...Why Is It Important To Learn About Canadian History? It is important for citizens to learn about Canadian History because of many important events that have taken place over the past 18 centuries. In order to function in a modern democracy such as Canada’s, we must develop an appreciation and understanding of the country's past. The importance of this is to help us progress with the future. With that being said, if we want to know why and how our world is where it is today, we would have to look at the history for answers. We often say that “history repeats itself”, but if we study all of our accomplishments and breakdowns we can learn from those mistakes and make sure it doesn’t happen again. There are three main reasons why I think it is...
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...Rusty Bitterman's article "Farm Households and Wage Labour in the Northeastern Maritimes in the Early 19th Century" discusses the need for capitalist production to assist in the independent commodity production in this era. In this article, Bitterman focuses on the evolution of wage labour and the working class in regards to the farming families, arguing that wage labour was a necessity in sustaining the farming home. Bitterman's article tries to emphasize how difficult it was for farmers to establish their self-contained agricultural production. There were three distinct types of farming households which consisted of "those wth the capital (or credit) to hire others to speed construction and land clearing, those with the means to support themselves during the start-up period of farming, and, lastly those who found it necessary to engage in off-farm work to sustain themselves while farm-making.”(Bittermann, pg.5) Bittermann chose to focus on the latter group. The cost of all the necessities needed forced thousands to partake in wage labour in order to support and expand their farming operations. Many times the waged labour was not only done by men, but also by the women and children. (Bittermann,pg.19) These farmers were drawn to work for other larger, more prosperous farms instead of other trades such as shipbuilding or the timber trade, due to these trades "permitting less flexibility" in their schedules and leaving them unable to focus on their own farms. (Bittermann...
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...As the Canadian history changes in the future, many Canadians and new immigrants still do not know what occurred in the past and why Canada is the country that it is today. The Northwest uprising was during the spring of 1885. It was fought by the Metis militants, their Aboriginal allies, Louis Riel, and the Canadian government in what is now Saskatchewan and Alberta. The uprising was caused by the way the Metis and the natives were treated. The Metis had established their settlement near the Saskatchewan river when the land surveyors appeared on their farms preparing to take their land away from them. For the Metis it looked like they were kicking them out of their land, the same thing that happened to them during their Red River Settlement....
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...THE CANADIAN HISTORY OF IMMIGRATNT WORKERS Canadian labour history is tainted by hatred, discrimination and fear of immigrant workers and immigration. This stems in part from Government sponsored racism and the capitalistic use of immigration as a means to defy the labour movement. We can start with the stereotyping and discrimination of the Irish in the 1840’s, our first large scale exploitable labour pool and move right through to today’s racial profiling and cultural unacceptance of Arabs and east Indians. Through our history the acceptance of immigrants gradually improve but even today we haven’t achieved an acceptable level of tolerance. Were not perfect but we eventually seem to learn from the mistakes of our past. After Mackenzie King and into the sixties government supported racism through our immigration department seemed on the decline. With the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms Act being signed into the constitution we took a huge leap forward. However, this doesn’t erase a past full of discrimination and exploitation of immigrants by government, employers and labour. In Canadian history immigrant workers have been racially stereotyped, discriminated against and subjected to differing levels of acceptance within Canadian culture and the working class society. Immigrant workers found themselves in varying levels of distress upon arrival to Canada, being exploited by employers, shunned by labour and oppressed as second class citizens by government. This may be...
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...| History Culminating | Formal Written Report | | | | | Throughout the 20th Century in Canada there have been large amounts of tension and hostility between two of the largest ethnic groups, French and English Canadians. Both groups have attempted to gain the upper hand in battles over politics, language, religion, and culture. It is unfortunate that this bitter battle between Canadians is still taking place today. It is worth noting that the French make up 24% of Canada’s population, about 6.5 million, 6.2 million are living in Quebec. The three main historical events that have pushed relationships between French and English Canadians to the breaking point that ultimately led to violence and the threat of separation are the Manitoba School Question, Conscription in World War I, and the October Crisis. The Manitoba Schools Question began in 1890 with the abolishment of public funding to Catholic Schools, and ended with the Laurier-Greenway compromise in late 1896. “The 1870 Manitoba Act established a dual system of Protestant and Roman Catholic Schools” (Crunican, Paul E. Pg. 1). This meant that The Board of Education used public funding for both Protestant and Catholic Schools. In later years the French Roman Catholic population decreased rapidly as the English Protestant population increased, and became a large majority in Manitoba. Liberal Premier of Manitoba, Tomas Greenway abolished the Board of Education and public funding to Catholic...
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...John A Macdonald was the architect of Confederation and had a vision of what Canada should look like and wouldn’t stop until he made it a reality. He showed this throughout his actions such as the 1867 Confederation, building the Canadian Pacific Railway as well as expanding Canada by buying Rupert’s Land. John A Macdonald spent over half of his lifetime dedicated to being a politician. Because of this it made him immensely skilled and is the reason he was better than other Politicians such as Cartier and Brown. Throughout Canadian History John A Macdonald proved that he made the greatest impact on the Confederation. John A Macdonald was a key figure in making the 1867 Confederation possible, which to many modern day Canadians consider...
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...Activity 4: Louis Riel & Malala Yousafzai Louis Riel (1844-1885) was one of the most controversial leaders in Canadian history. Known as a hero to the Métis for being one of the few to stand up for Aboriginal Rights and create a government of his own. Leading his people very close to the victory of Rupert’s Land, Riel was looked up to as a inspiring role model, and even a Father of Confederation. However, Riel was also seen to be a traitor to the Canadian government, by earning a violent reputation for his people, Riel was banished to the U.S. for five years, where he experienced depression and illusions. After being smuggled back into Canada by friends, Louis seemed to believe he was a prophet of God and was superior to others. Riel came back to his senses when the...
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...selfless Canadian soldiers who fought in the historical battle of Vimy Ridge perfectly stated, “[t]hey fought as Canadians and those who returned brought back with them a pride of nationhood that they had not known before.” War does not only change a single, individual person, but a country as a whole. The battle of Vimy Ridge changed Canada from a colony to a nation in many important ways, allowing Canada’s reputation around the world to become more independent, strong, and connected as a country. When Canada defeated the Germans at the battle of Vimy Ridge, the world saw us as a more independent country. The battle showed that we did not need Britain, and surprisingly, we ended up “emerging from the shadow.” For many years and through many battles, we depended on Britain and their guidance; however, Vimy was different. We came up with our own plan of action. We gathered strong, Canadian troops and generals, trained them properly so that everyone knew their own job, built our own trenches and brought our own artillery. The great Canadian Commander of the Canadian Corps by the name of Sir Arthur William Currie wanted and effectively tried to keep the Canadian troops separate from the British troops. These were all acts of Canadian independence. Our nation truly showed that we could fight and win against a very strong enemy and without our motherland helping us. Furthermore, during the battle, it was all Canadian soldiers, from one side to the next. It showed our Canadian independence...
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...allied war effort intended on carrying out a swift victory over the barbaric ‘Huns’, completing duty before the Canadians could cross the pond. Unfortunately, the campaign emerged into an unprecedented, grueling struggle lasting five years. In all, the conflict claimed the lives of 60,000 Canadian soldiers and wounded 150,000. The loss of life was historic and horrifying. However, through pain and sacrifice, Canada’s contribution and success amongst the brutality and misery defined a new identity for a strong and proud nation. The Great War...
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...social fabric since recorded history. In Joy Kogawa’s Obasan (1983), the protagonist, a Japanese-Canadian woman by the name of Naomi, is inadvertently introduced to the atrocities suffered by Canadians of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War. Naomi, now an adult, discovers the hardship and institutional racism that Japanese people faced, whereby they were forbidden “to go anywhere in this wide dominion without a permit” and the government had “requisitioned the Livestock Building…to house 2,000 ‘Japs pending removal’” (Kogawa, 1983, p.95), through a series of letters written by her Aunt Emily to her mother. The letters and conversations between Naomi and Emily reveal the impact of prejudicial policies and discourse on people of all ages including, Stephen, Naomi’s younger brother. The themes of racism, both of the subconscious and overt varieties, highlighted by Kogawa are also prevalent in Angela Aujla’s “Others in Their Own Land: Second Generation South Asian Canadian Women, Racism and the Persistence of Colonial Discourse” which points out the role of government as well as the general public in propagating racial prejudice against South Asian women. In Obasan, Kogawa provides evidence that shows how Japanese people faced racial discrimination through and after World War II. Aunt Emily’s letters written to her sister, Nesan, who had gone to Japan to see her grandmother, and her painful narrative of the suffering of Japanese-Canadians becomes a defining moment in...
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...The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the greatest battle ever in the history fought by Canadians. This battle of Vimy Ridge started on April 9, 1971. This battle was the turning point of World War One. The braveness and heroism that Canada displayed while fighting this battle led to an amazing victory and converted Canada from a colony to a powerful nation. The Canadian troops went to Vimy ridge to size that land which Germans had taken away. To get this land, Vimy Ridge, the allies which consisted powerful countries such as United States, the Great Britain and France had also tried but their tries had always failed no matter what. But Canada fought and won the battle making a way to be recognized as such countries. The British had declared the war on Germany in 1914 and Canada who was a British colony at that time was automatically in the battle. They had no option other than to fight with British against Germans. The CEF, Canadian Expeditionary Force joined with the troops sent by Robert Borden were sent to fight under the rules of British. “The CEF soon became the symbol of a new wave of nationalism in Canada.” (www.histori.ca) The Ministry of Overseas Military Forces was created by Borden in the year 1916 and Arthur William Currie became the commander of Canadian Corp in Europe, first Canadian to be appointed in 1917. In this war Canada entered as a colony under the British but by the end of the war it came out with its own identity and with full power. It was proven when Canada...
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...to be Canada's defining moments in history. This is when Canada's military contribution to WWI was successful which allowed them to capture Vimy Ridge. The battle took place at 5:30am 30,000 Canadian soliders who formed the Canadian troops accomplished something that the French and British has failed to do in two years. Leading the Canadians into battle was master and commander Arthur Currie, he was the first Canadian to lead the Canadian troop. Currie developed a new artillery war strategy called the "creeping barrage". The Canadian were given the task of recapturing the ridge, they built railroad tracks so their artillery could keep up the creeping barrage against the German position. When the Canadians weren't controling the front lines they were in a secret training area practicing their assault plan, this new tactic allowed the Canadians to advance on the German trenches that were at the base of the ridge. One of the reasons why they Canadians manage to do things successfully was because the Canadian corps soldiers were given maps of their objectives and given instructions to each individual. This allowed each man knowing what he was doing in the periods of time given, the planning was done until the very seconds to when it would happen. On April 9th 1917 at 5:30am, the Canadians corps begin firing all the field guns This battle gave Canada a new identify, an identity which would give them a much more respected title. The Canadian soldiers who did the impossible of...
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...Journal 1 What impact has the Canadian Social and Political history on writing of Joy Mannette and Denise Chong? Both authors Joy Mannette and Denise Chong have written different articles about racism and discrimination .First article “My Dearest Child” is written by Joy Mannette and the other one “The Concubine’s Children” is written by Denise Chong. Both of these articles reflected how the black and Chinese immigrants suffered in Canada in 17th and 19th century. But now as we all know Canada is a multicultural country. Everyone respect each other’s culture and religion. The first article “My Dearest Child” is a letter written by a white mother Joy Mannette to her African Canadian child. In this letter, she explained how their ancestors experienced discriminations. The people who were African although they born and citizen in Canada they were still treated badly. Even their ancestors had to work as labourers as white people offered them minor jobs. They worked hard but still got fewer wage. She narrates in her article that the black people came to Nova Scotia in 17th century as slaves. They were banned to enter the religious places, Schools and other amusing programs. In the second article “The Concubine’s Children”, Denise Chong states how the Chinese immigrants had to face racism in Canada in the past. She explained about unfairness that the many Chinese immigrants experienced in Canada. In addition, Chinese people had to pay special taxes for school and policing, employment...
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...the US economy, and the resultant changes on company production costs/techniques and location has forced a bifurcation of the workforce and the business community. The United States has been drawn into the world economy, and as such must compete globally for sales of its goods and services. So too, the labor force, once the highest paid and most respected in the world, has been forced to compete with lower-cost labor sources worldwide. Add the economic malaise of 2007-2008, and the years 2006-2010 reflect an economic upheaval never seen before, or likely, since. This exercise tracks the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar over that period, and , the author believes, tracks closely the macroeconomic conditions between the two countries during the selected period of 2006-2010. This paper will show that a review of economic history, followed by a review of the exchange rates for the fund, (symbol FXC), will show a close correlation. 2006-2007 saw the end of boom economics for many Americans. Loose credit policies allowed stock and real estate prices to expand rapidly. Real estate speculators would execute options on new condominiums, only to flip those contracts to another purchaser for profit before the property was built. Several forces combined to threaten collapse of the US financial markets, from rogue traders making huge bets that threatened the existence of their companies, to job losses, to remarketed sub prime consumer mortgage debt and devaluation...
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...only slightly marred by MacLennan's over-idealistic nationalism. The Canada that MacLennan presents, a country in which a citizen is either French-Canadian or English-Canadian (or a rare hybrid) never really existed, but the political climate prompted by this illusion is still with us. MacLennan's novel is one of the most sympathetic (and readable) literary chronicles of the tensions and misunderstandings that gave birth to modern Quebec. --Jack Illingworth “Two solitudes”, which was written by Hugh McLennan at 1945, was his most famous novel. The Author, Hugh MacLennan was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, 1907. There are about seven novels, travel books and uncountable essays that mediate between the European cultural heritage and American vigor and idealism. “Among his many honors, he won five Governor Generals Awards.” And finally, Hugh MacLennan died in Montreal in 1990. It was a literary allegory for English and French Canadian from 1917 to 1939. The author divided this novel into 4 parts. “It is set during World War I, and a cast of “archetype” characters relay the story, being representations of French Canadians or Catholics or Businessman during this time period.” The novel’s plot was focus on the life of the fictional character named Paul Tallard, who is struggling between the differences of his English and French Canadian identities. According to the analysis that I found on the Internet, someone said that “There is only one sentence in the whole novel containing this...
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