ＦＢ卦點說明：加拿大的首都 Ottawa 沃太華，是多方考量妥協下的結果
這又可以為台灣不斷進步的公民社會，帶來怎樣的啟發？
ＦＢ連結：https://www.facebook.com/PFCCTW/posts/1468781773133323
ＦＢ內容：
§在 1857 年 12 月 31 日被選為加拿大首都的伐木小鎮
維多利亞女王被要求選擇一個首都，給當時由 Quebec（魁北克）與 Ontario（安大略）
兩個殖民地所組成的加拿大省。當時有個故事，是女王順手將帽子放在地圖上，
就在 Toronto（多倫多）與 Montreal（蒙特婁）之間。
另一個故事則是他選擇了 Ottawa（沃太華），因為喜歡當地的風景畫。
當時的 Ottawa（沃太華）只不過是偏遠的伐木小鎮，而那些爭奪成為首都
的 Toronto（多倫多）、 Montreal（蒙特婁）、 Quebec（魁北克），無疑地
任何一個選擇，對許多加拿大人似乎顯得都無所謂。
那些聽起來最像理由的理由，其中一個特別強而有力，正是 Ottawa（沃太華）
既不是 Toronto（多倫多）也不是 Montreal（蒙特婁），更不是 Quebec（魁北克）。
恰恰相反地，Ottawa（沃太華）是唯一位於那來自英國以及法國
兩大人口殖民地邊界上的移居地，這使得 Ottawa（沃太華）成為有用的妥協，
沒有明顯偏坦任何一方，也遠離與美國的邊界。
1812 年的戰爭顯示了加拿大主要城市面對美國人的攻擊是多麼脆弱不堪。
（1812 年美國與英國之間的第二次獨立戰爭，美軍曾進犯加拿大）
一個美國報紙甚至在時事評論中諷刺 Ottawa（沃太華）面對攻擊當然是安全地，
因為任何入侵者想試圖找到這個城市，將會迷失在樹林裡。
最初，Ottawa（沃太華）是 Ottawa 印地安人的領地，同時也是屬於 Algonquin 語系
的一部分，成為首都的故事起源於 1826 年陸軍上校 John By 抵達了此地，
並命令皇家工程師的分支，開鑿建造麗都運河到安大略湖。
他在鄰近運河的北端為自己建造了一幢房子以及總部，當時那裡已經有兩三幢原木小屋
，而這個定居點逐步擴大，在他之後被命名了 Bytown，
且在木材貿易及運河東側的地區繁盛起來。
城市的 Lower Town（下城區），是一個充滿活力、喧鬧的棚寮市鎮，
且充斥著妓院、酒館及賭場，主要居住著廣大愛爾蘭、法國且信仰著羅馬天主教的勞工
運河另一邊更加優美的 Upper Town（上城區）主要吸引了來自英國和蘇格蘭的新教徒
該鎮在 1855 年更名為 Ottawa（沃太華），人口在 1863 年達到 14000，
在運河西邊秀麗的議會大廈在 1865 年啟用。
當加拿大的主權 1867 年被承認，Ottawa（沃太華）成為整個加拿大的首都，
且現在是加拿大全國第 4 大城市。原文引用自 History Today
§The small logging town was chosen as the country's new capital
on December 31st, 1857
Queen Victoria herself was asked to choose a capital for the province
of Canada, which at that time consisted of the two colonies of Quebec
and Ontario, and there’s a story that she simply stuck a hatpin into
a map, between Toronto and Montreal. Another story has her choosing
Ottawa because she had liked landscape paintings of the area. At the
time Ottawa was no more than a small logging town in the backwoods
and certainly the choice seemed arbitrary to many Canadians at the
time, as Toronto, Montreal and Quebec had all been vying to be chosen,
but there were sound reasons for it. The strongest one was precisely
that Ottawa was not Toronto or Montreal or Quebec.
On the contrary, it was the only settlement of any size on the border
between the two colonies and their respective mainly French and
British populations, which made it a useful compromise that did
not obviously favour either of them. Ottawa was also well away from
the border with the United States of America, and the War of 1812 had
shown how vulnerable the principal Canadian cities were to American
attack. An American newspaper of the time sarcastically remarked that
Ottawa was safe from attack because any invader would get lost in the
woods trying to find it.
Originally in the territory of the Ottawa Indians, who were part of
the Algonquin language group, the future capital’s story began when
Colonel John By arrived in 1826 in command of a detachment of the
Royal Engineers to construct the Rideau Canal to Lake Ontario. He
built himself a house and headquarters near the north end of the
canal, where there were already two or three log cabins, and a
settlement grew up, which was named Bytown after him. It flourished
on the timber trade and the area on the canal’s east side, Lower
Town, was a lively, violent shanty town amply supplied with brothels,
taverns and gambling joints, and inhabited largely by Irish and French
labourers, who were Roman Catholics. The more salubrious Upper Town on
the other side of the canal mainly attracted English and Scottish
Protestants.
The town was renamed Ottawa in 1855, the population had reached 14,000
by 1863 and the handsome parliament buildings on the west side of the
canal were opened in 1865. When the Dominion of Canada was established
in 1867, Ottawa became the capital of all Canada, and it is now the
country’s fourth largest city.
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/ottawa-chosen-canadian-capital
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