Fort Langley - The Birthplace of British Columbia

This short acclaimed documentary brings to life the birth of British Columbia (Canada) through captured re-enactment performed by volunteers on location.
During the gold rush, it shows how the British Empire reacted against thousand of Americans prospectors invading the land and what they've done to avoid a take-over by the latter.

[@ketch_up]

I find it strange that the story of the birth of British Columbia often leaves out the story of the "Columbia district", which is obviously where the name comes from. The idea that the territory "was" named new Caledonia and "then" was named British Columbia ignores the history of the Columbia district that dates back to the late 18th century. This video actually seems to imply that fort Vancouver was in new Caledonia - which I think is just clearly false. I recommend Sam Sullivan's videos on the "kumtuks" TH-cam page, which give a much more subtle account of the emergence of the colony of British Columbia.

[@michelgravel964]

The name Columbia was brought up at that meeting held at Fort Langley in the fear that the Americans may take over the land. Initially called New Caledonia, they needed a more British name that would enforce (for lack of better words) the sovereignty of the British empire so that the United States wouldn't take over the land. The Columbia river inspired the name Columbia, but the similarity of the southern Columbia land in the South became a problem. It was Queen Victoria that suggested adding the word 'British' in front of Columbia to differentiate it from the Southern region of the same name.
The documentary was more focused on how 'British Columbia' was born and from where the name came to be, which was at Fort Langley. The history of the District of Columbia would be another documentary.

[@dennis2376]

To much commercialism with these sites now.