Canada, Britain and the Empire:

Imperialism: The policy of establishing colonies away from the homeland.

Imperialism was a major issue/objective of many European countries.

Why did the big European countries look to colonies?

1.Great source of raw material.

2. They became a market for their manufactured goods.

3. Brought prestige, glory

4. Helped improve the military strength.

Canada was part of the British Empire at the turn of the century.

•English Canadians supported the Imperialist movement.

•French Canadians took less pride in the Imperialist movement.

Boer War(South Africa)

Orange Free State & Transvaal

1885-6 there was a huge discovery of gold fields in S. Africa

It brought British settlers to the regionAfricaners fought British for control. 1899-

1902. Britain suffered huge losses initially. -They requested help from Canada

P.M. Laurier was met with dilemma. If he chose to help Britain he could lose French Canadian support

Laurier came up with a compromise. He refused to officially order the Canadian army to South Africa

He did allow troops to volunteerCanada would finance equipment and

transportation to S. Africa but once there the British had to take care of them

English who were patriotic felt very disappointed with this lukewarm response from their government

French Canadians showed little enthusiasm for the response. Wanted all Canadians to build a strong, independent Canada. Let Britain handle in own problems

Naval Crisis

1909 The British asked members of its Empire including Canada for financial help in expanding their navy

Britain were in naval race with Germany at the time

Another dilemma for Laurier. He needed to satisfy the British without angering the French Canadians

Laurier felt obliged to respondNaval service bill was passed in 1910Canada would create its own navy( it

would be able to protect Canada and ease burden on the British)

The navy would be under British control in the event of war

Henri Bourassa and other Quebec nationalists were already resentful due to other issues

Canada should take care of its own problems and Britain likewise

French felt by supporting British it would increase our chances of being dragged into war

French also feared conscription while British supporters were upset with limited support. Major issue of 1911 election

Alaskan Boundary Dispute

United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, but Canadian Alaskan border was unclear.

Yukon gold rush brought the issue to the forefront as thousands of miners entered the area

Where was the southern border? Did it follow the coastline(Canadian claim) or the inlets (American claim)

A 6 person tribunal made up of 3 Americans, 2 Canadians and 1 British met to settle the issue in 1903

The result favoured the Americans because Britain took the American

Many Canadians felt betrayed by the British

including LaurierBut many others felt the dispute

underlined the need to maintain a positive British connection as a barrier against the United States

Red line indicates the Canadian declaration of the line. The blue is the American case. The yellow line indicates where the border finally ended up.

What similarities do you see in these issues?

What differences?