T. S. Eliot, an essayist, once said, “The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence” (“Four Quartets by Eliot”). The British have colonized Canada from 1763 to 1867, which greatly impacted the lives of both populations. During this period of colonization, it sparked various unique personal experiences and perspectives for the Canadians and British. With that context, how do differing perspectives help us to understand the British colonization of Canada? Differing perspectives allow one to perceive multiple sides of the historical event which can be used along with evidence to determine what truly happened in the past. The research question will be answered by exploring and analyzing the First Nations’ and the British traders’ perspectives. The analysis will prove that different perspectives can help one understand the past.
The First Nations were a group of Aboriginal Canadians that lived in Ontario and British Columbia during the British colonization. Upon the British arrival in 1763, the First Nations’ lives have changed drastically. The First Nations were treated as the “savages at the bottom of human society” (LaRocque). Their land was taken away by the British, consequently affecting the traditional hunting methods among the First Nation people. They had to rely upon lousy food provided by the British, thereby leading to various intestinal diseases. Their lands were all destroyed by the British through overgrazing
Before the 1860’s the native americans were living in peace until the Colonists attacked. The Western Expansion of 1860-90 greatly affected the lives of Native Americans, due to the powerful role
By the mid-eighteenth century, tensions between the Native American tribes and English settlers had mounted to an all time high. Mistrust was frequent, as was betrayal. Fighting could break out in a minute, and then be finished the next. Political relationships were broken because of a war and massacre; the economy boomed because of barbaric markets & fur trade. Yet, a lasting effect took place after a war and fruit picking that shattered relations with the tribes for years to come.
The French-Canadians in Lower Canada did not trust the British, they didn’t speak English, and they found British rule without democracy difficult to accept. Control of the colony was in the hands of an oligarchy of merchants and ex-army officers. English seemed to have most of the advantages which made the French feel like their culture was being attacked. Discrimination against the French, unequal taxation and lack of power within the government became the main focus of reform in Lower Canada. The French-Canadians preferred a democratic government.
Essay Outline The human race that inhabited the lands earlier than anyone else, Aboriginals in Canada had conquered many obstacles which got them to what they are today. In the past, Canadian Aboriginals have dealt with many gruesome issues that primarily involved the Canadians opposing them or treating them like ‘‘wards.’’ The Indian Act is a written law which controls the Indian’s lives and it is often amended several times to make Indian lives either peaceful or cruel but especially, cruel. Aboriginals found the Indian Act a massive problem in their lives due to it completely controlling them and how they lived on their reserve.
More specifically, men were the only ones who had full rights and most privileges. For instance, a woman from British North America may consider herself to be a British subject or citizen, but this still did not give her the right to vote. Therefore, it appears that living the “British” identity in British North America may not grant someone everything they hoped for. In actuality, with these regulations in place, it can be posited that Aboriginal women had the least to gain in becoming British subjects.
“So much of history can be lost if no one tells the story – so that’s what I’m here to do. I tell the stories. This is my way of fighting for society change. ”1 In the past, the voices of the First Nations, which are now the minority, have been silenced for too long.
Canada has a very rich history, despite being a younger country than most. This history constitutes many different methods, good or bad, that Canadians have tried in order to develop a significant national identity. For instance, Canada played an important role in both of the World Wars in attempts to establish a distinct national identity on the global stage. After World War Two, Canada joined the United Nations and began performing peacekeeping missions to provide aid to countries, thus creating a new facet to the Canadian national identity. However, Canada has also used unjust methods, such as establishing residential schools as a way to assimilate the First Nations into the government’s idea of what Canadian national identity should be.
In preservation of their cultural beliefs first nations essentially have created their own nation, with separate educational institutions, chefs and communities. Although this is a great why in keeping your culture alive many of the first nations reserves are underdeveloped, over crowded and key educational components of substance abuse and contraception are overlooked resulting in a negative partial of first nations people (Wagamese, 2013:1-2). Native Canadians have essentially created an identity for themselves, in isolated camps
Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.
The indigenous people are literally crashing into the buildings produced by the colonizing culture, “Look out! Bob shouts. There are Indians flying into the skyscrapers and falling on the sidewalk.” (King 63) and it adequately represents the lack of adaptability of the Native Canadians. Thomas King taps again into the effects of colonialism and notions the indigenous people as uneducated and an untamed species.
In the essay, “Federalism, Nationalism, and Reason”, Pierre Trudeau addresses the history and origins of self-determination and nationalism and its central role in federal statehood, he then discusses the interactions of federalism and nationalism in a Canadian context. Trudeau posits major arguments that will be assessed in this review. First, he postures that that the federal state is driven by self-determination and nationalism, which ultimately makes it unstable due to its foundation in emotionalism rather than reason. Second, Trudeau outlines the historical factors that resulted in the separatist narrative in Quebec and claims that Canadian nationalism cannot combat Quebec’s regional nationalism. Trudeau begins the essay with a historical
When Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier stated, “As the 19th century was that of the United States, so I think the 20th century shall be filled by Canada”, the decades that followed provided his statement to be true as Canada became an independent and strong nation. The battlefields in World War One were a defining moment for Canada as their forces fought as one nation for the first time, instead of under British Command. Also, at the end of the war, Canada was recognized at the Peace Conference and signed the Treaty of Versailles as an independent country. In addition, Canada joined the League of Nations, playing a major role in world politics. These events in the early 20th century allowed the beginning of a strong nation with a growing national
By doing this, colonial Canadians assumed that aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs were invalid in relation to European beliefs (244). The problem with ridding the First Nations Peoples of their languages, as Williston points out is to “deprive them of the sense of place that has defined them for thousands of years” (245). The private schooling system was an attack on First Nations identities, and their identity is rooted in “a respect for nature and its processes” (245).
First, Gallagher designs his arguments using a timeline format divided into distinct chronological periods. For example, the book begins with the French arrival from 1604 through 1616 and the establishment of their colonies in Nova Scotia. From there, Faragher goes on to break the years of French habitation into distinct periods up to and including the expulsion of the Acadians and the scattering of the survivors across the Americas. In addition to using periods, Faragher weaves a dual narrative methodology into each separate period. For instance, the methodology addresses the narrative from both a French and a British point of view.
The indigenous people have a long and proud history, including the rich cultural and spiritual traditions. However, many of these traditions have been changed or even disappeared after the arrival of the European settlers. Forced introduction of European culture and values, Aboriginal community, indigenous land being deprived, and the imposition of a period of governance outside the pattern of the beginning of a cycle of social, physical and spiritual destruction. You can see the effects of today. Some of the effects include poverty, poor health, and drug abuse.