Climate at the Turn of the 20th CenturyCulture and Politics

Culture

Most people lived on farms or in small towns

The minority of middle class people set the standards for morals and manners

Victorian period

Right, wrong and evil were clear for morals- no debate

Families took care of themselves without the government

Families had to attend church regularly

Women’s MovementWomen were not considered people under the law unless they committed a crime- BNA Act of 1867

Had few rights over property and their children. Divorce was rare.

Woman’s salary was considered to be her husband’s money

Suffragettes fought to get women the right to vote

Nelly McClung- died in Victoria

Canada is still a British Nation

Canada had it’s own government but were not independent from Britain

Prime Minister was Wilfred Laurier

Britain dealt with all the international disputes and often not in the best interests of Canada

Sun doesn’t set on the British Empire

Alaska Boundary Dispute, 1903During the gold rush Canada and the US disagreed as to where the boundaries were between BC and Alaska (Alaska Panhandle)

Canada and the US decided to let the officials vote on it- 3 US judges, 2 Canadian and 1 British

British voted on the side of the Americans

Canada lost the Panhandle

Significance

Canada realized that they needed to have control over their own foreign affairs

Didn’t happen until 1931 with the Statute of Westminster

French Canada

French didn’t want to be part of the British Empire

Considered themselves to be Canadien rather than British subjects

Supported independence from Britain- nationalists

Ideas started about French separating from Canada

Believed that their rights wouldn’t be protected

Creation of Alberta and SaskatchewanCreated in 1905Catch was that they were not given control of their resources- cash payments insteadGrowing population in the region due to immigrationImmigrants weren’t used to a democratic system so this solved the problem

ImmigrationImmigrants- people come to a country

Emigrants- people leave a country

Pull factors- things that made people want to move to Canada

Push factors- Things that made people want to move from their home country

Clifford Sifton- Open door policy for the west

Why Canada?

Lots of natural resources- pulp and paper exports, fishing and the Klondike Gold Rush

Opening of the West- ads all over the world to farm in Canada for cheap

National Policy- Created in the 1870s by John A. MacDonald- protected industries by imposing tariffs on cheaper imported goods. The opposite of free trade.

Canadian Pacific Railway- linked the East and the West and new towns developed along the railways

Discrimination

Many different ethnic groups and cultures were living in Canada however, many were discriminated against

Especially anyone who was East Indian, Black or Asian

Ex. From the US, Canada only accepted white farmers. No actual law but there were careful procedures

Chinese Immigration

Chinese were originally brought in for the gold rush then were recruited to build the Canadian Pacific Railway

When the railway was completed the Canadian government passed a bill for a Head tax that kept increasing. Gov collected $23 million

Chinese people couldn’t bring their families over

1923- Chinese Immigration Act- excluded Chinese from entering Canada

Victoria has the oldest Chinatown in Canada

Continuous Journey Regulation

Immigration Act amended in 1906

Immigrants had to arrive in Canada from the country in which they were natives or citizens of, with a ticket purchased in that country.

Catch was that since no shipping company provided direct trips from India to Canada. It indirectly banned Indian immigration.

Komagata Maru•1914, With 400 people on board it anchored in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver

•Mostly poor East Indians on board lead by Gurdit Singh

•Sat in the harbour for weeks. Deprived of food and water by Canadian authorities

•Forced to turn back after two months

•Locals cheered on the dock as the ship was escorted out

Further Reading

Komagata Maru: http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_komagatamaru.htm

Chinese Canadian struggle in BC: http://archives.cbc.ca/society/immigration/topics/1433/

Questions

Imagine you could go back to the Canada of 1914. What attitudes would you fine most difficult to deal with? Why?

Describe the situation of women in Canada in the years before World War I.

Explain why Canadiens did not share any enthusiasm for Canada’s ties to Britain. Do you think their objections were justified? Why?