HISW 205

01/14/2016

A transcontinental nation: consolidating confederation 1867-1873

A. Birth of a dominion
The reasons for Union
Confederating Canada
B.

Consolidating confederation
The westward expansionist movement
Canadas acquisition of Ruperts land 1869
Red River Settlement and resistance, 69-70
The Manitoba act 1870
Aftermath; BC, 1871; PEI, 1873

Reasons for union: external factors

Great Britain financial
o Likes colonys for money and natural resources when those are no
longer viable the get rid of them
o Colonys now become a liability
United States threat of invasion
o Civil war, 1861-65
o Fight around slavery
o Britain sides with south due to cotton prices being low due to
slavery so intern they support slavery
o Confederates based in Canada
o Cross board to raid banks hurt ppl do bad shit and come back to
Canada, they are arrested in Canada and released since they didnt
break any laws in Canada and get back the money they stole
o Fenian Raids, 1865-66

Internal Factors
A) Political
o The great coalition of 1864
o George brown reform party
o George Etienne Cartier Bleus
o John A Macdonald conservatives
Union of the Maritimes

B) Economic
o Farm land (Ontario)
o Start looking west
o Inter colonial railway (NB and NS)
o Buy-out of the absentee landowners (PEI)
o Need for Markets

Confederating Canada Charlottetown conference 1864

o Canadians proposed union; Bi-partisan
o Agreement in Principle
Confederating Canada: Quebec Conference (October 1864)
o 72 resolutions mechanics of confederation
o How strong should the govt be?
o Lower house (rep by pop) upper house (apt regional)
o Division of powers, residual powers to federal govt
o PEI opposed (land issue)

o Overcame public oppositions in NB and NS

BNA act, July 1st 1867 (NS, NB, ON, QC)
Westward Expansion: Land
Image of the west (Pre 1850s): wasteland
Image changed in the 1850s: now seen as a wealthy land, rich in natural
resources, good for farming
Why change? Land hunger
Annexations (Ontario protestants); George Brown saw west as
Torontos hinterland
Hindes expedition fertile belt.

Canadas acquisition of Ruperts Land, 1869

Motivation: (1) fertile belt, (2) prevent the USA from moving in
In 1869, Canada acquired NW territories in the largest real estate
transaction in history:
o HBC received 300 000 GBP and retained 1/20th of fertile belt
o Made Canada 10x bigger
o Nobody bothered to ask the inhabitants

The Red River settlement (today: Winnipeg vicinity)

Metis nations homeland
A great deal of uncertainty (no consultation)
Metis economy
o Fur trade: buffalo hunt
o Farmers unique land holding system (customary tittle; not
registered)
Would Canada recognize metis land title?

Ontario new comer

The Metis people wanted assurances:

o 1. Guarantees on land title
o 1. To enter confederation as equal citizens
o 2. Claimed collective rights (language, school, religion)

The Red River resistance 1869-70

Escalating tensions:
o Louis Riel age 25
o Public meetings confronted surveyors convention national
committee William McDougall
Continued Escalation:
o Military council
o Seizure of fort Garry (Nov. 2nd)
o Execution of Thomas Scott (pro Canada member, aged 28)
o Wolseley expedition

The Manitoba Act 1870

o Negotiation of an agreement
o On the one hand it was a victory for the metis:
o Provincial status
o Responsible govt
o Bilingual institutions denominational schools
o Guarantee of metis land ownership (1.4 millions acres)

o Federal respect for aboriginal treaty-making

On the other it failed in other respects:
Postage stamp sized province
2nd class province: did not control land base
John a MacDonald did not want metis to control wests future development

The wolseley expedition and the aftermath of resistance

1200 soldiers occupied red river; mob rule for a year
1870 census; loyalists, insurgents
land distribution delayed (10 years) uncertainty (ontarians flooding in)
o money scrip (coupon redeemable for 160$)
o land scrip (160 acres of land)
o outside speculators 50 cents on the dollar
o metis lose political control (90% 7% population)

British Columbia enters confederation in 1871

Isolated
Massive indigenous majority
Multiracial society
o American miners, Chinese laborers, African Americans
Terms: assume debt, railways (15 years)

PEI joins confederation in 1873

Assumed debt

Took over railways building

o Originally built one on their own cost allot which is why their debt
was so high (Canada assumed the debt when they entered into
confederation)
Year-round steamer
Buy out of absentee landowners

national policy?
Sir john A. Macdonald
The pacific scandal
The national policy
The Canadian pacific railway
High tariffs
Settlement of the west/immigration
Accessing the national policy
o The resurgence of regionalism

The Macdonald era

John a macdonald pm 1867-73; 1878-1881 (alexander Mackenzie 18738)
Two political parties:
o Conservative party: Macdonald Goerge Etienne cartier centralized
government , anti-usa.
Liberal party: alexander mackenzie; decentralized federalism; free trade
Macdonald looked to geography economic policy , a railway and
immigration to forge a nation
The Pacific scandal
2 grops completed Toronto vs montreal
sir hugh allan (montreal won)

Scandal
o Allan paid (3000, 000) to conservatices; a front for American
businessmen
o Macdonalds govt brought down in Nov 1873
Liberal Govt (1873-78)
Alexander Mackenzie government continued to slowly build railway (public
ownership)
Electoral reform: universal male suffrage, secret ballot
The national Policy
Macdonald wins in 1878 (election)
o 1. the transcontinental railway (promote east west trading)
o 2. High tariffs would encourage industrialization and manufacturing
employment
o 3. Large scale immigration / cheap land

The Canadian pacific railway

New group agrees to build and operate CPR :George Stephen, Donald a
smith.
In return the group was promised
o 25 million (roughly equal to the annual national revenue)
o 25 million acres (1/5th of the parries fit for settlement)
o a traffic monopoly for 20 years
o an exemption from taxation
speedy construction (changed route)
15 000 Chinese workers: most difficult/dangerous work, lower wages: 3
killed for ever mile of track in BC
1885 head tax (50$0
Last spike : November 1885: William can Horne
o Canada no longer wants Chinese workers after the railway is built
so head tax is put in, any new Chinese ppl that wanted to come had
to pay 50$ per person.

The Tariff (1879)

Purpose: project infant Canadian industries against their American
competitors (17%+) promote industrialization
The settlement of the west
Systematic survey of western Canada: township: 36 square miles 36
sections quarter section of 160 acres each
Dominion lands act 1872; promised each head of family 160 acres of free
land
o Conditional on (1) reside on the land for 3 years, (2) cultivate at
least 30 acres , (3) build a home
Western Canada: New Eldorado
The north west mounted police, 1874
Treaties signed with first nations
Immigration promotion Mennonites; Icelanders
Assessing the national policy
National policy was designed by and for the business class of central
Canada
It was also designed by a prime minister in search of votes and corporate
donations
Winners and losers
o Winners: Ontario and Quebec manufacturers; industrial workers;
conservative party; immigrants
o Losers: consumers; regions; indigenous peoples; metis; western
famers; (cpr monopoly)
But did it work?
CPR built; Canada industrialized; immigrants eventually came (18961914 1 million to west)
However tariffs made Canada more economically dependent on the us
branch plants
The resurgene of regionalism
MacDonalds national policy contributes to a resurgence in nationalism
The intention of the fathers of confederation was to create a centralized
new country evidence in the BNA act:

o The right to disallow provincial legislation (veto power)

o The right to withhold assent to provincial legislation
Confrontation with Ontario
Macdonald reserved assent to 16 Ontario laws; 65 provincial acts wee
vetoes (1867 and 1896)
Olier mowat appealed to judicial committee of the privy council in London
and won
Northwest boundary dispute 1872-92 (rat portage)
Quebec Another flashpoint
Roman catholic church active in politics supported by a new ideology of
ultramontanism (believed that the state should be subordinate to the
church
Ministry of education abolished (1875-1967).
Institute canadien, a liberal club founded in 1884. When bishop of
Montreal ignace Bourget insisted that it purge its library of offending
books, it refused. As a result Bourget denied the sacrament to its
members , including the right to be berried in consecrated ground
Joseph Guilbord (1869) affair

Sweet promises/ harsh realities: westward expansion and indigenous Canada

Introduction
Treaty making (numbered treaties)
o Content
o Why did indigenous people sign?
o Broken promises
o Indian act 1876
Definition of Indian
Reservation surrenders
leadership
o 1885 northwest rebellion Aftermath, assimilation drawing
conclusions
Indigenous people are not passive victims they fight and the gvt ends up
firing their negotiator because he gives too much

Compared to the us the Canadian west seems peaceful, the us chose the
military option. Canada signed treaties etc
What is a treaty
o A negotiated agreements between to parties usually states
o Access to first nation lands
o Royal proclamation 1763 required treaties
Treaty making
1871-77 treaties 1-7
alexander morris
standard features:
o lump sum $
o reservations (180 acres to 640 acres per person)
o annuities (4-5$/ year)
o hunting and fishing rights
additional government concessions (treaties 4-7)
o conservation measures (buffalo)
o schooling
o medicine chest
o relief (food) during time of hunger
o the government promised to send farming instructors, machinery,
livestock and seed to bands
Why did first nations people sign these treaties?
1 manage change/often initiates negotioations
1. Economic collapse desperation
o smallpox epidemic (1870) wiped out thousand of plains people (as
high as )
o decline in fur trade (buffalo hunt)

famine (food as weapon)

many concessions
still negotiating from a position of military strength
hard negotiations with indigenous peoples winning much more than
government intended
Broken promises
o Oral vs written promises
o Hunger food relief of poor quality; government mismanaged ;
used food as weapon
o Government slow in assisting indigenous people with farming
o No medicine chest for years
o Big bear and little pine (Cyprus) hills wants to re negotiate treaty
and to have all reserves in one area dispersed
Indian Act 1876
o A legal framework
o Allowed the government to interfere in all respects of peoples lives
o Created a special class of people (defined solely by race)
Definitions changing
o Any male person of indian blood reputed to belong to a particular
band any child of such person and any woman who is or was
lawfully married to such person
o Male chauvinism (status linked to male)
o Government sole decider of who was an indian or a band member
Indian act racial thinking
o Census takers instructed to identify people as white, red, black, or
yellow children of mixed parents not categorized as white
o Scientific racism 1870s ethnology , anthropology, eugenics,
sociology and history tried to determine racial difference (skin
color, body shape , arm length, hair color, eye shape etc)
o People not easily defined George tronson
Gvt changes Indian act so that they can no longer go to court
1885 northwest rebellion
o
won
o
o

o metis tried to repeat 1870

o began as peaceful, brought back riel; provisional government ;
Gabriel dumont
a revolutionary bill of rights
much had changed since 1870: CPR, Riel himself
rebellion crushed (8000 troops vs 250 metis)
Louis riel was tried for treason found guilty (by an all white jury) and
hung it divided the country

The Aftermath: assimilation

The gvt crushes the metis resistance
Also take it as an opportunity to crush the cree leadership
Puts them into jail even though they did nothing
Gvt breaking apart localized communities which they thought were
politically troublesome
1884 gvt decides potlatch should be outlawed

Canadas industrializing Cities, 1867-1914

Part 1: industrialization
Three phases
Changing workplaces
Class conflict
Royal commission, 1889

Part 2: urbanization
Overcrowding
The horse: polluter f the city

Waste disposal
Industrializing Montreal

Introduction
Industrial revolution (1700s in Britain)
o Novels of Charles dickens
o William Blakes dark satanic mills (1800s)
Hope that industrialization would be different in north America (the
machine in the garden)
1880-102-: Canadas urban population jumped from 1.1 m to 4.3 m
produced new problems

Phase 1: water power 1870s

Water wheel rural locations
The symbol of the age: textile mills
Civic capitalism
Owner operator

Phase 2: steam power 1870-1900

Cheap coal made steam powered city factories feasible
Doubled factory size
The symbol of the age steel mills (Hamilton, Sydney, ssm)

Phase 3: electrifying the factory 1910-1925

Cheap electrical power factories could locate anywhere

New flexibility on the factory floor

Symbol of the age: henry fords auto assembly plant (Detroit, Windsor,
Oakville, Oshawa)
Emergence of modern corporation (limited liability; managerial/national
capitalism)
Changing workplaces: scientific management (taylorism)
Sought to centralize knowledge
Traditionally held by skilled artisans place of work: when and how it was
performed
Frederick winslow Taylor: sought to centralize control: timed
efficient workers to create a standard
Broke down skilled jobs into parts (each part could be done by someone
with minimal skill de-skilling
Changing workplaces: mechanization
Mechanization (fords assembly line):
Labor saving machines made work dull and repetitive
Assembly line: (1) sub division of labor, (2) interchangeable parts, (2)
continuous movement
Fords 5$/day this pay was much higher than any other place was
offering

Class conflict
Over technological/ managerial changes:
Companies tried to discipline workforce (clock, bells, whistles, fines
later punch cards)
Skilled workers protested
Over wages, hours & working conditions

Royal commission on the relations of capital and labor, 1889

Investigations common

Royal commissions national issue, public hearings

Canada initiated 5 royal commissions on industrialism between 1881 and
1895 to address employment of women and children, hours of work,
safety etc
Only new federal legislation was the creation of labor day
Royal commission, 1889
Recommended reduced hours of work; especially for women
Only in 1886 did the government limit working hours for children and
women to 60 hours/week. No limits on men
Child labor
in some parts of the dominion the employment of children of very tender
years is still permitted.
Wants employment of those less than 14 to be forbidden; child factory
labor (under 14) only stopped by 1929
Urbanization
Raoidly growing industrial cities in central Canada
Percentage of the population living in urban areas
o 1851: 13.1%
o 1871: 18.3%
o 1891: 29.8%
o 1901: 34.9%
Montreal population 90k 1861 to 140 247 1881
The overcrowded city
Rich and poor neighborhoods
o Gravity (uphill vs downhill)
o Wind direction (e/n vs w/s)
Tenements
Family economy
Child mortality rates: unsafe water and milk

o Montreal 1 in 3 babies died before age one (1900): malnutrition

o Toronto: 14.2% of newborns died in first year (1902)
Smoke pollution
Thick black some was a fact f life in many cities
o Blackened everything
o Killed vegetation
o Health problems
o Blocked sun
The Horse: polluter of the city
In 1880, ny city was home to 160 000 horses: over 4 million urban horse
(1900)
22 pounds of manure/day piles of it on streets; horses overwhelmed
(15 000 died in nyc per year)
stables typhoid
Waste disposal
Problem: contaminated water
Backyard cesspools or privy vaults (spring thaw worst)
o Solution waterworks running water piped in from outside town)
New problem: more sewage (old system overloaded)
o Solution sewers (pumped waste into waterways)
new problem (the old problem had simply been moved): contaminated
water):
o public health disaster (1900 montreal) Toronto rate of typhoid fever
actually increased
o solution: filter tap water (later waste water treatment)
Conclusion
Rapid innovation and change in a short period of time

Lowering of quality of life

o Social polarization
Public health was an urgent problem

The Road to the Great War, 1896-1918

The Boer war 1899-1902
The great war 1914-1918
o Causes
o Initial readiness/public reactions
o Recruitment of me and women
o Mobilization
o The battlefront (frenches, quipement, generalship)
Intro
Prime miniter: Wilfred laurier, 1896-1911; Robert border, 1911 The rise of French Canadian nationalism
o Execution of Riel, 1885
o Manitoba school question 1890
o Laurier greenway compromise 1897
No state support of separate schools
Religious instruction allowed for 30 minutes daily
10 french speaking students bilingual education
The Boer War
Lauriers dilemma compromise
Results: (1) satisfied no one. (2) divided Canadians along linguistic and
religious lines (3) 7400 (English) Canadians volunteered to fight

The Great War

Tragic and unnecessary (john keegan)
Austro-Hungarian empire; murder archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
Triggered the mobilization of the great alliances
Austro Hungary, Germany, ottoman empire
Russia, France, great Britain, Serbia
Germanys Schlieffen Plan
Germanys mobilization plan (7/8ths of Germanys army to swing west
through Belgium war should be over in 42 days) did not foresee
British intervention
Canada at war
Canada automatically at war (no choice)
Canadian reaction to war
Patriotic enthusiasm; optimism
Recruitment of soldiers; battalions (1000 men each)
Canadas state of readiness
Unprepared for war
Regular army of 3 110; navy of 2 obsolete cruisers; militia of 60 000
Why Enlist?
Men: economic reasons (unemployed) thirst for adventure, reasons of
patriotism, ties to great Britain (60% of initial 36 000 recruits were recent
immigrants from great Britain)
Initially 16 infantry battalions (1000 men each): geographic focus
Women: nurses (2500) nursing assistants (voluntary aid detachment),
war industries
Womens suffrage movement
Women temperance advocates (1880s) goals frustrated by not having
the vote

Womens Christian temperance union 10k members

Canada temperance act 1878 local municipalities could vote
themselves dry (needed 60%)
Two variants in Canadas Womens movement
Equal rights feminism (human equality)
Maternal feminism (moral authority of motherhood)
o Dominant wing: women had a special role as mothers and
guardians of the home
Part of international campaign (more moderate, decentralized)
Similarities; mothers of the race
Manitoba at the forefront: Icelandic and finnish women, Nellie McClung;
Agnes McPhall.

Votes for women

1916 the three prairie provinces allow women provincial vote
1917 war time elections act (some women) who had served, or a mother
or sister of someone who had served you could vote

Economic mobilization for war

Government intervention in the economy:
Canada wheat board; munitions board
Canadas national railways
Taxes: business, income
War bonds

The Battle front: Canada in the trenches

Modern weaponry: machine guns, artillery barbed wire, gas
Trench warfare: zig-zagged across 1300 miles (front line)

o French dug rudimentary trenches (offensive mindset)

o British three lines of trenches 200 yards separated first two, 400
years the third
o Germans semi permanent fortifications (higher ground)
Life in the trenches was very bad illness rats etc
10% of people per moth was from snipers or shells a slower warfare
large scale raids happened either at dawn or at night
Second rate equipment (Sam Hughes, minister of militia):
o Ross riffle Canadian made riffles bad in mud
o Macadam shield shovel
o Patronage and corruption
o British command
Canada lost 60 000 people died 1 in 10 people who enlisted died

Battle of the somme (july 1, 1916): newfoundland regiment 720 of 801

soldiers died in one hour

Canadian successes on the battle field: Vimy ridge April 1917

Led by general Arthur Currie
What made Vimy ridge different
General Arthur Currie
Planning was the formula for success
Geographic knowledge shared (40 000 maps)
Extensive training
Mixed platoons

Surprise
Creeping barrage
Use of artillery against German guns
Indirect fire (machine guns)
They tunneled to the front line
10 000 Canadians fell

What did Vimy mean?

10 600 casualties at vimy
symbolized national unity: entire Canada corps: major victory.

The conscription crisis

Why?
o High casualties: rate
High casualty rate fewer recruits conscription
(compulsory military service. Ages 20-35)
o Desire to maintain a full Canadian corps (4 decisions)
o French Canada and the great war: Sam Hughes mistake
French Canada; 22nd battalion
Conscription debate
Military service act, July 1917
Henri Bourassa
Robert Borden promised to exempt farmers (west union government in
1917 broke promise to farmers
Impact of war growing Canadian autonomy: signed treaty of Versailles
(1919); statute of Westminister (1931)

Dangerous foreigners and the workers revolt in Canada

Nation of immigrants:
o Patterns of migration
o Nativism
o Middle class social reform
The workers revolt 1913-1923
o Rise of
Part III: A nation of immigrants
Open door policy for Europeans: recruitment of cheap labor, farmers
Boom; population explosion (1901-11: 34% increase)
Patterns of migration
Two great waves:
o 1820-90: northwestern Europe
o 1890-1930: southern and eastern Europe
Push factors: Economic, demographic, religious and political
Pull factors: land, jobs, recruitment
o 1896-1914: 3 million immigrants
o chain migration and team works
Nativism
Many anglo Canadians resented the influx of strange new comers. Racial
pecking order ease of assimilation
Opponents of the open door:
o Organized labor (economically threatened)

o Middle class social reformers

Keep Canada white: anti Asian feeling
o Chinese immigrants (1880s), Japanese (1890s)
o No recruitment; head tax on Chinese (1895 = 50$--> 500$)

Middle Class reaction: Social reform

Initially blamed imorality, disease and crime on the poor and on
immigrants Canadianization campaigns
Included a variety of causes:
o Prohibition
o Public health
o Urban reform
o Social purity
o Womens suffrage
Social profile: protestants, Anglo-Saxon and middle class.

The workers revolt

1919 strike wave: 420 strikes
Winnipeg general strike (may-june 1919)
The Labor movement
The reformers: trades and labor congress
American federation of labor; Samuel Gompers
pure and simple unionism (no politics)
craft unionism

The rebels: Industrial workers of the world

Western deferation of miners1893
IWWW )WOBBLIES), CHICAGO 1905
INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM; POLITICAL STRUGGLE, OVERthrow capitalism

The revolutionaries: the One Big Union

Russian revolution 1917: Bolsheviks
Western Labor conference (1918) OBU (2 weeks into WPG Strike):
Red scare of 191
May June 1919
General strike in many others Canadian cities nationwide
Class polarization: workers vs capitalists
Class solidarity of strike components:
o Canadian manufacturers association; citizens committee of 1000
special constables
june 17: firings arrests
june 21: black Saturday
june 28: strike ends (6 weeks)

State repression and the workers revolt

1. Royal north west mounted police
2. Internment of foreign aliens (kapuskang)
3. Deportation immigration act amended of 13 foreign born strike leaders
4. Legal action: injunctions against picket lines; criminal prosecutions for
name calling and cursing
5. Sedition trials: of 6 strike leaders unfair jury selection convicted (6
months to 2 years)
6.use of the militia: 139 times between 1867 and 1933 in aid to the civil
power major function of militia

Nova scotia: strikes in the coal mines

Cape Breton (glace bay, Sydney mines)
Frequent military occupation
solidarity among miners mining communities
see slides
Farmers labor and women in politics
See slide (February 16th)

World War II
Toward Canadian autonomy
The rise of Nazi Germany and appeasement
Sanctuary denied
Canada at war, 1939-45
Limited liability, 1939-40

Toward canadaian autonomy

Foreign policy shift away from great Britain and towards the us
Prime minister alexander Mackenzie kings isolationism
Growing independence: halibut treaty (1923), imperial conference
(1926), statute of westminister (1931)

The rise of nazi Germany appeasement

193 adolph hitler
1936-9 Spanish civil war: Mackenzie, papineau, battalion, Francisco,
franco.

Where did Canada stabd? Isolationism and appeasement: 1937 king met
mr. hitler
Sanctuary denied: jewish refuges in the 1930s
Anti Semitism widespread in Canada
Immigration quotas: only 4000 accepted
Voyage of the st. Louis (907 Jewish refugees)
King politics
Canada at war, 1939-35
Limited liability war, 1939-40
Canadas declaration came a week after GB.
Canada militarily unprepared
o Small permanent force (5000): ill trained militia ill equipped
o 11 ship navy
o obsolete airforce (Armstrong whitworth siskin bi plane)
sent 1 division to great Britain: built 122 corvettes
Total war effort, june 1940
Fall of france in june 1940 britain alone
Five results
o Anglo American cooperation
o Destroys for basses deal
o lend-lease
o Canada us cooperation

Ogdnsburg agreement permanent joint board of defense 1940

Canadian mobilization
National resource mobilization act june 1940
Garrison duty
Iceland, newfoundland, Jamaica and hong kong (last one lasted 3
weeks)
o First Canadian army overseas
o 4 more divisions sent to Europe
o fought in virtually every theater of war
The fighting Canadians
Battle of Britain (1st rcaf squadron)
o
o
o
o
o

Dieppe (france) raid 1942

Lord Mountbatten: disaster: 4963 went, 2210 returned (907 killed, 586
wounded; 1874 pow)

The Home front : Japanese internment

22 000 Japanese Canadians in BC
public hysteria, no real risk
February 27th 1942 order
Properly taken, jobs lost
Men separated (work camps)
Government spent 2/3 less

The conscription crisis

1942 plebiscite (to release king from his promise not to impose
conscription); divided by country (72.9% of quebec said no; 80% of the
rest of Canada said yes)

bill 80 conscription if necessary, not necessarily conscription

1944: 2500 conscripts saw action 69 died

women in world war II

women flooded into labour force
Canadian womens army corp WACs); RCAF (womens division); womens
royal Canadian naval service
Societal fears (femininity, children)
End of child care subsidies
]
The rise of the activist state
C.D. Howe the minister of everything
Crown corporations & increased taxes
Price controld, rationing
Attitudes towards government
o Economic planning (fear of post war)
o Rise of CCF and organized labour: Ontario 1943, Saskatchewan
1944, feds 1945
o King moves left: family allowances, full employment

Un easy Neighbors: Canada US relations

The other quiet revolution
Four periods: Three Themes
o Foreign defense policies
o Economic policies
o Cultural policies

Consensus and the St. Laurent 1948-57

John Diefenbakers northern vision 1957-63
Lester b Pearson pierre trudeau 1963-8, 1968-84
o Canadas first nations
Brian Mulroney & the road to free trade 1984-1992

Louis saint laurent Government 1948-57

Economic policies
Strong central government
Foreign investment (branch plants): boom times
report on Canada economic prospects 1955 (walter Gordon) too much
us investment?

St laurents cultural policies

Fear of Americanization
o 68% of Toronto televisions turned into us stations (1960)
o 80% of Canadian film distribution in hand of ameicans few
successful canadian artists
Royal commission on national develpement in the arts. Letters and
sciences 1949-51 (Vincent massey) critique of us mass culture
o Federal support for universities
o Extension of public broadcasting to tv and
o Federal arts funding (canada council)

Foreign defense policy

Consensus (golden age of Canadian diplomacy)
Objectives

o To demonstrate autonomy and improve international relations

(multilateralism vs bilateralism)
o To avoid creating disunity within Canada
o To serve canadas economic interests
Middle power support for usa
o Nato 1949
o Korean war 1950-53
o Continental defense (dew line) 1954
o Suez crisis 1956 (Egypt, lester pearson nobel peace prize)
John Diefenbakers northern vision 1957-63
Less pro American more pro british
Canada of the north
Economic policy:
o Favored shifting 15% of trade from us to other countries
Cultural polices:
o 1960 bill of rights: vote for indigenous people opposed apartheid
foreign policy:
o dief broke the consensus; JFK didnt like him
o north American air defense agreement (NORAD) 1957
o 1962 cuban missile crisis defcon 3
Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, 1953-84
Symbolic nationalism
Pearson tried to re create consensus

Trudeau becomes leader in 1968

Foreign defense policy

o Image over substance? Vietnam (canada say no)
o The third option 1972 (divert trade)
o The northwest passage
o Canada historic internal waters right to control access
o LISA an international strait free access
o Result: S.S Manhattan 1969 polar sea 1985

Rise of economic nationalism

Trade unions and nationalism
Demands for Canadian autonomy in international unions
A growing number of trade unions broke away from their us parents:
paper workers auto workers, electrical workersm communications workers
etc
Played by the Canadian card against us employers (politicized labour
struggles)
Wrapped themselves in Canadian flag to push government to legislate
(advance notice, severance pay, pension re-insurance preferential hiring)

Metrification
Canada used the imperial system of weights and measurements until
1970
phased implementation of metric :
o temperature 1975 packaging 1976 highway signage 1977 gasoline
sales 1979
o hybrid in everyday life (opposition)
o

1st discussion
1. why did so many Red River residents resist becoming part of Canada
in 1869-70? Did it make any difference?
o Not consulted on weither or not they wanted to join Canada
Differences are not acknowledged
o Metis a mix between Indians and French ppl
o They were given no choice
Resist or be erased
o Different way of holding land (no titles) customary use
o Uncertainty about future
o 1869 sale of hbc land to Canada
o wanted to ensure their land titles would be respective
o keep their culture
o and make sure they would have the same rights as white ppl
o john a mcdonald
o Thomas scott was a pro national (for confederation) Louis riel kills
him
Represents Ontario and their political interests
o 1870 manitoba enters confederation
o decrease in population decrease in culture
o metis go from 90% population to 7% population

2. what was the national policy? did it succeed? If so for who?

o The national policy was John A Macodnalds expansion plan
(especially economically)
o Put into place after 1878 election
Push westward
Railway
Economic
Tariff
o Macdonald a conservative
They believe in protectionism
o Westward expansion with the railway and kept the Americans out
Very expensive to build the railway
o 1885 railway (CPR) is finished
o cpr had a 20 year monopoly on railway
only way in and or out of west
o tariff was there to keep the us out
o creating your own economic space
o American influence grew because of wall
o High death rate for Chinese workers for railway
Head tax
o Dominion land act
Free 160 acres for small fee for anyone willing to re locate tot
eh west, they had to build a house and farm the land within 3
years
o Is meant to make Canadians more Canadian but it was not unifying
at all

2nd discussion
1. What is Canadas policy towards indigenous peoples in the late 19 th
century
erasing culture
assimilation
favoring whites
unfairness
westernize and Christianize
scientific racism
pacification
creating dependence
economic autonomy
racial purity
nationalism
single nation people
suppression of difference
cultural genocide a huge attempt to erase their culture
o residential schools prime example of genocide
o intent to destroy ethnic group
Indian Act legal framework to define individuals and the power to police
those individuals included in the Act
The act was constantly changing to better suit the Federal government
Political control over native affairs
Agricultural restrictions
Treaties removing indigenous people from the land
o Clear the way for European settlement

Creation of the reserves

Gvt in Ottawa
o Indian agent and farm instructor
o

2. What Constance backhouse argues that Canadian history is routed in

racial categorization, assumptions and laws. Do you agree? Use
indigenous history to make your point
white superficial concern for the natives
who is legitimately an Indian?
Arbitrariness of the things
John A Macdonald is really putting his stamp on this legislation and made
it illegal for natives to dance
Tension between centralized power in Ottawa and local settlers
o They didnt like the conviction not because it was wrong but
because they entertainment was being put in jail
No curiosity to actually investigate native culture

2 cases
o
o
o
o
o

Eskimos 1939
Jurisdiction over eskimos
Are inuit people considered under the law to be Indians
If they are Indians under the law they become federal responsibility
They decide that the inuit are in fact Indians
They use the BNA act
o 1767 Governor generals writings
all European sources

o no indigenous witnesses or people to testify

Scientific racism
o 1850 4 categories
o 1876 more restrictions defined by men and their wives and
children
the man is the core of the Indian definition
Wanduta 1903
Manitoba
Indians are invited to perform for white ppl at a farmers festival
Sundance, grass dance etc all made illegal
Made illegal due to giving shit away
Considered to be heathen dance
o 1914 adition to act all indian dancing outside of reserves
o 1933 extended again saying traditional dress is not necessary for
arrest
o scared of unknown/ scared of their religion/ traditions
o
o
o
o
o

3rd Discussion
1. what is the significance of Sero v Gault 1921
eliza sero Mohawk, her net was confiscated for fishing without a provincial
license
she was a widow, her husband died and her son died in the war
she was located in the bay of Quinty
Gault is the fishery inspector and hes white

This happens on indigenous land, he takes her net for not having license
Sero brings the government to court
She is asking for 1000$
So what? where indigenous people subject to state laws (prov or
federal) on reserve or indigenous land or in nearby waterways.
Issue of sovereignty
that the Mohawk never gave it up their sovereignty
the league of Indians of canada
they forbid any future cases past 1927 for Indians to pay lawyers to
challenge the gvt.
Legal system is not color blind
The gvt is not even trying to be fair
Most of the records of the case were lost
o The author uses indigenous sources
o Census data
o Judge riddell
2. How did industrialization transform the lives of Canadians before WWI
class formation
steam
3 stages of industrialization
less influence on artisans vs mass production
mass consumerism begins to develop
by the 3rd phase industrial capitalism begins to develop
location changes
the sizes of the factory changes and so does the size of the company

power struggle
work is speeding up
men women and children are working now
starts the notion of a working family with a family economy
rise of science
Darwin
Rise of scientific management
Engineering
The industrializing city
Division of rich an poor
Geographical segregation based on wealth
Telegraph and telephone for communication
Nationalism
Waste disposal becomes an issue
Eugenics

4th Discussion
1. why were Winnipeg and cape Breton at the epicenter of the labor
unrest that followed WWI
big war contracts, companies are getting rich but wages are not getting
better
immigrants
unrest post war because people got rich of poor equipment provided to
Canadian soldiersmany eastern Europeans in Canada and Russian
revolution really affected them

2. How did race and Gender play out in the Yee Clun case?

Allot of males are coming over from china separate from their families,
the head tax and discrimination towards Chinese people prevented them
from bringing in over the rest of their family
At this point the head tax was at 500$
Only 2% of Chinese people in Regina were women
Head tax comes in in 1885
1903 the head tax is at 500$
1923 Chinese exclusion act until 1947
racism and racial difference
racial slurs are very public
1912 white womens labor law
people only wanted to be served by white men
difficult to get permits for Chinese people
women were payed much less than men
food service is generally female
chinese men were animalized
chinese Canadians could note vote in Canada
after that a list of where chinese people could vote provincially
employment restriction
and business segregation
chinese could not get hired by the gvt
chinese ppl could not incorporate
yee clung brought over his wife and runs a very successful business in
regina
applies for a permit to apply white women in his establishment
he wins the court case
the municipality is allowed to ignore court decision on the matter

hierarchy of oppression

5th Discussion
Significance of R. V. Phillips:
Oakville between Hamilton and Toronto
KKK seperates a mixed raced couple
Guy is Johnson
Girl is Isabel jones
Threats made against him and they separate the girl from him
All in KKK uniform (masks)
Had been living together for 5 days
they were engaged
mother of girl was making complaints to KKK to stop marriage
newspaper report him originally as being black but then back pedal when
they find out he isnt really black
liquor store refused to sell him alcohol because they believed he was
indigenous
he fought in WW1
he was wounded 2 times and fought at vimy ridge
they take the girl away and then go get him at his aunt and uncle
group of black men in toronto challenge the fact that nothing is being
done, leader brian cross who is a lawyer from uk
white anglo saxon protestant supremacy
they think they are doing gods work thats why they burn crosses
they eventually are tried for wearing disguises at night
court does not attack the philosophy of the clan and the way they go
about accomplishing their goals

6th Discussion
1. Did race segregation exist in 20th century Canada
Viola Desmond
o Was on her way from Halifax to she stopped in a small town and
decided to watch a movie. It was a segregated theater where the
blacks had to sit on the balcony, she paid for a floor seat but they
made her pay for a balcony seat (less expensive) she was asked to
leave an she refused.
o They called the police on her
o They tried to get her to move upstairs or leave
o She was removed and sent to jail. Where she satyed over night (12
hrs)
o She was not given counsel for her defense in the courthouse
o Only witness was the manager and ticket booth attendant
o Her rights were no read to her
o She was charged with 26$ fine
o Violated the theater act
Tax evasion (paying for less expensive ticket to sit in more
expensive seat)
She ripped the government off 1 cent
o She is offered 1 month in jail or 26$ fine
o As she is being removed she is injured
o She tried to pay the more expensive price but they wouldnt let her
They stated we dont sell to you people
o She is an entrepreneur, she created a beautician business
o She is married
o She is of mixed race
o Her husband was a barber
o She was part of the middle class
o She had widespread links, very visible in her community

o She is travelling throughout nova scotia

o But her car breaks down which is why she stops
o She eventually get lawyer and he does not argue it as a case of
racial discrimination
Social segregation
2. How Significant was Canadas Contribution t the allied war effort in
WWII
Canada entered the war early voluntarily
Significant for whom:
o Significant for canda
o Significant for allied forces
o Significant for victory
What did the war mean to Canada:
First war as an autonomous nation.
Made Canada economically strong
Chance for Canadian people to renew faith in its government
Renewing a sense of optimism
Army navy air force and providing goods
Americans join the war over 2 years in
Canada became an international training base for pilots from around the
world

1.Historians of the cold war speak of international and domestic

commitment as essential to understanding the 1950s, what do they
mean?
Political and racial containment
Containment: What does not fit in social norms has to be contained
In the west the attempt to contain communism

WMDS
Containing a threat to the Canadian way of life
Censorship
Baby boom due to economic prosperity, which is a result of WWII
Economic prosperity due to social aids, government spending,
constructing the correct Canadian
In the 50s immigrants were chosen where they came from. containing
their enemy ideologies based on where they came from.
Increased consumerism
Rise of suburbs and car ownership
NORAD
Demographics
Surveillance
Difenbunker

2. Has Backhouses text confirmed or challenged your view of Canadian

history? Explain?
Scientific racism eugenics
Racism
Legal racism
And police indeference towards racist acts.
Popularity of racist groups
KKK
Great lengths the system would go to not admit being racist
Although racism did run rampant, not everyone was racist, there were
many instances were people within the system recognized the injustices
and help those who needed it.
White is lower case in the book

1. What are the origins of the quiet revolution in Quebec what changed
and what did not?
2. Why do so many historians call the 60s and 70s the other quiet
revolution in English speaking Canada?
3. What accounts for the transformation of Canadian cities during the
1970s,1980s - 1990s?