When Canada was a new nation, it was a British Colony. In 1867, because of the British-
North American Act, Confederation began in Canada. At this time, 3 kinds of people lived in
Canada, British people lived in Ontario and Western provinces, French people lived in Quebec, and Aboriginals lived all across Canada. Its main industries were fishing, lumber, and hunting.
Canada remained a simple nation until many factors influenced changes in Canada and the creation of Canadian identity. The three most significant factors that shaped Canadian identity during the end of the 19th century and the 20th century were the political struggle between
French-Canadians and British-Canadians, Immigration, and both World Wars. First, the political struggle
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On the other hand, French-Canadians did not support the war in Africa because they believed it was not their war. Sir Wilfred Laurier, who was the Canadian Prime
Minister at the time found a compromise that would work to not split his country into two opposing sides, British-Canadians and French-Canadians. “Britain informed Canada that it expected Canadian troops to go to South Africa to help defeat the Boers. This demand split
Canadians along imperialist and nationalist lines… Prime Minister Laurier was determined to steer a cautious middle course and find a compromise acceptable to both sides” (Newman, 61)
The compromise Laurier decided would be the best for the country was to send 1000 Canadian volunteer soldiers to fight in the Boer War, and that Britain would have to pay the soldiers. The
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Boer war lasted for 3 years, and there were more than enough volunteers. 7300 Canadian soldiers and nurses ended up going. 252 Canadians were wounded or killed, and 136 died of illness or accident. Furthermore the Naval Crisis also helped shape a culture of political compromise.
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This bill stated that Canada would not help pay for a British Navy, but would pay to create a small Canadian Navy that would be used by the British. In conclusion, the struggle over politics between British-Canadians and French-Canadians helped shape Canada’s culture of political compromise that becomes an important feature of Canada. Second, immigration also shaped Canadian identity by improving Canada’s economy and increasing multiculturalism. In the beginning of the 20th century, Canada had a strong need for labourers and farmers than they had at their disposal. This was because of the development of mining industries and lodging industries, this lead to a need for railways to transport raw materials and people. The Canadian government sent pamphlets all across the world to attract immigrants to Canada, this brought many Germans, Ukrainians, British, Swedes and more to
Canada. In total, Canada gained approximately 2 million immigrants at this time. Most settled in big cities across Canada, but many also spread out across the Prairies. Many started farming in
Grinchteine 3 the prairies, growing wheat. Before the boom in immigration, goods moved predominantly
In changing his mind, he lost many citizens’ trust in their government. The majority of those opposing Borden were French-Canadians. While Canada's involvement in WW1 was supported by the vast majority of English Canadians, the issue of conscription clearly and sharply divided the country. For some Canadians it was an important and necessary contribution for a faltering war effort. However, for others it was an oppressive act passed by a more British government than Canadian. Many francophones living in canada during World War 1 were not to fond of the idea of a draft army and were more reluctant to enlist as they felt a little attachment to Britain. They did not believe that it was their war, as a result they felt suppressed by the canadian government and that their opinion, linguistic and cultural independence was ignored. The French-Canadian’s reluctance to enlist had much to do with the fact that little accommodation was made for those soldiers that did not speak English. Francophones were expected to understand the English commands given by British officers, which they resented. Their linguistic barriers were ignored and the feel of having conscription being imposed on them led to public displays of resentment. Former Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier claimed that conscription "has in it the seeds of discord and disunion". He was correct since
The years since the Battle of Vimy Ridge may have passed quickly, but the legacy of the Canadians whose accomplishments were great in that pivotal First World War battle lives on. Many people claim to this day that Canada came of age as a country on those hard April days in 1917. At first, through the meticulous planning of the battle, the world saw a nation capable of working together and making decisions as a team. Afterwards, with the range of technical and tactical innovations involved in the attack, the world saw a strong nation unafraid to protect and defend. In the end, through great sacrifice the world bore witness to the birth of the Canadian legacy.
After the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge, other counties immediately started to view Canada as a strong and determined army. In earlier years, many British and French attacks had been made against the ridge, as it was the barrier preventing the allies from getting to Lens-Douai Plain. The French has lost 150,000 men at Vimy, while the British also suffered heavy causalities. Before the battle at Vimy, Canadian forces were not recognized for any significant military contributions, and a Canadian had never been commander of more than a single division of soldiers. After their victory, however, both Britain and France viewed Canada and their soldiers as a military force to be reckoned with. In fact, Sir Arthur Currie became commander of the entire Canadian corps after his performance in commanding the first Canadian division at Vimy. This showed that the British commander...
”[2] Ultimately, the final decision, without any approval of Parliament[3] was to support the Imperial request. This was Canadian army’s first major overseas campaign. However, the decision to participate in Boer war resulted in a vast range of problems for a young country. First of all, the war had nothing to do with Canadians, it further increased conflicts between French-English Canadians, resulted in many other home front problems and even after all the efforts, Canadian contribution was not fully recognised.
Canada was one of Great Britain’s empire who fought under British units or in the Canadian Corps, formed by the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. These Canadians who fought aside with Great Britain earned a recognition of becoming an independent strong fighting force. They earned this reputation through one of World War One’s battles called, Vimy Ridge. Canadian soldiers who were in the Canadian Corps had an awful General named, Sam Hughes who preferred to use the Ross rifle. This type of weapon was too heavy and often jammed too many times to be used as a rifle for upcoming horrific battles. Thus, a new general replaced Sam Hughes and that was, Arthur Currie. General Currie had the desire for the Canadian Corps’ four divisions to fight together to take hold of Vimy Ridge. Arthur Currie made precise plans of military tactics that no general had done to their troops. General Currie gave his troops maps and had a duplicate model of Vimy Ridge so that troops are able to have an ideal look of what they should be taking hold of. Als...
pillars of the country during the war because most of the men were away from home fighting.
Further with "pieces of paper", the negotiation of the Halibut Treaty between Canada and the United States of America was also instrumental in establishing Canada's
Because of Canada’s boost in the industrial economy and its status in World War II, job options were abundant. By 1942 there was a full employment as hundreds and thousands of Canadian men and women found work in war industries.
I feel as strong as a Bull Moose!” Frightening headlines began to take place, “It is Murder That is Being Done at Montauk,” was one of them, however the problems were real. Montauk’s barren landscape was problem enough, hundreds of tents had to be pitched, miles of telephone wire run, wells sunk, latrines dug, and field hospitals and kitchens erected. Thank God there was lots of unexpected help that began to arrive. The most important was the Women’s National War Relief Association.
Prime Minister Borden had promised to provide 500,000 troops to aid in the war against the axis. When news of the gruesome trench conditions and the staggering number of casualties began to reach Canadians on the home front, the number of volunteers diminished at an astonishing rate, and the lack of reinforcements to the front lines proved detrimental to the Canadian war effort. Borden argued that obligatory military service of all men from the ages of 20 to 45 was the only way to provide these necessary reinforcements. The Francophones detested the idea of being forced to fight amongst those who had discriminated against them for years and had shown them and their culture little respect. Riots quickly ensued, and the divide between English and French Canada quickly
It was once stated by F.R.Scott “ There are two miracles in canadian history. The first is the survival of French Canada, and the second is the survival of Canada.” His quote came to reality as of Canada grew to be a stable and secure country where everyone would want to be. Yet to accomplish this, many obstacles and events occurred such as the Spanish Succession war in 1713 , the seven years war in 1763, the constitutional act in 1791 and finally the Act of Union in 1841. First in 1713, the Spanish Succession war occurred where the British took control of Acadia. Soon after that, in 1763 the Seven Years War ended where the British took over New France and was later renamed British North America. Before the British most of the colonies were
As I have already stated Canada is very well known for our many peacekeeping efforts. This is due to the many places our peacekeepers have been, or are at this very moment, such as Bosnia, East Timor and even Central Africa. These are just a very small portion of the places our peacekeepers are presently stationed. I am not even mentioning the dozens and dozens of other places they have been to. Our peacekeepers have helped save countless lives and Canada has gained relatively little in return, but Canada does it anyways, because it is the right thing to do.
The British North America Act went into effect July 1st, 1867 creating a union known as the Dominion of Canada, but this did not complete the debate on the Confederation issue. Many Nova Scotians continued their opposition to the idea and it would take considerable time before all Nova Scotians would accept the fact of Confederation. “These Nova Scotians, disgruntled at their treatment by Great Britain, found that their loyalty had markedly diminished. The more they considered taking over the responsibility for their own affairs from England, however, the greater trust they had to place in Confederation.”25 Confederation struck a balance between the rights of English and French speaking Canadians. Nevertheless, many divisions, conflicts, and debates would occur not only in Quebec but also in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick over this balance. Economic disparities between the Maritimes and the rest of Canada would also create many problems for the years following 1867. As a result, Confederation can be viewed as a beginning and not an end.
Canadians contributed in many ways to help our country's great efforts in the First World War. Canadians had literally the whole country and made enormous demands on the Canadian people, whether they were involved in the actual fighting or remained on the home front to work in industry or farming to support the war effort. Canada grew tremendously through the war as a nation, individually and emotional. Canadian troops had to be strong and responsible as they were always running from one front to another and had to be strong so that the little thing don’t bother them so they don’t become emotionally unstable, then could end there life. Strength played a major role through the war as did courage and every Canadian troop had those two components making them a strong army to attack against.
Canada today is referred to as a cultural mosaic because it ensures the ethnic backgrounds of all its people are secure and welcome. Canada’s culture itself is one that celebrates and embraces other cultures without condemning or discriminating against other peoples’ ethnicity because in Canada multiculturalism and equality of everybody is very important. But has it always been like this from the start? Unfortunately it was not. In times of Canada’s past, diversity was not something that was celebrated and those who were not white had great injustices done to them|. Canada does have a history of mistreating minorities this can be seen through assimilation policies used on the Natives, racism of African Canadians and discriminatory practices against Asian Canadians.