This is a stressful time. All of us – teachers, students, parents, adults, teenagers, me, you – cannot help but feel stressed out: it is a totally understandable and normal reaction to what is going on around us. The important thing is to recognize and acknowledge these feelings.
I was looking for material that coherently explains the impact of this pandemic on mental health and came across this simple the University of British Columbia [UBC] guide to stress and its effects: I hope you find it useful.
I know it now sounds cliché, but it remains a truth: We are all in this together. Don’t hesitate to talk with myself or any other teacher if you are feeling stressed out.
In the early 1500s [also called the ‘early 16th century’] Europe began to turn its gaze to the west.
The reason for this western focus was the desire to reach Asia. This region had spices, it had resources and it had advanced cultures who could trade with them. Unfortunately for countries like Spain, France and Britain, the country of Portugal dominated the eastern bound trade routes to these markets. So, Spain, France and Britain looked west – beyond the Atlantic – as a way to Asia and in particular, China. What the Europeans didn’t know was that two massive continents – North and South America – came between them and Asia.
The Spanish were the first to send out exploratory missions and quickly established outposts in the Caribbean and what is now Mexico. There the Spanish found something better than spices: Gold.
By all historical accounts the explorers – known as ‘conquistadors’ – were ruthless and cruel in their dealings with the advanced societies they ‘discovered’ and would eventually subjugated.
This short video on the downfall of the Aztecs provides a good overview of one such encounter between Europe and the indigenous peoples of South America.
I also want you to look at this short video on Chocolate. I think it demonstrates the far-reaching impacts colonization 500 years after Columbus reached the New World.
The French and English in the early 16th century mainly focused on possible routes to China in the Northern Hemisphere. Both countries tried unsuccessfully to get to China through what is now the St Lawrence River and Hudson’s Bay. They never found a ‘Northwest Passage’ but they quickly realized there were valuable resources that could be exploited. Fish and tall ‘first growth’ forests were in abundance and soon the French and English created European markets for beaver pelts and tobacco acquired in North America.
But tapping into these resources and bringing them home was not easy. One-way voyages across the Atlantic could take 2 months. Navigation tools were very basic and knowledge of ship-borne diseases was even more limited.
Take a look at the issues relating to navigating a voyage across an ocean in this brief video.
This brief video explains the threats – real or imagined – for those making the ocean crossing.
AMERICA’S FIRST SETTLEMENT
While most associate the Mayflower’s arrival at Plymouth Rock as the ‘first’ British settlement in North America, the first British outpost in the New World was at Jamestown. It was a total disaster.
The follow short video provides a good introduction to Jamestown.
This video highlights the journey to Jamestown.
For those interested in archaeology this provides an explanation of how we built a picture of life and death in Jamestown.
From the archaeological digs at Jamestown it became quickly apparent that things rapidly deteriorated for those early settlers. Disease was rampant. Food ran out and after they ran out of livestock and rats, the settlers started eating humans.
This video shows how archaeologists reconstructed what they believe to be one of the victims of what came to be known as Jamestown’s ‘The Starvation Time’.
Now, grab a cup of coffee/tea and settle in for this strange, not very promising start to British North America or BNA.
The purpose of the following material is to familiarize yourself with life in Canada and the world in 1900.
The turn of the century was the beginning of massive change in society. The years around 1900 corresponded with the introduction of electricity, the automobile, human flight, the telegraph, the bicycle, cinema and women’s rights: Each of these would have seismic impacts on Canada and the world.
Take a look at the map of Canada in 1905. Alberta and Saskatchewan had just been formed created and Manitoba is only a small portion of its 2020 size. Note the size of Quebec and Ontario at that time as well. Also, be aware Newfoundland wouldn’t join Canada for another 40 years. So, Canada at the beginning of the 20th Century was still a work in progress.
Society was also a work in progress. Life was still dominated by a well-established social hierarchy: A small upper class dominated the societies and governments of Europe and in Canada the rich lived well, and the poor scraped together an existence.
Watch the video below of Leicester Square in London circa 1896. While cars had been around for a few years at that point they were little more than toys for the rich. The streets were a sea of horse-drawn carriages and trams.
Electricity was only recently harnessed to light the streets. The technology was also central in creating projection systems for newly established entertainment called moving pictures. You can see a theatre offering ‘lumiere cinematrographe’ in the background where you would go to see view a movie like this. In fact, most Canadians in 1900 would only see the streets of London in these kinds of theatres. London was still an expensive, one-week journey via ship from Halifax.
FASHION IN 1900
What is also notable about these film clips is the fashion. The heavy garments and full coverage of skin – despite even the hottest of days – was a continuation of 200 years or more of tradition. Women in particular suffered for their fashion. Under their long skirts were multiple layers of undergarments. In fact, one historical source estimates a women’s undergarments alone weighed 7 pounds in 1900.
BICYCLING AND WOMEN’S LIBERATION
In 1900 Women didn’t have the vote, in fact women had just been allowed to attend university in Canada when the century began. Their lives were governed by men and their physical and personal activities limited by the fashions and the chauvinistic ideals of the time.
One of the few activities that would allow women to escape the oppressive nature of 19th century fashion and sexism was the newly-developed bicycle.
Some historians argue the bicycle was central to women’s early liberation.
Below is an interesting link that looks at the early bicycle and how it led to a more independence for women in the early 20th Century.
The turn of the 20th century also saw the introduction of electricity. Key to the arrival of electricity was the incandescent light bulbs [old-school light bulbs before LEDs] that provided safe, convenient and immediate light for streets, factories and homes. The arrival of electric light would change every part of life: when we worked, when we slept and how we lived our lives.
But electricity would also provide safe, immediate power to factory machinery, home appliances, and other inventions that emerged in the early 20th Century.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE
The introduction and rapid evolution of the ‘internal combustion engine’ [the engine in your parent’s car] provided a powerful and potentially mobile source of power. In the 1880s an engine developer named Karl Benz married his engine with a horse-drawn carriage made by Gottlieb Daimler. Karl Benz’s early vehicle would be named after his daughter, Mercedes.
These early experiments would spark at transportation revolution that would dominate industrial output and consumer spending throughout the 20th century. By 1900, numerous car manufacturers would be offering ‘horseless carriages’ to those rich enough to buy and maintain them.
THE INTRODUCTION OF AIRPLANES
But this internal combustion engine would also be central to flight. The first-powered flight took place in 1903.
A few years later Canadians witnessed the first flight in our country in Nova Scotia:
ASSIGNMENT:
Its September 16, 1900. In a paragraph describe the typical day of a 15-year old living in Toronto. What would school look like? what would you eat? What would you see?
Check this site out: it may give you some inspiration:
This Animation is remarkable. I think it is one of the best visual representations of the cost of war – particularly the cost inflicted on the Russians. This is a must see for those interested in WW2
As a wrap up to the course I would like to take a look at one last theme: The relationship between two opposing ideologies, nations and visions of the future. Communism and capitalism by the second half of the 20th century had become embodied in the nations of Russia and America. At the end of WW2 these two countries had emerged as Superpowers and each viewed the other as a threat to its existence.
Communist Russia had been devastated by the WW2: nearly 20 million Russians had died and its industries were in ruins. Now Russia and its political philosophy had to compete against a seemingly unstoppable US economy. America meanwhile, saw the establishment of Russian-backed communist states across Eastern Europe after WW2 as the beginning of a methodical plan to take over Europe and eventually the world. Americans – and the Western politicians in general – saw communism as something like a cancer.
This spread of communism was eventually explained in terms of dominos. When you stand up the dominos in a row and then knock the first one down it starts a chain reaction. The Domino Theory was once one country becomes communist its neighbours will fall to communism as well.
Here is a short animation explaining the Domino Theory:
THE KOREAN WAR – 1950-53:
One of the first tests of the Domino Theory was the Korean War. After WW2 Korea had been divided much like Europe: into two spheres of interest -one communist and one capitalist.
The war began in 1950 with the communist North invading the capitalist South. At this point the United Nations sent troops into Korea and pushed the Communist forces back to the Chinese border This was followed by a counter attack backed by Chinese troops – and Russian equipment. During the three years of fighting a nuclear strike by the West was threatened but never carried out.
While the United Nations forces were under American leadership, 18 countries – including Canada – sent troops, ships and aircraft to stem the spread of communism. In fact, 26,000 Canadians served in this war and over 500 were killed.
The war ended in a stalemate in 1953. The ceasefire terms set the dividing line between North and South Korea at 38 degrees latitude. Technically these two sides are still at war today.
Here is A quick overview of the Korean War:
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS:
In the late 1950s communists gained a foothold just off America’s Caribbean coast.
In the 1950s Cuba was the playground for America’s rich and famous, but in 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution that overthrew the pro-American Cuban government. In 1961 American-based Cuban nationalists who had fled Castro’s revolution tried to overthrow the communists. The invasion, backed by the CIA – known as ‘the Bay of Pigs’ – was a total disaster and resulted in Castro turning to communist Russia for economic and military support.
In 1962, Russia funded and began building missile launch sites in Cuba – less than 100 miles off the Florida coast. The US responded by blockading Russian ships carrying the missiles for the launch sites. This combination of events almost resulted in a nuclear war. For 12 days in October 1962 the world watched and waited for World War Three to begin. It was only after some intense backroom negotiations that the ships with missiles turned around. This near world-ending event became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
THE VIETNAM WAR:
Many countries have tried to control Vietnam over the last 1000 years including China, France, Japan and America. Vietnam’s continued independence has been hard won.
During WWII Vietnam was occupied by Japanese forces. During this time America funded the Communist guerilla leader, Ho Chi Minh, in his fight against the Japanese.
After WWII Vietnam was divided along ideological lines similar to Korea: North Vietnam was ironically under communist leader Ho Chi Minh while South Vietnam was backed by the West. France – which had included Vietnam as part of its colonial empire before WW2 – tried to regain control over ‘French Indochina’, but in 1954 France was badly defeated by Ho Chi Minh’s troops at Dien Bien Pho. At this point Vietnam was split into a Communist North Vietnam and Western-backed South Vietnam. This split was supposed to be temporary.
Fearing communism was spreading in Asia, the US moved into the region attempting to block communist expansion by installing an Anti-Communist president in South Vietnam. Unfortunately, this US-backed South Vietnamese government was both corrupt and brutal resulting in a growing opposition among the Southern Vietnamese. This eventually resulted in the formation of a rebel group known as the Viet Cong. In 1962 the US-backed president was assassinated and America upped its involvement by sending more and more troops. By end of 1965 the US had 180 000 troops in Vietnam fighting both the communist North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong.
PROTESTS TO THE VIETNAM WAR:
As US involvement in the war increased, so did casualties. To make matters worse the violence of the war entered American homes ‘in colour’ through a stream of coverage on the relatively new medium of television. Protests – particularly among the youth who were being sent to fight this war – began to grow across America
This is a short explanation of the burning of draft cards by those American citizens eligible to be conscripted into service. This act was a prisonable-offence.
The following video captures one protest by US citizens against the war that turned violent. The protests at Kent State University resulted in four dead students and began a protest movement that eventually played a key role in getting the American soldiers out of Vietnam.
By 1973 – amid massive protests at home – the US government pulled its troops out of Vietnam and within two years the communist North had total control of all Vietnam
Two key events that you should be aware of when considering the independence movement in Quebec are Expo 67 and the speech given at this worlds fair by the French President Charles De Gaulle.
The first video is a great nostalgic look at Montreal in 1967 by British newsreel agency Pathe. The six-minute video focuses on the Montreal world’s fair, Expo 67. The 60s fashion, the 60s view on transportation and communication and the cliché-driven narration is pretty amusing.
It was at this World’s Fair the French President and WW2 hero, Charles De Gaulle raised tensions in Quebec with his “Vive Le Quebec, Libre” speech. The comment “Long live a free Quebec” seemed to support Quebec separation by a leader of another country. After the speech was given the French president was essentially asked to leave by the Canadian Prime Minister, Lester Pearson.
When WW1 began in 1914, the Canadian Government concluded that during time of crisis the national government needed broader powers to not only deal with the demands of a war, but silence opposition that might lead to insurrection [an uprising] within the country. This federal law was called the War Measures Act.
The reading attached to the link below looks at the creation of the Act, why it was used in WW1 and WW2 as well as the one time it was used in peacetime. Its use in 1970 during the October Crisis was very controversial.
Here is the link to War Measures Act backgrounder:
I have also attached a short video on the October Crisis and the Canadian Government’s call for the War Measures Act in reaction to the kidnapping of two politicians by the radical Quebec Separatist Organization, the FLQ.
The final section of Civics is looking at ‘rights’: In particular our human rights and the rights we have as Canadians.
To start, take a look at this excellent short video explaining what human rights are and how they have developed over centuries.
Unlike any other time I have taught this course the issue of rights is at the forefront of social discussions and never in most Canadians’ memories has any event had such a direct impact on our rights. Freedom of movement, the right to public gathering and the power of government and the police are all central to how the Canadian and Provincial governments are reacting to the Corona Virus. It also brings into focus what our rights and responsibilities are in this crisis and how the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms can be protected and revoked.
I have attached a link of the rights we as Canadians have. Unlike the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established by the United Nations which are only recommendations. The rights entrenched in our Canadian Charter of Rights are protected by law. Please do a scan of the rights attached to this link.
I have also attached a short video of our Constitution:
As a first step I would like you to look at the Charter and identify THREE areas of the Charter that current actions by the municipal and provincial governments might be encroaching on. [note: this in the work sheet attached]
Next, take a look at the CBC article and video about the Emergencies Act. The federal government has not enforced this act, but there have been pressures on Prime Minister Trudeau to use it. I have attached a question sheet above to help direct your thinking a bit.
Lesson Two will be to compare The Emergencies Act with the War Measures Act and examine the ties Justin Trudeau’s father has with the War Measures Act.
But for now, let’s start with this and please, talk about this with your family over dinner. This is a very important and topical subject and your parents may have an interesting perspective on what is and should be done.
The French – English relationship in Canada has always been fragile. In both WW1 and WW2 many in Quebec opposed conscription and this opposition had fatal consequences.
QUEBEC AFTER WW2
In the late 1940s Quebec’s way of life was still relatively traditional: the economy relied on agriculture and education was the domain of the Catholic Church. In addition, English Canadian and foreign companies dominated Quebec’s industries and English-speakers occupied the best jobs.
THE QUIET REVOLUTION
The early 1960s and the so-called Quiet Revolution marked the beginning of Quebec’s modernization. During this time a new Liberal premier of Quebec, Jean Lesage, moved the economy from a farming to an industrial-based economy. The Catholic church’s grip on education was weakened and opportunities for French-speaking Quebecers were increased.
The objective of these moves was to give French speaking people in Quebec greater say in their affairs. It was – as a popular slogan of the time put it – making them Masters in their Own Home” or “Maitre Chez Nous”.
Take a look at this video in small bites. It covers a great deal of Quebec history backed up by some great graphs, but it is dense. Regardless its a remarkable 11-minute overview:
THE FLQ AND THE OCTOBER CRISIS
Along with this renewed interest in Quebec culture and determination to keep French as the main language in Quebec, came more radical organizations. Unlike other groups looking to strengthen the culture and language through political channels or pgaining independence through democratic processes, organizations like the Front de Liberation du Quebec or FLQ opted for violence. The FLQ placed bombs in mailboxes and resorted to kidnapping politicians to achieve its objective of independence.
When the FLQ kidnapped Quebec Labour Minister Pierre LaPorte and British diplomat James Cross in October 1970 it set off one of the most troubling times in Canadian history. It would be called The October Crisis. Within weeks a politician would be murdered, armed soldiers would patrol the streets of Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec and our rights would be under threat by The War Measures Act.
THE WAR MEASURES ACT
When WW1 began in 1914, the Canadian Government concluded that during time of crisis the national government needed broader powers to not only deal with the demands of a war, but silence opposition that might lead to insurrection [an uprising] within the country. This federal law was called the War Measures Act.
The reading attached to the link below looks at the creation of the Act, why it was used in WW1 and WW2 as well as the one time it was used in peacetime. Its use in 1970 during the October Crisis was very controversial.
Here is the link to a War Measures Act backgrounder:
I have also attached a short video on the October Crisis and the Canadian Government’s call for the War Measures Act in reaction to the kidnapping of two politicians by the radical Quebec Separatist Organization, the FLQ. Make sure you watch this video!
In March 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt made what is considered one of the greatest speeches by an American President.
Here is an excerpt from “The Four Freedoms Park Conservancy [https://www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org/blog/fear-itself]
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in as the 32nd president of the United States on March 4, 1933, the nation was in the midst of an economic crisis unmatched in its history. Nearly four years into the Great Depression and with unemployment hovering near 25%, Americans faced not only a depression of the economy, but also a depression of the spirit. Roosevelt recognized that the former was intrinsically linked to the latter, and tasked himself with reviving the country’s soul as well as its industry.
Throughout his campaign, Roosevelt alluded to this crisis of spirit, offering a wide grin, optimistic rhetoric, and a campaign song that declared “happy days are here again” as an antidote to the country’s anemic psyche. After defeating the incumbent Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover, in the landslide 1932 election, FDR knew that dragging the country out of its dire predicament was a Herculean task that would require the full might of the federal government. On the day of his inauguration, though, Roosevelt aimed to do one thing specifically: indicate to the citizens of the United States that a New Deal for America’s workers had arrived.
After taking the oath of office, Roosevelt delivered the first of one of his many memorable speeches as president. Within the opening minutes of his 1,883 word-long, 20-minute address, he uttered a line that, for many Americans, would encapsulate FDR’s twelve years in the oval office: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
While conceding that “only a foolish optimist [could] deny the dark realities of the moment,” Roosevelt nevertheless laid blame not with average Americans who were wanting for food, shelter, and work, but with powerful forces in government and finance that failed to uphold their end of the bargain in the American experiment. FDR pledged to instate a “program of action” aimed at the restoration of American prosperity, and implored Americans to move forward with “the warm courage of…national unity.”
By the time of Roosevelt’s second inauguration on January 20, 1937, the plans outlined in his first inaugural address had contributed to the unemployment rate dropping to just over 14% nationally. While that number would fluctuate until World War II delivered the United States from the hardships of the Depression in earnest, it was clear that FDR’s first term in office had turned the tide with regards to not only the economy, but the national spirit as well.
Four years later, in his 1941 State of the Union address, Roosevelt harkened back to his first inaugural address, stating that a goal of Allied victory in the war would be “freedom from fear…everywhere in the world.” Citizens around the globe today would do well to heed FDR’s advice by approaching current issues with bravery and courage, and with fear for nothing but fear itself.
MCI Drewery's Blog 