Canada: A People's History(2000–2002)

When the World Began...

Adventurers and Mystics

Claiming the Wilderness

Battle for a Continent

A Question of Loyalties

The Pathfinders

The opening of the Canadian West is a story of great fur-trading empires, of the Aboriginal people who were the fur traders' indispensable allies, of bold explorers and map-makers, and span two centuries and the boundless territory from sea to sea. The episode recounts the remarkable stories of Pierre Radisson, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Matonabbee and Samuel Hearne, Alexander Mackenzie, and David Thompson, and concludes as settlers and miners begin to claim the West for themselves.

Rebellion and Reform

The colonial societies of Nova Scotia, Lower Canada and Upper Canada are caught up in a torrent of rapid growth and new currents of democratic thought. Through the stories of Joseph Howe, Louis-Joseph Papineau and William Lyon Mackenize, the strikingly different courses these political conflicts took are portrayed. Within ten years English- and French-speaking politicians would establish long-lasting partnerships that won the prize of self-government.

The Great Enterprise

In a few short years, a handful of small and separate British colonies are transformed into a new nation that controls half the North American continent. The remarkable story of Confederation is told against a backdrop of Civil War in the United States and Britain's determination to be rid of the ungrateful colonies. The dawn of the era of photography provides a vivid portrait of the diverse people who make up the new Dominion of Canada.

Taking the West

The Great Transformation

Ordeal by Fire

Hard Times

The Crucible

Comfort and Fear

Years of Hope and Anger

In an Uncertain World