UNIT 1

Canada at the Turn of the 20th Century

(1900- 1914)

Sir Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minster of Canada 1896-1911

Settling the West Laurier and the Liberal party governed the

country for 15 years after the election of 1896.

Clifford Sifton ( Minster of the Interior ) was appointed to find ways of drawing settlers into Canada West.

The prairies were open for settlement. They needed someone to farm them!

Sifton attempted to persuade settlers from other countries to move to the prairies.

Advertizing campaigns in Britain, Europe, and the United States described the opportunities available in Canada.

Eventually, the plan worked and people came to the west in the tens of thousands.

Immigration Poster

Why people immigrated to Canada

Free land was the big attraction. 160 acres!

Not much land left for farming in the United States.

Demand for Canadian wheat in Europe increased.

Canada now had a railroad for trading and shipping.

Technological innovations ( steel ploughs, tractors) that would make farming a much easier job.

Millions of Europeans were looking for a place to go .

Sifton’s immigration policy Sifton’s policy was rather selective and

excluded or discouraged certain groups restricted entry of non-white and non

English people, including many minority groups.

Mainly interested in white English- speaking farmers.

Growth of the Nation - Immigration and Urbanization

Immigration is the movement of people into a country from other lands.

Almost 2 million people immigrated to Canada in only ten years (1901-1911).

These immigrants came from many different places, primarily the US, Britain and Europe.

As more people came, the ethnic diversity also increased. By 1912, almost 1/5th of the population was neither British nor French in origin.

As per Sifton and Laurier’s plan, most of the settlers moved to the west.

In 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan become the newest provinces of Canada.

In 1912 the boundaries of Manitoba, Quebec, and Ontario were extended.

Urbanization Urbanization is the movement of people into cities and towns.

Urbanization was of great concern to Canada in the early 20th century

With all of the new immigrants arriving, places to live were very difficult to come by.

Moving to Canada to find a better life was the goal of the immigrants and many of them decided to settle in cities.

Conditions were at the poverty level as overcrowding and unemployment quickly became a major problem.

WOMEN in the 20th Century:

The mentality of the time was that men were people and women were “Baby-makers”.

Their main function was to cook, clean and have children.

Any sign of independence, including going out in public on their own, was a sign of disgrace for a proper woman about 100 years ago.

Job options for women who wanted to work were very limited:

the poor worked as servants and factory workers ( textiles ).

The rich attended school and became either nurses or teachers.

Emily Stowe( Canada’s first women doctor) formed the Toronto Women’s Literary club in 1876 to help win the right to vote.

Adelaide Hoodless formed the first Woman’s Institute in 1897. It promoted the value of country living and good home management.

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)was formed to improve the lives of women, children, workers and the poor.

- one member of the WCTU, Nellie McClung, led in the fight for women’s rights.

Adelaide Hoodless

Nellie Mcclung

Review Questions

Questions page 47

2 and 4

Read Pages 48-50

Imperialism Imperialism is when powerful nations extend

their control over weaker nations or peoples.

Most English Canadians supported the imperialist movement and the British Empire..

French Canadians felt a stronger sense of pride and loyalty in their own culture and country which is referred to as nationalism.

The Boer War 1899 - 1902 Broke out in 1899 in South Africa This created a crisis in Canada that was

centered around imperialism. Started because the British were after

gold and diamonds that was discovered in 1885-86.

Tensions increased and the Boers( descendents of Dutch settlers) declared war on Britain

Did not directly concern Canada but because of our ties with Britain, they called for us to help them

English Canadians agreed, but the French Canadians did not.

Wilfred Laurier played a big part ; he sent 7000 volunteers and spent 2.5 million dollars in their support.

Laurier didn’t fully satisfy anyone, imperialists felt that Canada had let Britain down. The French Canadians had felt that Laurier had done too much.

Review Questions

Questions Page 52

1, 2 and 3

The Alaska Boundary Dispute of 1903 A dispute developed over the border

between Alaska and Canada

The United States had purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.

The Canadians argued that the boundary should be measured from the mountains nearest the ocean.

Americans were determined to keep as much land as they could.

President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to send troops to Alaska to protect the American Claim.

Eventually, the dispute was submitted to a tribunal of six judges (3 Americans, 2 Canadians and 1 British[ Lord Alverstone]).

After a full month of discussion, the tribunal decided 4:2 against Canada.

When the decision was announced, Canadians were outraged. The British voted against Canada’s claim.

In 1909, an International Joint Commission was set up to settle peacefully any Future disputes between Canada and the United States.

Canadians were becoming more determined that Canada must make its own decisions in the future.

Question P. 56 # 3

The Naval Crisis There was a very real possibility of war between

Britain and Germany.

They were in a race to have the largest navy in the world.

Britain wanted Canada and other colonies to contribute money to help build more ships for the British Navy.

Britain would soon fall behind in the naval race without help from its colonies.

Laurier offered a compromise again - the Naval Service Bill of 1910.

Canada would have a navy of its own under the control of the Canadian Government.

In time of war Britain could use Canada’s navy.

Service would be voluntary

Henri Bourassa and some French Canadians Nationalists complained that the policy meant that Canadians could be sent anywhere at anytime to fight the British Imperialist wars

The Conservatives, led by Robert Borden, accused Laurier of setting up a “tin-pot Canadian Navy” when an immediate contribution of money to the British Navy was urgently needed.

This resulted in further tensions between English and French-speaking Canadians.

HMCS Rainbow

Reciprocity ( Free Trade) Farmers in Western Canada demanded

lower tariffs on goods traded between Canada and the United States.

Farm machinery in the United States sold for half the price in Canada.

The high costs were blamed on Ontario and Quebec who grew rich because of the tariffs which kept competition out of Canada.

Laurier dealt with the issue by working out the Reciprocity Agreement.

The agreement was to trade certain products without taxes.

It was a deal every Canadian Government had tried to make with the United States since confederation.

At first this agreement seemed to ensure Laurier would win the next election.

Clifford Sifton a liberal cabinet minster opposed reciprocity.

Business people fearing competition from cheap American products fought the idea.

Canadian Nationalists did not want to see Canadian resources to leave Canada.

An American’s Journalist declared he looked forward to the day the American flag would fly all over North America

Anti-Reciprocity Poster

These issues were enough to defeat the Laurier’s Liberal Government in 1911 thus ending the “Golden Age of Laurier”.

Reciprocity was killed

The two issues that helped defeat Laurier’s Liberals were:

The Naval Service Bill The Reciprocity Deal Laurier died later, on February 17, 1919

Review Questions

Questions Page 56

#2 & 4