Edward Cornwallis - Legacy

Legacy

Led by the efforts of Daniel N. Paul, there has been much public attention in the twenty-first century on Cornwallis' use of frontier warfare against Mi'kmaq civilians. Paul accuses Cornwallis of committing "genocide". Historians have asserted that this position distorts the past, paying little regard for the historical context of Cornwallis' decisions. Frontier warfare against civilians was standard practice during the colonial period - Mi'kmaq leaders and New England Governors had endorsed this type of warfare since King William's War (1688). Further, rather than being intent on genocide, Cornwallis tried to create peace treaties with the Mi'kmaq before and after the 18 month bounty he imposed.

Because of the efforts of Paul, in 1995 Cornwallis Place (Halifax) was changed to Summit Place. As well, in June 2011, Cornwallis Junior High School Paul influenced the Halifax regional school board to vote unanimously to change the school's name because of Cornwallis' legacy of offering a bounty for the scalps of Mi'kmaq. Paul has called for the destruction of the Cornwallis statue, while others such as historian John G. Reid have advocated that the the complexity of Cornwallis' legacy needs to be told by putting the statue in a museum or adding interpretive panels beside the existing statue.

• A statue of Edward Cornwallis was erected in 1931 by J. Massey Rhind, an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy. The statue stands at the center of Cornwallis Park in downtown City of Halifax.
• Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis, a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia, was named in his honour.
• He is also the namesake of Cornwallis Street (Halifax), Cornwallis Street (Shelburne), Canadian Coast Guard Ship CCGS Edward Cornwallis, Cornwallis River and Cornwallis Park, Nova Scotia