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CHAPTER 2: CANADA AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE

INTERNET FOCUS QUESTIONS:

Communities: Local, National, and Global

  • How did Great Britain influence Canadian political and economic policies during the early 1900s?

Change and Continuity

  • How did Canadian political autonomy from Great Britain evolve in the early part of the century?

Citizenship and Heritage

  • How did the women's movement contribute to a change in women's economic status during the twentieth century?

Social, Economic, and Political Structures

  • How and why have changing economic conditions and patterns affected Canadian women?

Methods of Historical Inquiry

  • What reasonable generalization about future challenges can you infer from an historical map?

ACTIVITIES

PART OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

12.

 

Research the extent of the British Empire in the early 1900s. Create a global map to illustrate how political and economic interests will likely cause challenges in Canada's relationship with Britain and the US during the century.

What was the extent of the British Empire? What effect did being a part of this empire have on Canadians? Begin this extension activity by researching the British Empire and then create a map that shows its extent prior to World War I. Use the Internet links below to find sources of information for your map.

Next, with other students, brainstorm reasons why the British Empire came into being. What was its purpose? Whose economic and trade interests did it serve? What trade links existed between Britain and the dominions and colonies of the British Empire? Take notes as you engage in the brainstorming session; you will need these notes as you move back to your historical map to complete this activity.

Working independently, add notations and/or legends to your map of the British Empire to illustrate the location of the trouble spots prior to World War I. Where were the challenges to Canada's relationship with Britain likely to arise? Review some of the maps in Canada: Our Century, Our Story to get ideas for additions to your map: legends, captions, and symbols that you could use to illustrate problem areas. (For example, see the maps on pages 59, 75, 76, 167, 181, 258, and 278.)

Finally, write a paragraph to accompany your map, summarizing what you perceive to be the strongest challenges to the relationship between Canada and Britain in the years after 1914.

To help you complete this activity and understand how you can use historical maps to assist you with analysing and evaluating historical information, review Historian at Work: Using Historical Maps (pages 194-195). For background on Canada's relationship with Britain at this time, see Part of the British Empire (pages 30-33) and The Alaska Boundary Dispute (starting on page 33).

The following questions will help you focus your research for illustrating your map of the British Empire:

  • What were Canada's political ties with Britain? What events had strained those ties?
  • Where were the trouble spots in the British Empire in the early years of the century? How did Canada react to Britain's problems in these trouble spots? What conflicts arose between Britain and Canada?
  • What were Canada's economic ties with Britain? Why was Canada beginning to create closer economic ties with the US? What were those ties?
  • What trade links (exports and imports) did Canada have with Britain? What difficulties had Canada faced with regard to these trade links?
  • If you were a Canadian viewing your map in 1914, where do you think the challenges to the British Empire would be likely to arise? How are these challenges likely to affect the political and economic relationships between Britain and Canada?

Visit the following websites for information on the extent of, and rationale for, the British Empire:

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WOMEN: THE STRUGGLE FOR RIGHTS

13.

 

Using Internet archival sources and current data, create a comparison chart of the economic status of Canadian women at the beginning and the end of the century. What advances have women gained? What remains to be done?

Women_Rights

Women's economic and labour situations have changed a great deal since the early 1900s. In this activity, you will review and research historical and current statistics on the composition of the Canadian work force and on women as a percentage of that work force. You will also create a bar graph comparing data on women's occupations at the beginning and the end of the century. Download the table, "Women as a Percentage of the Labour Force, by Occupation, 1901-1993" to create this graph. Finally, write a paragraph in which you draw conclusions about how women's economic status in Canada has changed and about what remains to be done for women to gain equality in their work and in their economic situation.

As background, review, in Canada: Our Century, Our Story, "Women: The Struggle for Rights" (page 37). The Historian at Work feature, "Using Statistics" (page 139), will also be helpful to you as you work through this activity. Rereading the Primary Source feature for this chapter, "At Least Two Petticoats" (page 41), will help you to understand the working conditions for some working women in the early 1900s. The following questions will help you focus your research:

  • What industries did the majority of women work in at the beginning of the century? What industries do the majority of women work in today?
  • What were the occupations of the majority of women at the beginning of the century? What are the occupations of the majority of women today?
  • How and why has women's employment status changed from the early to the late 1900s?
  • What government policies have contributed to changes in women's economic status?
  • What additional factors do you need to consider in order to get a true picture of women's work and women's economic status?

Visit the following Internet Web sites for background and statistical information:

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