page_title: History of Ottawa
section_title: Historical context prior to settlement
hierarchical_section_title: History of Ottawa / Indigenous peoples and European exploration / Historical context prior to settlement
context_page_description: The history of Ottawa, capital of Canada, was shaped by events such as the construction of the Rideau Canal, the lumber industry, the choice of Ottawa as the location of Canada's capital, as well as American and European influences and interactions. By 1914, Ottawa's population had surpassed 100,000 and today it is the capital of a G7 country whose metropolitan population exceeds one million.
  The origin of the name "Ottawa" is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning "to trade". The word refers to the indigenous peoples who used the river to trade, hunt, fish, camp, harvest plants, ceremonies, and for other traditional uses. The first maps made of the area started to name the major river after these peoples.
  For centuries, Algonquin people have portaged through the waterways of both the Ottawa River and the Rideau River while passing through the area. French explorer Étienne Brûlé was credited as the first European to see the Chaudière Falls in 1610, and he too had to portage past them to get further inland. No permanent settlement occurred in the area until 1800 when Philemon Wright founded his village near the falls, on the north shore of the Ottawa River.
context_section_description: The  Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France ended with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which confirmed Great Britain's conquest of Canada. After defeating the French and their Native allies in the Maritimes, at Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham, and later Montreal, Great Britain controlled all of Canada. Consequently, areas west of Montreal began receiving many English-speaking settlers from Great Britain. Populations in Eastern Ontario also increased following the American Revolution's 1776 Declaration of Independence. Many United Empire Loyalists migrated to Canada, assisted by Britain, which granted them 200 acres (81 ha) of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.
  The Constitutional Act of 1791, established the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada which would last from December 26, 1791, to February 10, 1841.  By this time two culturally distinct regions were forming; Loyalist Protestant American settlers and British immigrants in Upper Canada and a French-speaking Catholic population of Lower Canada.  This essentially meant that the creation of the two solitudes led to the bisecting of the Algonquin Nation. Upper Canada had its own legislature and was administered by a lieutenant-governor (starting with John Graves Simcoe). Its capital was settled by 1796 in York (present-day Toronto), a choice which was influenced by the threat of attack by the Americans, which also was a factor initiating the construction of the Rideau Canal. By the time British settlement started near Ottawa, there were two principal local areas, Nepean Township west of the Rideau River and Gloucester Township to the east. Though not yet named, they were formed in 1793.
  Although the War of 1812 gave Upper Canada some confidence in its ability to defend itself against American intrusion, the threat remained. This led directly to the creation of the military settlements such as Perth, Ontario and the settling of some military regiment families (such as the 100th Regiment of Foot (Prince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment) at Richmond, Ontario).  By the time of Bytown's founding, Kingston, Ontario, located on the eastern shores of Lake Ontario south-west of Ottawa, had become a naval base of 2849 inhabitants, York's population was 1677, Perth, 1500, and Brockville, another Eastern Ontario town had a population which was nearing 1000.  In Lower Canada, Montreal and Quebec City were far larger, each having 22,000 inhabitants.
caption: The Canadas in 1791, after the passage of the Constitutional Act 1791.
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