J. L Granatstein's Who Killed Canadian History

This essay will show you how Canada was at the turn of the century in 1896 to 1919. A lot of points show how Canada was at the turn of the century such as how Canada was at a time of social change, the immigrants in Canada come from all over the world, Chinese were treated horribly, a lot of racism factored into this. Also, Canada was in a time of economic uprise, this can be characterized by electricity, inventions, the growth of cities, and some other contributing factors. Free trade laws with the United States were also in a heavy debate at the time.

The Canadian government?s plan to get rid of the great American culture influence was one of many faults. There would be no way of carrying this out without disappointing much of the un-disturbed Canadian society, those who have grown comfortable with their surroundings and are appreciative of everything the United States has had to

Margaret Laurence describes the basis of her views on the world in her autobiographical essay “Where the World Began” to represent Canada. She states that her small prairie town constitutes the way she has formed her views. She uses the microcosm of her small town to show Canada's growth as a country through her childhood memories , the seasons of her small town, and where you are raised affects your perspective on the world. Just as Canada is a child of Uncle Sam and Lady Britannia, and is greatly influenced by both, Laurence finds her childhood is the basis from which she gained her views on the world,in the same way Canada's mistakes as a country formed the

Many people across the globe argue that nationalism within Canada is simply not feasible. It is said that we as a people, differ so greatly with our diverse cultures, religions, and backgrounds that we cannot come together and exist together as a strong, united nation. In his book, Lament for a Nation, George Grant tells the reader that “…as Canadians we attempted a ridiculous task in trying to build a conservative nation in the age of progress, on a continent we share with the most dynamic nation on earth. The current history is against us.” (1965) Originally directed towards the Bomarc Missile Crisis, the book argues that whatever nationalism Canada had was destroyed by globalization as well as the powerful American

When one thinks of Canada, he/she is most likely to stereotypically comment on a subject regarding hockey, beavers, maple syrup, and cold weather. However, not many stop and wonder about how Canada became the peaceful nation it is today. Throughout Canada’s relatively short and brief history, it has managed to flourish into a strong and powerful nation. Canada’s peaceful identity has been formed with meaningful historic events that have occurred throughout our history.It’s identity has been characterized by Lester B. Pearson's role during the suez canal, their involvement in the Vietnam war, and its engagement in peacekeeping missions around the world.

On the other hand, Noah’s article provides plenty of relative evidence to support his idea, whereas Granastein’s article is devoid of content and makes a weak appeal to emotion. Noah mentions “the experience of Africadians, and the slaves and black United Empire Loyalists who preceded them”, “the grand derangement or deportation, in 1755, of Acadians that was a first act of ethnic cleansing” and “the persistently criminal abuse, maltreatment and insufficient resourcing of First Nations has to prompt” (par.5) in parallelism form, which sounds full of fervor. These sentences not only bring readers back to that moment, but also arouse their sympathy and feel connected to people that time. Whereas, Granastein merely argues that “We believe our attitudes to be superior to those of our forefathers, but we cannot understand them unless we walk in their shoes” (par.3) but does not explain how does this make differences. Just simply “imagine how some of our present attitudes might look in the 22nd century” (par. 4) without analysis also unable to convince readers that Canadians do not need to be ashamed of the dark side of their history, even though they understand things will change through the time.

When it comes to Canadian History, perhaps the most controversial and widely disputable topic of debate would have to be one of Canada’s greatest wars: The War of 1812. A wide array of views are held on many aspects of the war ranging from who won to what ramifications the war would ultimately sire. In yet another discussion on the ever so controversial War of 1812, a new question was posed and deliberated by five historians: whose war, was it? Like any other question posed about this war a multitude of ideas would ultimately arise in each of their differing viewpoints. In their roundhouse discussion, the historians would ultimately serve to paint the War of 1812 as a war that transcends much further than the nationalistic view. A view that, though an important part of Canadian history, has been exaggerated to the point of choking out the many voices who fought and continue to fight for inclusion in the narrative. In their remembrance of the War of 1812, society unwittingly failed history in their lackluster commemorations which exclude important narratives and voices and stand tainted by the misuse of history to serve the nationalistic agenda.

The Canadian North, a rugged landscape often glamorized as a land of adventure and promise, hides a dark history. From the early day’s of the gold rush, when the land was first colonised, to the attempted cultural assimilation of the indigenous peoples through residential schools, the people native to the area are still in a struggle of identity and culture, and the resulting effects such as high suicide rates, poverty and drug abuse,. It is through this lens that I will examine the work of Ted Harrison, a prolific English artist who spent the majority of his life living in the Yukon and painting the contemporary society that he saw around him. There is no doubt that his work was highly intertwined with the indigenous culture, and as such his identity brings up questions regarding the appropriation of native american culture. To that end, this essay will look at the context of his biography, the subject matter of his work, and compare it to contemporary Native American artists in order to clarify the nature of his art.

Jocelyn Letourneau’s is a history professor that wrote the essay “Reconstructing the Canadian Identity”. The author argues that if one compares the Harper government's idea of conservatism against Trudeau’s idea of multiculturalism, the reader can infer that multiculturalism is failing and Canada should go back to its monarch roots. By bringing back symbols of monarchy, a new Canadian perspective would form. Letourneau’s essay is structured in a very well and composed matter. His arguments and connections are structured in proper format where his whole essay can be linked and understood easily by the average individual. Although Letourneau’s essay is structured in a proper format, it is without its faults. The essay contains many fallacies that give his arguments a weak perspective on the topic. Also throughout his essay, the author appears to be taking a side within his argument. His bias viewpoint makes himself, and his work uncredible to the reader.

As a nation, Canada is known to the rest of the world for being thoughtful, polite, and generally very accepting of all ethnicities and people. However, the treatment of Canada’s Indigenous population, Japanese Canadians, African American and Indigenous slaves seems to suggest otherwise. Canada's dark past may not be talked about often, but there are three main events that targeted specific ethnic groups which still affect those people today. Residential Schools led to major negative cultural consequences, as well as psychological and sociological effects. Japanese-Canadian Internment Camps were used to strip Japanese Canadians of their rights because of the World War II bombing of Pearl Harbor. And finally, for two centuries slavery was legal in New France, and in Lower Canada under British rule. Human beings were being held captive and were owned by many people, including governors, bishops, military officers, priests, and blacksmiths. All of these terrible consequences can be accredited to Canada’s imperialistic policies.

Nationalism is an important aspect of national pride and identity for countries around the world. For example, Canada takes pride in its cultural identity, one that is claimed to be different from other ‘Western’ more ‘industrialized’ nations, such as countries in Europe, and the United States. Even though Canada currently has a national identity that differs greatly from that of other more established countries, history has dictated the way in which a particular national identity exists today. In Canada, Samuel De Champlain and the French established colonies that created a cultural clash between the French Europeans, and First-Nations Canadians within the country. However, this notion of French Canadian Nationalism isn’t necessarily embraced by all of the Canadian Population. This paper seeks to analyze important pieces of Canadian History that have contributed to a broken concept of what constitutes Canadian nationalism, with an emphasis on how historic events prevent and affect coherent Canadian Nationalism in modern society. Through the analysis of the notions and histories associated with ‘First-Nations Nationalism’, ‘Quebecois Nationalism’, and a broader ‘Anti-American’ identity embraced by many Canadians, this paper seeks to locate common ground within the culturally diverse Canadian population in order to progress toward a singular coherent

Method of Research: This research essay will be composed of three parts. Firstly, the paper will use analytical research from primary and secondary bibliographical sources; books, biographies, articles, newspapers, government legislative acts, RCMP-First Nations treaty agreement, and relative historical events.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

Abstract: In 1967, Canada celebrated her centennial as a country unified outwardly, but inwardly divided. Within Canadian letters both French and English-Canadian literary historians had spent a hundred years unsuccessfully attempting to create a unified narrative to explain the shared story of their origins. This paper will focus primarily on English-Canadian literary histories, and the part they played in resolving the “problem” of creating the nation of Canada. I will argue that it took a full century to “solve” the “problem”, and was achieved by Northrup Frye’s when he moving English-Canadian literature outside the realm of socio-politics and entirely into the mythopoeic sphere. However, this “conclusion”, relied on a modernist understanding of the role of meta-narratives in the shared story of nationhood, without which assumption, such a conclusion risks becoming little more than a rhetorical contortion. I will conclude by suggesting that it was only when Canadian letters moved beyond centralized meta-narratives, and started to embrace (in Robert Kroetsch’s words) “Disunity in Unity” that a true “Canadian” literature and a more balanced literary history could begin emerge.

Graeme Garrad, author of the article and a senior lecturer in history at Cardiff University evokes the event of War of 1812. He writes a beautiful article entitled “The saviour of Canada” which was printed in the journal History today in October 2012. This article is about how Canada defended Britain from United States in the War of 1812. He tells about the consequences of the war and describes how Canada helped Britain. I am going to review his article on the basis of language, images, content, facts, His style of writing, how he concluded the argument, what title lead us to expect from the article, bias or not.