. But being the first governor of a province is a pretty big deal, and he certainly had a lasting impact on the Mi'kmaq. So as it turned out, the most significant period of the life of this man, who wanted nothing more than success and esteem at home, was his three-year paying of dues in the colony of Nova Scotia. Which is why the middle third of the book on this period was by far the longest and most interesting for me, a Nova Scotian.
I read an article on the book criticizing the author (who I should note is a friend and respected colleague of mine) for having a perspective, or that is for acknowledging his perspective in the book. This is the old falsehood that we can be truly objective. Sure, there is value in looking at all sides of an issue or a story or a history, but we've all got our biases and most journalists simply do their best to hide them. They're still there. Better, in my mind, to acknowledge them as best and honestly as we can, which Jon does in this book.
The critique I read went on to say this book was light on context and balance. I found it pretty well balanced. It's true there could have been more context on the time period. But the book was about Cornwallis, and the focus on the subject was appropriate.
The critique also claimed the book focused on British-instigated atrocities and not on those by the Mi'kmaq, who are noted to have killed at least 32 settlers in Lunenburg and dozens in Dartmouth. If balance is the goal, does it not make sense to focus on the dirty work of the British, who were largely responsible from reducing the Mi'kmaq population from 200,000+ down to a low of 1,300 circa 1842?
At one point, Tattrie offers a quotation from Voltaire's Candide, which was based on one of those British retreats Cornwallis attended. "...a million regimented assassins, from one extremity of Europe to the other, get their bread by disciplined depredation and murder, for want of more honest employment." A concise and poignant description of colonialism.
Tattrie dares to paint an honest, and largely negative, portrait of a long-dead colonialist aristocrat who for some reason many white Nova Scotians insist on deifying. He does so with an impressive depth of research and bases the account largely on Cornwallis' own words.
I read an article on the book criticizing the author (who I should note is a friend and respected colleague of mine) for having a perspective, or that is for acknowledging his perspective in the book. This is the old falsehood that we can be truly objective. Sure, there is value in looking at all sides of an issue or a story or a history, but we've all got our biases and most journalists simply do their best to hide them. They're still there. Better, in my mind, to acknowledge them as best and honestly as we can, which Jon does in this book.
The critique I read went on to say this book was light on context and balance. I found it pretty well balanced. It's true there could have been more context on the time period. But the book was about Cornwallis, and the focus on the subject was appropriate.
The critique also claimed the book focused on British-instigated atrocities and not on those by the Mi'kmaq, who are noted to have killed at least 32 settlers in Lunenburg and dozens in Dartmouth. If balance is the goal, does it not make sense to focus on the dirty work of the British, who were largely responsible from reducing the Mi'kmaq population from 200,000+ down to a low of 1,300 circa 1842?
At one point, Tattrie offers a quotation from Voltaire's Candide, which was based on one of those British retreats Cornwallis attended. "...a million regimented assassins, from one extremity of Europe to the other, get their bread by disciplined depredation and murder, for want of more honest employment." A concise and poignant description of colonialism.
Tattrie dares to paint an honest, and largely negative, portrait of a long-dead colonialist aristocrat who for some reason many white Nova Scotians insist on deifying. He does so with an impressive depth of research and bases the account largely on Cornwallis' own words.
June 15, 2013
Compelling - I realized while reading this that I had forgotten (or perhaps was never taught) big chunks of NS history. Very thorough & well researched tale!
August 28, 2022
3.5 stars. An informative book about the birth of Halifax, and the man behind it. The book has 3 sections: Cornwallis’s career before Halifax, his time in Halifax, and his remaining days. I was really only interested in the Halifax portion. You could easily skip the other two sections without much loss. It’s interesting to read the history and try to put things into perspective. Cornwallis was following orders and trying to secure Nova Scotia for England. But did he really need to put a bounty on Mi’kmaq scalps?
November 15, 2014
"Empire heroes linger in lands where the settlers became the majority. Five hundred years ago, Mi'kmaq people made up 100 percent of Nova Scotia's population. Today, they account for about one percent. Nova Scotia is, as Cornwallis intended, overwhelmingly populated by people of Protestant European descent. But we are not the same as he. Robinson says something that sticks in my head for months. 'If you accept him as a man of his time, then we must accept ourselves as people of our time.'
"For men like Cornwallis, 'king and country' were the only things that mattered. God appointed the British king and if you obeyed him (and his subordinates) you were safe. But if you rebelled, you excluded yourself from humanity."
"The twins, Edward and Frederick, and their nephew Charles, were the last generation of Cornwallises to hold such high offices. The family name faded in the decades to come. The barony was extinguished in 1823, and the earldom and marquisate in 1852. Edward Cornwallis's name would disappear almost everywhere, except in one small city on the far shore of the Atlantic, once a distant outpost in a vanished empire."
(excerpts from Jon Tattrie's, "Cornwallis".)
"For men like Cornwallis, 'king and country' were the only things that mattered. God appointed the British king and if you obeyed him (and his subordinates) you were safe. But if you rebelled, you excluded yourself from humanity."
"The twins, Edward and Frederick, and their nephew Charles, were the last generation of Cornwallises to hold such high offices. The family name faded in the decades to come. The barony was extinguished in 1823, and the earldom and marquisate in 1852. Edward Cornwallis's name would disappear almost everywhere, except in one small city on the far shore of the Atlantic, once a distant outpost in a vanished empire."
(excerpts from Jon Tattrie's, "Cornwallis".)
April 5, 2021
Cornwallis is known as the founding father of my hometown, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lately his statue has been removed from a public square. Buildings named after him have been renamed. I wanted to know the story.
I am in the "educate, don't celebrate" camp. We should know about the founding of the city and all of its awful consequences, e.g. the deliberate decimation of the Mi'kmaq people.
Tattrie uses grand language of military conquests in the first chapter, which led me to believe he wouldn't judge Cornwallis for his actions. Cornwallis is gradually revealed through what was written by him and about him during his own times. His later life as a "dandy" and his incessant desire to be re-posted or retired say a lot about him.
I was surprised by the inclusion of the author's family history, somewhat out of the blue, and delighted by the tale of his visit to Cornwallis's family estate.
Must-reading for Haligonians.
I am in the "educate, don't celebrate" camp. We should know about the founding of the city and all of its awful consequences, e.g. the deliberate decimation of the Mi'kmaq people.
Tattrie uses grand language of military conquests in the first chapter, which led me to believe he wouldn't judge Cornwallis for his actions. Cornwallis is gradually revealed through what was written by him and about him during his own times. His later life as a "dandy" and his incessant desire to be re-posted or retired say a lot about him.
I was surprised by the inclusion of the author's family history, somewhat out of the blue, and delighted by the tale of his visit to Cornwallis's family estate.
Must-reading for Haligonians.
August 16, 2014
What an interesting history of one of the founding figures of Halifax! Easily readable and not at all a dry history. It's very neat to be able to align Halifax then with Halifax now.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews