Editing Saint John, New Brunswick (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Saint John, New Brunswick}}
{{Expand section|date=July 2023}}
[[File:Blacksmith Shop Behind Custom House.jpg|thumb|left|A blacksmith shop near Saint John Harbour during the late 19th century.]]

The Saint John area had been inhabited by peoples of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] for thousands of years. The northwestern coastal region of the [[Bay of Fundy]] was home to the [[Passamaquoddy]] Nation, while the [[Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)|Saint John River]] valley north of the bay became the domain of the [[Maliseet|Wolastoqiyik]] Nation. The [[Mi'kmaq]] also frequented the Saint John area due to the harbour and coast being an important hunting ground for seals. The area around the harbour, where the city is, has been traditionally called Menahkwesk by the Wolastoqiyik people, who continue to reside in and around the city. In precolonial times, the Wolastoqiyik lived in mostly self-sustaining villages living largely off bass, sturgeon, salmon, corn, wild roots and berries.<ref name="Canadian Encyclopedia">{{cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/saint-john |title=Saint John |publisher=Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=26 July 2020}}</ref>

In 1604, [[Samuel de Champlain]] landed at [[Saint John Harbour]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Underrated Saint John, New Brunswick |url=https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/your-discovery/underrated-saint-john-new-brunswick |access-date=10 January 2024 |work=BBC}}</ref> though he did not settle the area. Saint John played a crucial role in trade and defense for [[Acadia]] during the French colonial era, with Fort La Tour in the city's harbour becoming a pivotal battleground during the [[Acadian Civil War]].<ref name="auto"/> At the end of the [[Seven Years' War]], the British took the region from the French.

The population of Saint John grew with immigration from the former [[Thirteen Colonies]] and Europe. In 1785, Saint John became the first incorporated city in what is now Canada.<ref name="CanEncycl" /> Immigration led to the building of North America's first quarantine station, [[Partridge Island, New Brunswick|Partridge Island]].<ref name="Canada's First City: Saint John">{{cite book |title=Canada's First City: Saint John |year=1962 |publisher=Lingley Printing |location=Saint John, N.B. |pages=30}}</ref>

[[File:Marcopoloclipper.jpg|thumb|left|The ''[[Marco Polo (1851 ship)|Marco Polo]]'']]

The city became a shipyard of global stature, producing vessels such as the 1851 ship {{ship||Marco Polo|1851 ship|2}}, which became the fastest in the world,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://new-brunswick.net/marcopolo/historic.html |title=The Ship ''Marco Polo'' |access-date=July 30, 2017}}</ref> and witnessing the development of the automated [[foghorn]] by [[Robert Foulis (inventor)|Robert Foulis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Famous Glaswegians – Robert Foulis, Jr. |url=http://www.glasgowguide.co.uk/info-fame_Robert_Foulis_Jr.html |website=Glasgow Guide |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225819/http://www.glasgowguide.co.uk/info-fame_Robert_Foulis_Jr.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:The city of St. John, New Brunswick.tif|thumb|left|[[Bird's-eye view]] of Saint John in 1882]]

As the city grew in strategic importance to English power and capital, unrest grew among many of its working class. Black Saint Johners faced restrictions on trade, fishing and voting, compelling the majority of the city's Black community to settle in Portland (the city's north end), which later became amalgamated with Saint John.<ref name="Canadian Encyclopedia"/> In 1849, Canada's first labour union, the Laborer's Benevolent Association (now ILA local 273) was formed by [[longshoremen]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wfhathewaylabourexhibitcentre.ca/labour-history/for-whom-the-bells-toll/|title=For Whom The Bells Toll|publisher=Hatheway Labour Exhibit Center}}</ref> Between 1840 and 1860, [[sectarian]] violence became rampant in Saint John as tensions escalated in response to the poor living conditions of poor [[Irish Catholics]], resulting in some of the worst urban riots in Canadian history.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winder |first1=Gordon M.|title=Trouble in the North End: The Geography of Social Violence in Saint John 1840–1860 |journal=Acadiensis |date=2000 |volume=XXIX|issue= 2 Spring|page=27|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/acadiensis/article/view/10782/11551}}</ref> Saint John experienced a [[cholera]] outbreak in 1854 that claimed over 1,500 lives,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bilson|first1=Geoffrey|title=The Cholera Epidemic in Saint John, N.B., 1854|journal=Acadiensis|date=1974|volume=4|issue=1|pages=85–99 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/viewFile/11369/12119}}</ref> as well as the [[Great Fire of Saint John]] in 1877 that destroyed 40% of the city and left 13,000 people homeless.<ref name="NewYorkTimes">{{cite news |last1=Rubin |first1=Richard |title=In Saint John in Canada, Exploring the Legacy of the Loyalists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/travel/st-john-new-brunswick-canada-legacy-of-british-loyalists.html |access-date=10 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 October 2016}}</ref> Although the fire caused damages exceeding $10 million (equivalent to approximately $256 million today),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Collins |first1=Donald|title=Weary city resurfaces from ashes: In the weeks and months following the Great Fire of 1877, Saint John people and businesses persevered|url=http://new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/greatfire/greatfire2.html|website=newbrunswick.net|publisher=Telegraph-Journal (New Brunswick)|access-date=June 25, 2014|date=June 20, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f50oAQAAMAAJ|title=Scientific American, "St. John, N.B., Burned"|date=1877-07-07|publisher=Munn & Company|pages=3}}</ref> Saint John quickly embarked on rebuilding. Nevertheless, the aftermath prompted many residents to leave the city.<ref name="NewYorkTimes"/>