Transcript Unit 1 - Ascension Collegiate

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 Englishspeaking farmers.

Growth of the Nation Immigration and Urbanization
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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 “Babymakers”.
 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.

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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
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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

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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
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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.
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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.

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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
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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
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Review Questions
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Questions Page 56
#2 & 4