© R U T H W R I T E R

CANADA AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY

CANADA IN LATE 19TH CENTURY

Rural nation primarily• Extraction—furs, forests, fish, farm, mines [primary activities]• Processing of raw materials [secondary activities]

BUT Rapid change underway• Urbanization and industrialization as in U.S.

On verge of becoming global leader• YET Still part of British Empire

Many issues to be resolved

CONSERVATIVES

• Party of John A. Macdonald• National Policy

• Trade--Protect Canadian industry• Nationalism--Settle Western Canada• Transportation--Build transcontinental railroad

• Attempt to maintain federal supremacy • Titling toward provincial power--liquor licensing• Bonds between Anglophone and Francophone tighter

• Jesuits’ Estates Act--$$$ for land taken in 1700s• Manitoba Act changes—education and language

ELECTION OF 1911

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(Canadian_politics)

TRANSITIONS

• Macdonald died in 1891• Four short term Prime Ministers

• John Abbott—resigned due to health by 1892• John Thompson—died in England after 2 years• Mackenzie Bowell—no great leader thru 1896• Charles Tupper—defeated by Laurier’s Liberal party

• Liberals take control—1898 with Sir Wilfrid Laurier• Manitoba question key• In theory counter to Conservative Party• Essentially adopted slightly different National Policy

LAURIER YEARS

Urbanization&

Industrialization

PoliticsOf

National Unity

Mining

Immigration&

Settlement

Farming&

Lumbering

Distribution Of

Wealth

Foreign Affairs

1896—DECISIVE YEAR

World Issues• Boundary dispute in

Venezuela• Gold in South Africa• End to Homestead Act in U.S.

—Closing of Frontier• European wheat market• McKinley Tariff kept food

prices high• Republicans elected in U.S.• Quarantine of cattle by Britain

Canada• Railroad deal in Manitoba• Gold discovery along Klondike

River• Wheat to global market• Banks in trouble• Niagara Hydroelectric begins

—”white coal”• Laurier’s Liberal election victory• Judges and Senators appointed

by Tupper after vote

ALL WOULD IMPACT CANADA IN MAJOR WAY

SIR WILFRID LAURIERLIBERAL PARTY

Bridged two centuries—1896-1911

"Canada has been modest in its history, although its history, in my estimation, is only commencing. It is commencing in this century. The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that Canada will fill the twentieth century." -- Sir Wilfrid Laurier, January 18, 1904

http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/compilations/federalgovernment/primeministers/gallery.aspx

LAURIER—LIBERALS1896

• First Prime Minister born in Quebec—bilingual education• McGill University educated• Lawyer, politician and newspaper editor• Provincial government; then member of House of Commons• Defense of Riel drew attention to Laurier• Leader of Liberal [rouges] party in 1887 at 46• Prime Minister at age 55• Appointed able Cabinet• Worked with Conservatives/Tories [bleus]• Re-elected in 1900, 1904, 1908

Golden age of Canada

INHERITED NATIONAL POLICYBUT…

Conservative Failed National Policy• Trade not between provinces—protected industry hurt

• Trade partner #1—Britain• Trade partner #2—U.S.• Unsold in Canada

• Nationhood--Immigrants reluctant to settle in Canada• U.S. seen as preferable• Until U.S. public land closed to settlement--#1 • Last Best West—CANADA

• Transportation--Railroads• Only success by Macdonald and Conservatives but marginal• Canadian Pacific Railroad got subsidy to build to Vancouver• Exchanged for rate freeze

LIBERAL’S NATIONAL POLICY PART 2

• Trade--Protectionism• Continued to protect young industry with tariffs• Explored reciprocal trade agreement—free trade

• Nationhood--Settlement• Faltered under Macdonald—his failed National Policy• Success under Laurier

• Transportation• Two more railroads improved transportation + provided jobs• Canadian Northern Railway [northern route to Vancouver]• Grand Trunk Pacific [Winnipeg to Prince Rupert]

GOALS OF LAURIER

• First goal—National Unity• Interests of French and English

• Other goals• Growth and prosperity• Reciprocity with U.S.• Railroad expansion• Immigration• Expanded provinces—Alberta and Saskatchewan• Canadian autonomy and foreign affairs

POLITICS OF NATIONAL UNITY

Manitoba became focus of unity• Appease both Francophone and Anglophone

• Post Riel • Recall the Manitoba Act

• Education in own language if had 10 or more for school• Religious education at end of day

• Bishops concerned• Papal envoy calmed nerves• Found French Catholic Prime Minister a desirable trend

• Used reciprocity as distraction

LAURIER’S GOALS OVERSHADOWED BY GOLD

• 1896• George Carmack• Skookum Jim• Tagish Charley• Klondike River• Accidental find• Placer mining

http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/collections/exhibits/klondike/case3http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/klondike-gold-rush/ ALL FOLLOWING PHOTOS TAKEN BY R. WRITER [2008] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

MININGGOLD IN YUKON

• 1897 word out of GOLD! 68 new millionaires• 100,000 left for Yukon and Klondike but only 30,000 arrived

• Economic stimulus—B.C., AL, and Washington state• Few gold miners Canadian—most from U.S.• Rush was on to Yukon• Cheapest, shortest route—Chilkoot Pass as gateway [1 year]• Water route—2 years• 20,000 living along river by summer of 1898• Seattle supply base

• Mounties sent early• Sam Steele• No cases of theft along Chilkoot Pass• Steele made ALL the rules

• Territorial government in 1899 • 1899 bonanza done

http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/boer/samsteele_e.shtml

CHILKOOT PASSSYMBOL OF TREK TO YUKON

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/klondike-gold-rush/

CHILKOOT—GOLDEN STAIRS• Everything on backs of men [50# avg] including sleds & dogs• Animals could not traverse it—35 degree angle• Tlingit tribe used as packers—100# at time [350# one packer]• Chilkoots guarded trail• 4 miles with 2 rest stops—steps of solid ice

• Took 6 hours to climb 1000 feet• Moved in fits and starts—no getting out of line• Snow storms, high winds, avalanches, weather delays• Poorly clothed, poor food, no bathing, dysentery, tired• Sweat, then sweat froze• No theft, no murders• Tramway built in 1898

Berton, Pierre. Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 1972.

Berton, Pierre. Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 1972.

LIFE IN DAWSON CITY

• Largest city north of Seattle, west of Winnipeg—30,000• Few became rich [$50 million in gold but $50 million

spent]• Real money when “mining the miners”• Frontier town—wild, wild west

• Men to women 25-1• Dance halls• Saloons• Prostitution cribs• Gambling

• Rumor of gold in Alaska in 1899—50% gone in week

DIAMOND TOOTH GERTIES

ROBERT SERVICE

Robert Servicehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJNZwuamwj0

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Shooting+Of+Dan+McGrew&view=detail&mid=B01D33CE934172305F1AB01D33CE934172305F1A&first=0

OTHER MINING “RUSHES”

• Ontario• Sudbury—Nickel• Cobalt—Silver

• British Columbia• Coal• Use of Chinese labor

• Western Federation of Miners

FYI

• 1840s—copper in Michigan• 1849—California gold• 1851—Queen Charlotte Islands• 1858—Fraser Valley in BC• 1859—Colorado and Nevada

Yukon gold valued at $50,000,000 MICHIGAN LUMBER VALUED AT $2,000,000,000

[400 x]

IMMIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT

• Clifford Sifton key for Public Relations in West• Massive information campaign• Tours of Canadian prairie organized by Sifton• Million arrived 1896-1911

• American homesteaders moved to Canadian prairies• European immigrants

• Adjustments to be made

American Settlers

Many Americans came north to Alberta in the early 20th century when the free land in the US had been taken.

http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/american_immigration.html

FARMERS

• Red Fife wheat replaced by Marquis wheat• Production from 29 million to 209 million bushels

• Towns grew along railroads moving west• Winnipeg• Saskatoon• Some ghost towns though now

• Anti-railroad animosity grew after 1901 shipping fiasco • Need for more railroads

• Built additional railroads ala barn raising• National Transcontinental from Moncton [NB] to Winnipeg [MN]• Canadian National and Grand Trunk also across Shield• Algoma Central Railroad—Lumber, Nickel

LIFE ON THE PRAIRIE

• Sod huts• Cash crops• Consumers of goods• Trials and tribulationshttps://www.horsejournals.com/history-draft-horse-muscle-men-horse-world http://canadiandesignresource.ca/green/sod-house/ http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/settlers2.html

POLITICAL FARMERS

• Grange and Patrons of Husbandry collapsed• Grievances continued

• Tariff• Rural flight• Lack of respect—Rube jokes• Lack of diversity created vulnerability—wheat king

• Weather• Railroad, elevators, mills—monopolies• Markets

• Territorial Grain Growers’ Association• Grains Act of 1900—regulations and inspections• New provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan 1905https://archive.org/details/grangesinmichiga00mich

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gift_for_the_grangers_ppmsca02956u.jpg

• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grain-elevators/

WHAT GOES ON INSIDE AN ELEVATOR

This diagram shows a cross-section of a grain elevator. Refer to the text for an explanation (courtesy Provincial Museum of Alberta).• 1: Grain trucks are driven onto a receiving scale in the driveway.• 2: The grain is dumped into the pit, or boot.• 3: The agent selects a bin and starts the motor that powers the leg.• 4: As the grain is carried over the head of the leg it is dumped into the

distributor. The agent directs it to the appropriate bin spout that sends the grain into a pre-selected bin.

• 5: To ship grain, the agent opens a bin so the grain runs into the back pit. The grain is then re-elevated and deposited into an overhead bin. From there it is dumped into the garner and hopper scale for weighing. The grain is then lowered into the back pit from where it is re-elevated and dropped into the car spout.http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grain-elevators/

ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN

• Federal control of land and resources=homesteading• Liberal support at provincial level• Financial settlement as in other new provinces• School system question raised by Catholics• Seen as making West “land of refuge for scum of all

nations”• Doukhobor• Galicians—Polish, Russian, eastern Europeans

1912 CANADA

• http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/mapping/historical_maps/1912.asp

LUMBER INDUSTRY

• Wood great staple of Canadian trade in 1800s• European—demand high due to deforestation• U.S.—reciprocity meant increasing trade; newsprint after 1913• Hardwoods—ship masts, barrels, shingles, boxes, spools• Pines, spruce—railroad ties, newsprint after 1869• World leader of newsprint by end of World War II

• Maritimes, St. Lawrence Valley, Ontario, British Columbia• Boom towns

• Rail transportation, roads• International Workers of the World—Wobblies

• Bunkhouse men• Little lasting converts

LIFE IN LOGGING CAMPS

• Work done in winter—easier, farmers’ off season• Camps and roads build in fall • Hauled to river banks by oxen then later horses• Timber drive in spring• Shipped to sawmills• Hand labor until World War I era• Steam power, trucks and tractors

https://najc.ca/early-history/; http://www.cif-ifc.org/forest-history/; http://www.foresthistory.org/research/Galleries/Logging_Felling_Axes_Gallery/pages/FHS4018.htm

INDUSTRY AND LABOR• Distribution of wealth—widening gap• Owners v. laborers

• Owners—impression they were self-made • Discouraged egalitarian desires

• Trusts and monopolies• Canada Cement• Steel Company of Canada

• New power source—hydro • Niagara Falls first• Quebec and Manitoba

• Reform short lived—i.e. conservation • Pollution• Forest fires• Drainage• Nature

MARITIME CANADA’S HISTORY

• Intercolonial Railway reached Montreal from Maritimes• Industrialization grew in NB and NS

• Iron, steel, sugar, clothing, shoe, hardware, molasses, candy, brushes

• Transatlantic cable completed in 1858--Field • Transatlantic radio followed in 1901--Marconi

FRANCOPHONES

• More of a minority status with newer immigrants• Many departed in mid to late 1800s for New England

• Textile Mill Towns—Lowell• Mill girls• Little Canada

MONTREAL’S DILEMMA

• Anglophones created jobs in Montreal• Domination by English speaking declined

• Capital declining from both Britain and U.S.• Projects of Church and nationalistes costly• Desired control over Quebec resources and industry

• Fewer departing for New England’s textile mills• Rural French Canadians moving to Montreal for jobs• Montreal saw increase in Jewish, Greek, Italians

• Ghettoes• Language and cultural differences problematic

FRENCH CANADIAN FUTURE

• Henri Bourassa—abandoned traditional, rural view• Must reject easy life of assimilation• Must remain true to traditions of culture• Saw Laurier as sell-out• Marie Chapdelaine—by Louis Hemon—1914 “Church and farm provide a physical and symbolic setting for the romance, as the seasons and feast days provide a mythic temporal framework for its action. Following the death of her mother and that of her lover François Paradis, Maria must choose between 2 suitors: Lorenzo Surprenant, who tempts her with the riches of America, and Eutrope Gagnon, the [farm] boy next door. She unselfishly accepts Gagnon, thereby ensuring the survival of family and community and affirming the traditional values of rural French Canada.”

DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

• Before business leaders frugal, practical• Gilded Age of Canada• New conspicuous consumption

• Mansions with servants• Cars • Clothing

• Industrialization and urbanization • Slums • Poverty• Pollution

RICH VS. POOR

• http://www.casaloma.org/about.tour.second_floor.gk;• http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/06/a_brief_history_of_the_ward_torontos_notorious_slum/

LABOR MOVEMENT

• Collectively silent against abuse of industry• Immigrant labor presented competition• Faith in free market economy• Thus little employee militancy—foreign labor agitators• Department of Labor formed 1900—to appease laborers

• Wm. Lyon Mackenzie King• Gather statistics on jobs, union members and cost of living

• Union members from 20K to 120K in decade• TLC [Trade and Labor Congress] Canadian• AFL [American Federation of Labor]

• Labor not a national force—yet

LABOR UNREST

• Yellow Dog Contracts—punished for union membership• Coal Strike

• 1906 in Alberta• 1909-10 on Cape Breton—army until starved miners gave in

• IDI—Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of 1907• Publicize issues• Forced negotiations• No recognition of union rights

• Socialist movement challenged business power

REFORM• Political

• Women not involved at this time—gentle persuasion instead• Some dissent

• Amelia Stowe-Gullen in West [Emily Stowe—1st female doctor]• Nellie McClung of Manitoba—writer • E.A. Partridge—vote available to “lowest imbruted foreign hobo” not women

• Social• Temperance moved toward prohibition

• Protestants • Catholics• WCTU—Women’s Christian Temperance Union• 1898 vote but Laurier rejected• Still exists today [conference in Lincoln, NE in 2012]

• Drugs—Emily Murphy• Scared institution of the family• Education

• Equality of gender• Women in teaching, nursing and medicinehttp://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nellie-letitia-mcclung/

WOMEN’S ROLE

• Maternal feminism—divinely sanctioned role of women• Wives• Mothers• Guardians against heedless brutes

• Temperance—Owen Sound, ON, 1874 [Ohio first]• Domestic science

• Pasteurized milk• Training at university level

• National Council of Canadian Women--250,000 members yet largely silent• against liquor, divorce, prostitution, profiteering, and modern cult of

self indulgence and pleasure

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• No desire to ally with U.S.• Boundary disputes• Place within British Empire• Imperial nationalism—new concept• Boer [Dutch] War in South Africa

BOUNDARY DISPUTE WITH U.S.

• Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon—undefined line• Especially Alaska Panhandle established in 1825 with Russia

• Not issue until gold discovered• Neglect on part of Canada and Britain

• U.S. imperialism seen—Teddy Roosevelt• Seattle and Tacoma had vested interest

• Commission set up [3 Canadian, 3 U.S., 1 British]• U.S. sided with British in Boer War• British delegate sided with U.S.

• Canada lost coastal access to Yukon• Even more national identity—Nationalism [Kingdom of

Canada]

• http://www.mappery.com/1903-Alaska-boundary-dispute-Map

BOER WAR

• Boer [Dutch] War in South Africa—fall of 1899• Recruited thousand volunteers in Canada• Britain paid cost of troops• Canadian officers• National identity• Military Nationalism

• Events of First Canadian Foreign Involvement• Francophone opposition—WHY?

• Henri Bourassa [Papineau’s grandson]• Preserving national unity still #1 goal of Laurie

• http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/history/wars/boerwar.htm

LAURIER DEFEATED

• Imperialists—denounced new navy as too small• Quebec nationalists—denounced as way to involve Canada in

British wars like Boer War• Recession of 1907 over• Weather in West confirmed Palliser Triangle good farms• Still discontent—March on Ottawa

• Tariff—reciprocity died with Taft and Payne-Aldrich Tariff—paper • Freight rates• Land policy• Jobs• Anti-Americanism

• 1911—Laurier defeated by Robert Borden [Conservative/Tory]

REVIEW

100 YEARS LATER

"Canada has been modest in its history, although its history, in my estimation, is only commencing. It is commencing in this century. The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that Canada will fill the twentieth century."

-- Sir Wilfrid Laurier, January 18, 1904

What would the role of Canada hold in the next 100 years?

RESOURCES• Anonymous. Boer War. Edmonton: The Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum Prince of Wales, 2010. <

http://www.lermuseum.org/en/canadas-military-history/boer-war/ >• Berton, Pierre. Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899. Toronto: Anchor Canada, 1972.• Biography of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's Prime Ministers, 1867 - 1994: Biographies and Anecdotes.

Ottawa: National Archives of Canada, 1994. page 40• http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/history/wars/boerwar.htm • https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/nellie-mcclung • Hubly, Russell C. "G" Company, or Every-Day Life of the R.C.R., 3rd ed. Montreal: Witness Printing

House, 1902. pp. 77-80.• “Klondike Gold Rush” http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP11CH1PA1LE.html• Morton, Desmond. A Short History of Canada. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishing, 2001. [pages 144-175]• Owen, Wendy. “The Last Best West,” The Beaver. June-July 1991, pages 31-38• https://

www.pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/settling-the-west-immigration-to-the-prairies-from-1867-to-1914

• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/klondike-gold-rush/ • http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/liberal-party/ • http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nellie-letitia-mcclung/