Rollings-Magnusson begins in her introduction by explaining that her book “. . . details the findings of a study into the role that children’s work played in the operation of family farms in the western Canadian prairie region during the period of settlement between 1871 and 1913.” Rollings-Magnusson has gathered her information from various sources including: diaries, memoirs, letters, and poems of pioneer children as well as official records. While Heavy Burdens on Small Shoulders seems sometimes unnecessarily repetitive, it does contain some interesting and surprising information about the lives and labour of prairie children.
In the first chapter, “Division of Labour in the Family Farming Economy,” Rollings-Magnusson begins by discussing how the Canadian prairies were presented to potential settlers. “The romanticized view of pioneering on the Canadian prairies envisioned happy young families leaving their homes to grasp the freedom and opportunities abounding in the newly opened region.” Real life in the prairie however did not live up to this image. For those who settled there the reality of the prairies was far harsher than they had been led to believe and many came unprepared. The romantic image had been presented to the settlers by the federal government, the Canadian Pacific Railway via brochures and pamphlets which provided exaggerations and false information. The chapter however does not provide any sources (primary or secondary) on how the settlers felt about being lied to by the federal government and the Canadian Pacific Railway. If there were any such accounts it would have been a good idea to include them as it would have been interesting to look at the situation through a direct perspective of a settler. ...
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... written by the children themselves, only a few of them seem to give any indication about how the children that wrote them felt about the work they were doing. In some case Rollings-Magnusson should have used fewer of these sources in some places if the children’s stories were very similar, as it makes the book feel repetitive and as a result can cause the reader to feel bored or lose interest. Despite this the more unique stories of girls doing work that may not usually be expected of them, such as ploughing, and the stories of boys who helped their mother with household chores make the book more interesting and almost supplement the more dull areas of the book.
Works Cited
Sandra Rollings-Magnusson, Heavy Burdens on Small Shoulders: The Labour of Pioneer Children on the Canadian Prairies. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 2009.
Upper Canada was in the tumultuous process of settlement during the nineteenth century. From 1800-1860, wheat and flour exports went from a negligible amount to peak at 13 billion bushels in 1860.1 It is important to understand the rapid nature of settlement to contextualize life in rural Upper Canada. From 1805-1840, the population increased by over eight hundred percent.2 Many of these were Irish emigrants, even in the period preceding the famine; these pre-Famine Irish emigrants were predominantly “middling farmers,” «c'est à dire des fermiers cultivant des terres petites ou moyennes, ceux qui ont été le plus durement touchés par la baisse soudaine des prix des produits agricoles à la fin des guerres napoléoniennes [en Europe]».3 Many of the emigrants settled into townships and villages on the agricultural frontier, such as the Biddul...
For the first time in history children were an important factor of the economic system, but at a terrible price. The master of the factories employed children for two reasons. One, because of their small body which can get inside the machines to clean it and use their nimble fingers. Second, the masters use to pay low wages to the children who could be easily manipulated. The average age for the parents to send their children to work was ten. Although, Conventional wisdom dictates that the age at which children started work was connected to the poverty of the family. Griffith presents two autobiographies to put across her point. Autobiography of Edward Davis who lacked even the basic necessities of life because of his father’s heavy drinking habit and was forced to join work at a small age of six, whereas the memoir of Richard Boswell tells the opposite. He was raised up in an affluent family who studied in a boarding school. He was taken out of school at the age of thirteen to become a draper’s apprentice. The author goes further and places child employees into three groups, according to the kind of jobs that were available in their neighbourhood. First group composed of children living in rural areas with no domestic industry to work in. Therefore, the average of a child to work in rural area was ten. Before that, farmers use to assign small jobs to the children such as scaring birds, keeping sheep
There are three parts in West’s book; the first part focuses on the sociological, ecological and economic relationships of the plains Indians, starting with the first establish culture of North America, the Clovis peoples. Going into extensive detail pertaining to early geology and ecology, West gives us a glimpse into what life on the early plains must have looked to early peoples. With vastly differing flora and fauna to what we know today, the early plains at the end of the first ice age, were a different place and lent itself to a diverse way of life. The Clovis peoples were accomplished hunters, focusing on the abundance of Pleistocene megafauna such as earlier, larger forms of bison. Though, little human remains were found, evidence of their s...
LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999. Print.
Artistic ideals in Canada are often difficult to combine into one concise understanding given their changing nature. The colonial era as well as the late nineteenth century was significantly shaped by Pastoralism, a style that often depicted paintings of the countryside (Davis 36). The Homer Watson painting, After the Rain in 1883 is a pastoral style that depicts “nature reach[ing] its highest stage of picturesque beauty [that only occurs] when forests [have] been cleared, meadows or fields created or cultivated and farms established” (36). After the Rain shows a farmer’s field, where the land has been cleared of trees following what looks to be a major storm (38). Watson represents early Canada by placing emphasis on a secure, eerily comfortable, agrarian based society in a photographic-like piece of work. Homer Watson believed in his w...
Whalley, J. (2009) ‘Texts and Pictures: A History’ in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University, pp.299-310
Labrie, Janet M. "The Depiction of Women's Field Work in Rural Fiction." Agricultural History 67 (Spring 1993): 119-33. JSTOR. Web. 15 Mar. 2012.
"Chapter 2 Western Settlement and the Frontier." Major Problems in American History: Documents and Essays. Ed. Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde. 3rd ed. Vol. II: Since 1865. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 37-68. Print.
As the girl in the story grows older, her mother begins to try to involve her in some of the daily tasks that a woman should grow accustomed to. During the time period of the story, “Boys and Girls”, a girl is usually taught by her mother how to cook, clean, and sew. A boy is taught by his father how to hunt, build, and protect his family. This way of thinking stems from the nomadic days of humans, where the man would hunt and gather and the women would care for the children. The girl in this story detests the womanly duties and instead opts for working outdoors with her father, “[she] worked willingly under his eyes, and with a feeling of pride” (147). She saw the work done in the house as, “endless, dreary and particularly depressing; work done outdoors, and in [her] fathers service, was ritualistically important” (148). At this point in the story she resists any change that may be approaching and continues to help her father with his work whenever possible. When she does help her father with his work, she finds that others dismiss her as inferior.
The Ingalls, whether at fault of their own or impressions of society, enter the West with preconceived prejudices against its inhabitants. This creates a variety of dynamics within the little family, as some individuals, such as Ma, look down upon the Indians, while others, such as Laura, find fascination in the natives. It is the promise of seeing Indians, most importantly Indian babies, that allows Pa to secure Laura’s desire to move West. Yet there are familial influences, specifically Ma’s, that block Laura from fully embracing the Indians. Implications teach her to distance herself from the Indians by disassociating them from humanity. However, as this essay will later discuss, Laura’s interest in the Indians and her relationship with
Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush; Or, Life in Canada. London, England: Richard Bentley, 1852) and 3rd. ed. (1854). Print
Many Americans choose to forget the past brutalities of child labor. Unfortunately, the past does not disappear. Child labor did take place in the U.S. and the Carolina Cotton Mill photograph is a prominent witness. Lewis Wickes Hine is the artist behind this powerful photo, which was taken in the early 1900s (Dimock). Hine’s Carolina Cotton Mill embodies the struggle of child labor through the incorporation of situational information, artistic elements such as lines and space, and cultural values.
Children's literature is generally categorised into two groups such as realism and fantasy. It can be said that a story is considered realistic fiction if the events did not by any stretch of the imagination happen yet could have, while fantasy is the literature of possibilities, and impossibilities (Webb, 2014). In addition, however there are numerous works that obviously fit into one type or the other, some texts join realistic and fantastical elements inside of the same story. By, right on time children's literature was overwhelmingly instructive and admonishing with the first real shift towards realism and fantasy happening in the nineteenth century. It was observed that changing views on the delineation and position of the child in society
We live in an ever shifting society. As thus, children’s literature continues to change and evolve. Historically women have suffered from gender inequality. Until 1920 women were not allowed to vote. They did not have much of a voice in our society. In children’s literature of the past women were not given much importance and were not portrayed as heroines in society. Until recently it was next to impossible to find quality books that featured empowered women. Today we have a different story. We have seen a trend in the proliferation of women’s rights and gains. Girls are encouraged to aspire to great things and are not pigeonholed into a few career and life choices. This trend is evident in children’s literature. An example of this can be found in the book Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors? by Tanya Stone. It is the story of Elizabeth Blackwell and her struggle to become the first female doctor in
Numerous individuals go to children’s writing as a rest, from the rigors of grown-up studies, and their picture of the content is focused around wistfulness or impractical considering. Kids' books are pleasant; they take us again to a brilliant world, one which we may likewise need to impart to our youngsters or grandchildren. It