Why Is Toronto Important in History?
Like many major cities throughout history, Toronto is located beside a large body of water. That fact shaped the city early on.
Simcoe laid out a town here after the American Revolution, which sent Loyalists north to Upper Canada to guard the country’s troubled border. These settlers’ conservatism and preference for order influenced the city.
The First Peoples
The natural harbour of Lake Ontario and the Toronto passage (today’s Humber River) made Toronto an important port for fur trade. In addition, the surrounding land was rich in natural resources, including forests of spruce and pine and fertile farmland.
The origin of the name “Toronto” is a mystery, but scholars have speculated that it may have been derived from the Haudenosaunee (Huron) word Gete-Onigaming, meaning the place where people meet. This suggests the site was a meeting point for indigenous peoples and European traders.
The invisibility of local Indigenous history is a common North American settler colonial phenomenon. While the Royal Ontario Museum’s focus on this area is impressive, it could be more intensive. This would make it easier for all residents to grasp the vital role Indigenous peoples have played in the city’s past and ongoing development.
The French
As the kilometre-thick glaciers that covered southern Ontario slowly receded about 13,000 years ago, family-sized bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers began to migrate into this region. They passed through what is now Toronto.
When the higher-class Loyalists consolidated their power in the early 1800s and founded Upper Canada, they chose this spot as their capital, calling it York. They laid out a street grid, erected parliament buildings, and hacked a military highway inland that they named Yonge (named after the British Secretary of War at the time). This road was crucial for the fur traders who used it as a shortcut to Lake Huron. But it would soon undergo a radical transformation. The Industrial Revolution was on the horizon. This was a turning point for the entire country and for Toronto in particular. It would change everything we know about urban life.
The British
The end of the ice age 13,000 years ago left this area with a fine natural harbour. That, combined with its proximity to the Great Lakes, made it a natural port of call for the fur trade.
The American Revolution sent Loyalists northward to remaining British territory, and Upper Canada’s first governor, John Graves Simcoe, planned a town at centrally located Toronto. He envisioned the village as a commanding position for a naval and garrison base to guard troubled America-Canadian boundaries.
Simcoe cleared the forests, laid out a town grid, erected parliament buildings and began hacking an inland military highway that came to be known as Yonge Street (named after Britain’s secretary of war). This was the beginning of modern Toronto. The city remained a largely English-speaking and Protestant place until the late 1950s when immigration laws opened wider to include people from across Europe.
The American Revolution
The United Empire Loyalists were people who fought for Britain during the American Revolution. They were granted land in Upper Canada, and they settled around what is now downtown Toronto. They brought with them cultural values of conservatism, a preference for order over radical change, and a dedication to the monarchy.
English and Scottish settlers in the early 1800s were generally sympathetic to Irish Catholics arriving during the Potato Famine. But the scale of the human tragedy caused hearts to harden, and the slums of MaCauley Town and Cabbagetown became symbols of destitute Irish poverty.
In the mid-1800s the industrial revolution exploded in the world, and downtown Toronto was at the centre of it. As the steam engine became more powerful and affordable, it made possible a massive increase in manufacturing. These new factories churned out goods at an amazing rate.
The Loyalists
Some colonists, called Loyalists, wanted to stay loyal to Britain and remain part of the British Empire. They did not support independence from the United States. Patriot opponents found it easy to dismiss Loyalists as self-interested men, greedy parasites who profited from imperial connections or weak and cowardly individuals who feared anarchy more than liberty.
But the choice to side with the Crown was complex. Historians have never been able to pinpoint a single factor that determined whether someone would end up on the Loyalist side of the Revolution. Loyalists came from every social class and occupation. The majority of Loyalists fled to the British colonies in what is now Canada. Many settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec. Library and Archives Canada has a number of records relating to the American Revolution and the Loyalists.
The Industrial Revolution
Toronto, like most major cities throughout history, was a port town. It was a natural meeting point for trade routes, with the Humber River and Toronto Passage providing a shortcut from Lake Ontario to the upper Great Lakes.
The 17th century saw the rise of Toronto as a trading post and settlement. The site was chosen because of its defensible harbour and strategic location on the Toronto passage.
As the 19th century progressed, railway and industrial development was brought to the city. New immigrants also arrived. By the 1950s Toronto was one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Toronto’s Chinatown, Little Italy, Koreatown, and Greek Town are evidence of this. This makes Toronto a vitally important case study for studying global immigrant integration and social cohesion. The city is also an excellent place to study the complexities of urban governance.
The Second World War
The influx of people from around the world has made Toronto one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the planet. Today more than half of the city’s population is made up of immigrants from other countries. Their contributions to the cultural diversity of the city and the prosperity it enjoys are testaments to Canada’s tolerant and welcoming society.
In 1997, Toronto’s amalgamation with six other municipalities caused a major controversy. The move was argued by critics to be a cost-saving measure that would give the province greater control over the city. It is now the largest city in North America. Humanistic geographer Relph looks at the rapid transformation of the city-region’s ordinary landscapes, concluding that while Toronto lacks beauty and a single identity, it offers many positive opportunities for its residents.
The Cold War
The rise of the United States in the 1940s, fueled by Cold War client-state wars across Asia and Latin America, prompted Canadian fears that their nation would be caught in a missile-slinging match between two superpowers. During this period, the spread of nuclear know-how and armaments to France and Britain also increased Canadian worries that the world was on the verge of a nuclear holocaust.
As Toronto emerged as a major industrial center, entrepreneurs and businessmen amassed immense wealth in the city. They commissioned such impressive buildings as the Horticultural Building at the Exhibition Grounds (1907), the King Edward Hotel (1903), and Union Station (1914-20).
The Post-World War II Era
The city’s modern skyline is dominated by high-rise buildings, like the CN Tower. This massive structure reflects the city’s aspirations to be a global city, and its construction was symbolic of a postwar economic boom.
The name ‘Toronto’ comes from the Huron word for “Meeting Place.” Early on this area was a vital meeting place and a trade route. The overland shortcut between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay facilitated north-south travel for Indigenous peoples and European fur traders alike.
During the Irish potato famine of 1847 the arrival of 38,000 desperate emigrants tested Toronto’s self identity as an open and tolerant city. This conflict contributed to a growing sense of Canadian nationalism among the population. The United Empire Loyalists brought with them cultural values that would form a bulwark against American republicanism and shape conservative attitudes in Canada to the present day.
The 1950s
The ’50s are more than just poodle skirts and rock ‘n’ roll. They are a time of recovery after the hardships and sacrifices of World War II. It was a decade when new styles emerged that broke with the past, like mid-century modern design. It was a time of firsts: Jonas Salk creates the oral polio vaccine; Yves Saint Laurent takes over Christian Dior’s fashion house; and the United States launches Sputnik 1, its very first artificial satellite.
But not everyone was happy. A small group of critics and nonconformists pointed out flaws in a culture they believed was shallow and devoid of substance. Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique challenged the notion of traditional family life. Meanwhile, TV shows such as Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best portrayed an idyllic postwar era.
Like many major cities throughout history, Toronto is located beside a large body of water. That fact shaped the city early on. Simcoe laid out a town here after the American Revolution, which sent Loyalists north to Upper Canada to guard the country’s troubled border. These settlers’ conservatism and preference for order influenced the city.…