HIST 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Chronicle Herald, Canadian English, Great Coalition
Lecture 1 – May 1st
• Analyzing primary sources in class
• All readings are available via mycourses or the McGill Online Library
• Essay – 30%
o 8-9 pages double spaced
o Must choose between 4 given essay topics (on syllabus)
o Not a primary source research based essay
o How we tell Canadian history, why we choose a specific narrative, how it
portrays the authors point of view and the specific audience it chooses
• Final – 30%
o Two sections:
o 1) Short answer
▪ Identify and explain the historical significance of 5 out of 10 events,
concepts, names
▪ Will give us some heads up during lecture about possible options
o 2) Essays
▪ Answer 2 out of 3 essays
Confederation, 1867
• Leading up to Confederation
o New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, (get last province), joined together to form 4
provinces
▪ 4 colonies became a dominion
o What led to this union?
o Only a minority was directly benefited and most Canadians were not
consulted
• Heritage minute video
o Made under the Harper government
o Start an ongoing conversation about confederation
o Showed the depiction of the Charlottetown convention and the Quebec
conference
o A lot of alcohol – MacDonald was a known alcoholic and would use alcohol to
try and sway other confederates
• Whether 1887 or 1864 marks the beginning of Canada, is this the best place to start?
(some choose to start Canadian history earlier)
• Other historians argue that the confederation was formed through pre-existing
political ideology – responsible government
• When considering Canadian identity, historians don’t look to confederation, they
look at World War I – until 1947 there were no such things as Canadian citizens
• We won’t be limiting our view to politics
• Rich white male lawyers and business men sitting around a table
o Canada was shaped around a table rather than a revolution
• In 1867, the population of the new Dominion of Canada was 3.5 million
o Only one in five Canadians lived in urban centers (or communities with a
population over 1000)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
