2.  By 1848 the British Government decided it needed a more official presence than the HBC – establishes the crown colony of Vancouver Island.  HBC gets trade monopoly in exchange for selling land to British settlers.  James Douglas wanted to give land for free to settlers but the government decided to sell the land for a £1 an acre with a minimum purchase of 20 acres.

3.  Money requirement creates a class system on the island.  Most of the other settlers were working class HBC employees.  James Douglas’ wife Amelia is Métis.

4.  Coal discovered near Nanaimo in the 1840s.  Royal Navy base at Esquimalt was a natural customer.

5.  Douglas was worried as there were only 774 settlers in 1855 and more than 30,000 Aboriginal people on the island.  Douglas negotiated treaties with the nations to give up control of their land forever.