Creating Canada a History - 1914 to tHe Present · 2017. 9. 18. · Canada and Canadian identity have evolved since 1914 and how this evolution has shaped Canada today. These units

Creating Canada a History - 1914 to tHe Present

Creating Canada is built around one overall issue question: How have local, national, and global forces shaped Canadian identity?

You are not expected to answer this question today. But this overall issue question will become the focus of your thinking as you progress through this course and consider issues that Canadians have grappled with since 1914. This journey of exploration will help you• analyzesignificantevents,trends,andissues• identify,interpret,andevaluateperspectivesandrelationships• identifyandinterpretforcesthatbringaboutchange—andcontribute

to continuity

On this journey, you will come to appreciate that, since 1914, many different individuals and groups with many different perspectives have shaped Canadian identity. You will also come to understand how visions of Canadian identity have evolved and how these changing visions have helped create the country you live in today. Exploring these visions will help equip you to make a reasoned judgment in response to the overall issue question.

Start your journey of exploration by scanning the photographs on this page. Each photo represents an aspect of Canadian identity today. With a partner, examine each photo and its caption. On a slip of paper, record words or phrases (e.g., a hockey nation) that you believe sum up the aspect of Canadian identity each image presents. Join one or two other pairs and compare your responses. How are your word choices the same and how are they different? How might you explain the similarities and differences?

With your group, scan Creating Canada and choose one more photograph to add to the collage. Explain the aspect of Canadian identity represented by your choice.

Figure P-1 Leslie Feist performs at the 2008 Juno Awards.

Figure P-2 Governor General Michaëlle Jean reads the January 2009 throne speech.

Figure P-4 A member of the Canadian air force helps prepare an aid shipment for Myanmar, which was hit by a cyclone in 2008.

Figure P-3 The Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs continue their on-ice rivalry, which has been dubbed the Battle of Ontario.

Figure P-5 Auto workers help build a 2009 Ford Flex at Ford of Canada’s Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant.

PROLOGUE

1mhr • Prologue

PROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUEPROLOGUE

Your Exploration of Canada since 1914As you progress through Creating Canada, your goal is to arrive at a judgment in response to the overall course issue question: How have local, national, and global forces shaped Canadian identity?

To help guide your development of possible responses to this question, youwillstartbyexploringtheCanadayouknowbest—thecountryasitis today. This is the focus of Unit 1.

Three subsequent units build on this foundation and explore how Canada and Canadian identity have evolved since 1914 and how this evolution has shaped Canada today. These units unfold chronologically, starting in 1914.

The following chart shows the relationship between the issue and inquiry questions in Creating Canada. To examine these questions in greater detail, turn to the table of contents.

Chapter Issue Questions

Inquiry Questions

ChapterS 1-4ChapterS 1-4


Inquiry Questions



Inquiry Questions



Inquiry Questions


To what extent have local, national, and global forces shaped Canadian identity?

UNIT One 1989-PRESENT

Unit Issue Question

UNIT two 1914-1938

Unit Issue Question

UNIT three 1939-1959

Unit Issue Question

UNIT four 1960-1988

Unit Issue Question

Overall Course Issue Question

In every unit, an issue question helps guide your exploration of the period that is the focus of the unit. Each unit issue question evolves from — and feeds into — the overall issue question.

Within each unit are four chapters. Each chapter focuses on an issue that evolves from — and feeds into — the unit issue question.

Within each chapter, inquiry questions guide your exploration of responses to the chapter issue question, the unit issue question, and the overall issue question.

2 Creating Canada • mhr

Practise Identifying and Asking Powerful Questions

As you progress through Creating Canada, you will be asked to respond to powerful questions — and to develop powerful questions of your own. With a partner, examine the following questions about Canada and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — NATO. You do not need to answer these questions now. Decide which questions are powerful and which are not and explain the reasons for your judgments.

1. When did the Canadian government decide to join NATO?2. Why did Canada decide to join NATO?3. Should Canada continue to belong to NATO?4. What is the most important benefit or drawback of NATO

membership?

5. To what extent does membership in NATO reduce Canadian sovereignty?

Now, choose a topic (e.g., participating in Earth Hour or school safety). Imagine that a speaker will visit your school to discuss this topic. Create three powerful questions to ask your guest.

Powerful questionsWhen formulating powerful questions, think about the following:

What . . .

is worth knowing?

is uncertain?

is unclear and needs explanation?

requires exploration?

requires a decision or judgment?

leads to deeper understanding?

connects to other familiar events or developments?

incorporates existing knowledge?

sparks imagination? (e.g., What if . . . ?)

engages people’s interest?

requires a shift in perspective?

makes people think?

requires people to express an informed opinion?

Powerful Questions

Asking questions is key to learning. Creating Canada is built around powerfulquestions—theissueandinquiryquestionsthatformthefoundation of this textbook.

Powerful questions require more than a one-word or yes-or-no response. They are questions that help you identify, interpret, and evaluate perspectivesandrelationships;analyzesignificantevents,trends,andissues;andrecognize,interpret,andmakejudgmentsaboutforcesthatbring about change and contribute to continuity.

Asking and responding to powerful questions provides a focus for research and inquiry and helps you think critically. Powerful questions• promotecuriosity,encouragecreativity,andleadtomorequestions• areopen-ended—theymayevenhaveno“correct”response• encourageresponsesthatpromotedeeperunderstandingandrequire

decisions and judgments that can be supported by evidence or criteria

Tips for Creating Powerful QuestionsPowerful questions often begin with words and phrases like the following. But these words and phrases do not always mean that a question is powerful—andtheyarenottheonlywordsandphrasesthatcanintroduce powerful questions. Always read the question carefully and decide whether it promotes inquiry or requires a judgment in response.• Which...(e.g.,Whichformofgovernmentismoreeffective—

democracy or dictatorship?)• Whatif...(e.g.,WhatifCanadahadrefusedtojointheBritishin

fightingWorldWarI?)• How...(e.g.,HowcananationsuchastheQuébécoisexistwithina

nation-state such as Canada?)• Why...(e.g.,WhyisestablishingsovereigntyintheArcticimportant?)• Should...(e.g.,ShouldCanadareturntoamoretraditionalformof

peacekeeping?)• Towhatextent(howmuch)...(e.g.,Towhatextenthasself-

determination been a positive and negative force in Canada?)

3mhr • Prologue


Thinking CriticallyResponding thoughtfully to powerful questions requires you to engage incriticalthinking—andcriticalthinkinginvolvesmakingreasonedjudgments about issues by considering evidence and using clear criteria to arrive at a judgment. An effective critical thinker• investigates,analyzes,andinterpretsallavailablerelevantevidence• makesreasonedjudgments• basesjudgmentsonclearcriteria

The benefits of using criteria to guide decisions extend well beyond thehistoryclassroom.Youmakedecisionseveryday—inyourothercourses, at home, with friends, and at work. You may need to decide whether to take a part-time job, whether to participate in a club excursion, or what courses to take next year. Using criteria to guide these choices will help you succeed in school and ensure that you make the best possible choices when faced with challenges in all aspects of your life.

Choosing Criteria for Making Judgments

When choosing criteria to guide judgments• keepthenumberofcriteriamanageable—aminimumoftwoanda

maximum of four• besurethecriteriareflectthemostimportantorrelevantconsiderations

standard for making a

judgment

criterion (s.)criteria (pl.)

logical way to support a choice or point of view

from same Greek root as “critic,”

“criticize,” and “critical”

can be used to guide

choices

Figure P-6 Criteria and Critical Thinking

What Criteria Would You Use?

The following cases are imaginary, but they will help you practise choosing criteria to make reasoned judgments. In Case 1, two criteria are already filled in. You should choose at least one more criterion. In Case 2, only one criterion is filled in. You should choose at least two more criteria. Transform each criterion into a question.

Case 1

You belong to the school environment club, which has brainstormed to create a list of worthy projects. Now, club members must choose one project to focus on this year. The selected project should

• beachievableoverthecourseoftheschoolyear(Cantheproject’sgoalsbeachievedinthisschoolyear?)• besomethingthatwillcapturetheimaginationofmoststudentsandgeneratewidespreadsupport(Istheprojectinteresting

enough to draw widespread support?)•

Case 2

Your friends and classmates want to nominate you to run for a position in your school’s student government. You must decide whether to accept the nomination. Your decision depends on

• whetheryoucanadjustthehoursofyourpart-timejobsothatyoucanattendmeetings(Canmyworkschedulebeadjustedto accommodate meetings?)

••


HistoriCal tHinking ConCePts

by Peter Seixas

As you engage in the inquiry process, ask and respond to powerful questions, and think critically about the issues you encounter in Creating Canada, you will develop six historical thinking concepts, or HTCs. HTCs are understandings that help guide and shape thinking about history.

InCreating Canada, each HTC is represented by an icon, as shown in Figure P-7. One or more of these icons marks many activities in the book. Each HTC is explained in greater detail on the following pages.

Thinking HistoricallyThings happen. Workers in Winnipeg go on strike in 1919. Canada enters WorldWarIIin1939.Youarebornin...whateveryearyouwereborn.

Buttimemoveson.Theseevents—andmanyothers—becomepartof the past, which includes everything that ever happened. This past is vast and often unknowable. Outside of imagination, people can never again bein1919,1939,ortheyearofyourbirth.Buttheconsequencesofeventsthat happened in those years are still evident today. At the same time as the past has vanished, its legacies have rippled into the present and will continue to ripple into the future.

The Past and Stories about the Past

The past may have vanished, but it remains in the memories people share and in the stories people tell about it. But these stories present challenges—becausethepastandthestoriespeopletellaboutthepastare two different things. Who chooses the stories that are told? Why are certain stories told? To whom are they told? When are they told? What do they mean? Why are some stories not told?

Thepastalsoremainsinitsconsequencesandlegacies.In1945,for example, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Hundreds of thousands of people died or were seriously injured. The U.S. actionendedWorldWarII.TheColdWarstarted,andoverthenextdecades, the U.S. and Soviet Union spent millions of dollars to develop even more deadly weapons. At the same time, scientists found ways to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, such as generating electrical power and diagnosing and treating diseases.

Inthisway,thedroppingofthenuclearbombswasmuchmorethanasingleeventlostinapastthathasvanished.Itsconsequenceshaverippledinto the present and will continue to ripple into the future.

The same is true of your birth. The ripples of this event are felt today by the people around you. And these ripples will continue into thefuture—inthechildrenyouhave,thethingsyouproduce,andtheideas you promote.

Both these examples show that even though the past has vanished, its legacies have continued into the present and will continue to ripple into the future.

Telling ourselves stories about the past has been part of the human experience since Herodotus, the first recognized historian, wrote tales of the Persian wars in 5 BC.

— Domenic Sandbrook, historian, 2009

Voices

Figure P-7 Historical Thinking Concepts

Establishing historical significance

Using primary sources as evidence to build knowledge of the past

Identifying continuity and change

Analyzing cause and consequence

Taking a historical perspective

Understanding the ethical dimension in history

HS

E

C&C

C C

HP

ED

5mhr • Prologue


Establishing Historical SignificanceThe past includes everything that ever happened to anyone. No one canrememberorlearnitall.Choicesmustbemade—andhistorians,teachers, and textbook writers are often the ones who decide which events are historically significant enough to be included in courses of study and textbooks.

But you, too, can think critically about historical significance. Are the actions of politicians and business leaders the only ones that count? Can the experiences of one Saskatchewan farmer during the Great Depression be historically significant? Can the attitude of teenagers in various periods be historically significant?

As people’s values change, judgments about what is historically significant may also change. A hundred years ago, for example, women, immigrants, and Aboriginal people were barely mentioned in history textbooks. Their stories were not considered significant, but this judgment has changed.

Judgments about historical significance may also depend on a person’s point of view. An auto worker in Ontario and an environmentalist in British Columbia may have very different views on the significance of an event or issue.

Aspects of Historical Significance

Historianssuggestthateither—andsometimesboth—ofthefollowingcriteria can be used to judge historical significance:

a) Does the event have serious, long-lasting consequences for many people?Usingthiscriterion,youmightdecidethatWorldWarIIwas

historically significant. But what about a recent history test? The results may be important to you, but they are probably not historically significant.

b) Does the event reveal or shed light on long-lasting or emerging issues?The experiences of a Saskatchewan farmer during the Great

Depression may not have affected millions of people, but her personal story may show how people coped at the time. People today may have comparable concerns, so her story may be judged historically significant.

HS

Figure P-8 When Europeans first arrived in Canada, Aboriginal peoples showed them how to tap sugar maple trees to make maple syrup. Today, Canada produces more than 80 per cent of the world’s maple syrup.

Practise Establishing Historical Significance

In 2008, the federal government declared that the development of the maple products industry was an event of national historical significance. To recognize this, the government pledged to place plaques in McDonalds Corners, Ontario, and Plessisville and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. Maple products are produced in these communities and many others.

Many Canadians agree that maple syrup is important. In 2008, the Dominion Institute announced that maple syrup ranked 40th in a national survey of the 101 people, places, symbols, events, and accomplishments that define Canada.

1. Name three historically significant people, places, symbols, events, or accomplishments you would have chosen if you had taken part in the Dominion Institute survey. Justify your choices by using the criteria suggested for deciding on historical significance.

2. Consider the federal government’s declaration on the maple products industry and maple syrup’s ranking on the Dominion Institute survey. Then use the criteria for judging historical significance to decide whether the maple products industry should be included in the Grade 10 history curriculum.


Using Primary Source EvidencePrimary source evidence links the past and stories about the past. This evidence includes oral testimony, letters, maps, photographs, and radio and TV broadcasts, as well as other artifacts. These artifacts are called primary sources because they were created at the time you are studying. They provide first-hand evidence of what people were thinking, how they lived, and what was happening around them. This evidence helps build your knowledge of the past.

Primary sources are a part of the past in a way that Creating Canada, for example, is not. Creating Canada provides information about the past, and it was written for a specific audience: you.

Primary sources are not about the past; they are part of it. When these sources were created, the creators were not thinking of you. They had other purposes.

InthesamewayasyoumustthinkcriticallyaboutthematerialinCreating Canada and other textbooks, you must also think critically and makeinferences—drawconclusions—aboutwhatprimarysourcesreveal and what they mean.

Aspects of Primary Source Evidence

Asking effective questions can help you make the inferences that transform primary sources into evidence. Your first question might ask, “Whatis[theartifact]?”Otherquestionsmightinclude• Inwhatcontext—circumstancesorsurroundings—wastheartifact

created?• Whatwasthepointofviewoftheauthor—thepersonwhocreated

the artifact?• Whatwastheauthor’spurpose?• Wastheauthorinapositionthatenabledhimorhertoobserve,

experience, or comment on the event?• Whatdoesthesourcerevealabouttheauthor’svaluesandworldview?• Whatnewevidenceaboutitshistoricalsettingdoesthesourceprovide?

E

Practise Using Primary Source Evidence

In his 1969 book, The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada’s Indians, Cree leader Harold Cardinal wrote about the struggle of First Nations people to promote their own cultural identity in the face of government attempts to force them to assimilate — to ignore their own culture and become part of Canada’s dominant culture.

It sometimes seems to Indians that Canada shows more interest in preserving its rare whooping cranes than its Indians. And Canada, the Indian notes, does not ask its cranes to become Canada geese. It just wants to preserve them as whooping cranes. Indians hold no grudge against the big, beautiful, nearly extinct birds, but we would like to know how they managed their deal. Whooping cranes can remain whooping cranes, but Indians are to become brown white men.

1. Review the questions that can help you transform primary sources into evidence. Use the information about Cardinal and the excerpt from his book to respond to as many questions as you can.

2. As a result of your responses, what inferences can you make about the situation of First Nations people in 1969?

7mhr • Prologue


Identifying Continuity and ChangeThinkingabouttheconceptsofcontinuity—whatremainsthesame?— andchange—whatisdifferent?—providesaneffectivewayoforganizingthecomplexityofthepast.

But identifying what has stayed the same and what has changed is not always as simple as it seems. At any one time, many things can be happening. Changes may occur at a different pace at different times, or many changes can occur at much the same time. An election, for example, might bring about a rapid change in government at a time when little change is occurring in the way people live as families.

One way to identify continuity and change is to look for continuities at a time when rapid changes seemed to occur (e.g., in CanadaafterWorldWarI).Youmightalsolookforchangesatatime when it seemed things were staying the same (e.g., in English CanadaafterWorldWarII).

Judgments about continuity and change can be made by comparing a situation at a specific point in the past with a similar situation today or by comparing two specific points in the past (e.g.,thesituationinQuebecbeforeandaftertheOctobercrisis of 1970).

Aspects of Continuity and Change

a) Continuity and change are interrelated. Change is usually a continuous process rather than a series of separate events.

b) Circumstances change more quickly at some times than at others. Itoftenhelpstoidentifyturningpoints—timeswhenadecisivechange occurs.

c) Change does not always signal progress. Measuring progress and decline are ways of evaluating change over time.

d)Developingachronology—thesequenceinwhicheventsoccurred—canhelporganizeyourunderstandingofcontinuityand change. You cannot understand continuity and change without knowing the order in which things happened.

e)Thinkingabouthistoryintermsofspecificperiods(e.g.,theRoaringTwentiesortheSwingingSixties)canhelporganizeyourunderstanding of continuity and change.

C&C

Practise Identifying Continuity and Change

Figure P-9 shows service stations at three different times.

1. Examine the photographs and identify what has stayed the same. What is different?2. On the basis of the similarities and differences you identified in the photographs, predict one thing that is likely to continue

and one thing that is likely to change over the next 10 years.

Figure P-9

1925

1975

2005


Identifying Cause and ConsequenceIdentifyingcausesandconsequencesisanothereffectivewayoforganizingpast events. This involves thinking about the role of, and limits on, individuals and groups in shaping events.

Think, for example, about a goal scored by Gillian Apps of the Canadian women’s national hockey team. What caused the goal? Was it Apps’s ability to get into scoring position? Was it Katie Weatherston’s pass, which gave Apps the puck at exactly the right time? Or was the goalie out of position?

Underlyingfactorscanalsoplayaroleincausingevents.InApps’scase, these indirect causes might include her high fitness level, the guidance of her coaches, or even the funding received from Sport Canada andotherorganizations.Andthegoalcouldnothavebeenscoredifrefrigerationtechnologyhadnotenabledicemakerstocreatetheice—orif the game of hockey had never been invented.

This shows that even a minor event, like a single goal in a hockey game, can be the consequence of complex causes. And the consequences of a single event can be equally complex.

One direct consequence of Apps’s goal might have been the team’s winning a championship. But this success might also have far-reaching or indirectconsequences.Itmight,forexample,inspiremoreyoungwomentosignuptoplayhockeyorencouragesportorganizationstoincreasetheir funding to the national team.

Aspects of Cause and Consequence

a) Causes are often numerous and layered. They may involve long-term conditions and short-term actions.

b) Human beings are the agents of change. This means that they cause change, but they often do this in contexts that limit the changes. These limiting contexts can include the natural environment, geography, and historical legacies, as well as other people with different goals.

As a result, the agents of change are constantly shaping and responding to conditions. Many of these conditions, such as political and economic circumstances, are legacies of earlier human actions.

c) Actions may result in unintended consequences.

C C

Practise Identifying Cause and Consequence

In the fall of 2008, the United States experienced an economic crisis. Its economy took a sharp downturn. The value of stocks on stock markets plunged, financial institutions went out of business, companies laid off workers, and consumers cut back on spending. The consequences of this downturn were felt in Canada and around the world.

1. Create an organizer like the one shown. On it, record several direct and indirect consequences for Canada of the economic downturn in the United States. If necessary, add more bubbles to your organizer.

2. Select the direct consequence that you think is the most important. Explain your choice.

Economic Crisis in United States

2008

Direct Consequences

Direct Consequences

Indirect Consequences

Indirect Consequences

9mhr • Prologue


Taking a Historical PerspectiveMany things about the past were so different from today that people sometimes conclude that those who lived in the past were ignorant or misguided, or both. But many historians argue that it is unfair to judge past actions by today’s standards. They say that past actions should be judged according to the standards of the time.

People in the past differed from people today in many ways. Of course, they dressed differently and did not have access to the conveniences that are available today. These are obvious differences. But the way they thought and experienced the world, and perhaps even the way they felt werealsodifferent—sometimessodifferentthatitmaybehardforpeopletodaytoimagine.ThisiswhatL.P.Hartley,whoisquotedin“Voices,”meantwhenhedescribedthepastas“aforeigncountry.”

Taking a historical perspective means putting yourself in the shoes of someoneinthepast—butinawaythatleavesbehind,temporarily,someofthe values and beliefs that shape your thinking today. Doing this helps you understand the forces that shaped people’s thoughts and actions at the time.

Taking a historical perspective does not mean that you must agree with the actions people took or the attitudes they displayed. But it does mean trying to understand them. Primary sources can help you do this, but you must be careful not to impose your own meanings on what you see and hear.

Aspects of Historical Perspective Taking

a) Gathering evidence helps you take a historical perspective by inferring how people felt and thought at the time.

b) When considering historical events, remember that people’s views on what was happening were probably as diverse then as they would be today. Understanding the diversity of perspectives among the people involved is key to understanding an event.

c)Takingtheperspectiveofahistoricalfiguredoesnotmean that you agree or identify with the person.

HP

Practise Taking a Historical Perspective

When World War I started in 1914, Britain controlled Canada’s foreign policy. At the time, about 55 per cent of Canadians were of British heritage. As the war raged, Canadians disagreed over Canada’s future role in the British Empire.

Some people sided with Conservative prime minister Robert Borden, who wanted Canada to remain in the British Empire — but to have equal status with the United Kingdom. But Wilfrid Laurier, a francophone and a former prime minister who led the opposition Liberals, wanted independence for Canada.

1. Compare the two views reflected in the cartoon in Figure P-10. How are they similar? How are they different?2. If you were asked to explain one view from the historical perspective of a Canadian in 1915, what ideas of your own might

you need to set aside?

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

— L.P. Hartley, British writer, in The Go-Between, 1953

Voices

Figure P-10 In 1915, an artist drew a cartoon like this to show the debate over Canada's role in the British Empire. The cartoon was titled Two Conceptions of Empire.

The British Empire as Sir Wilfrid Laurier would have it.

"The goal of MY aspiration is the independence of Canada"

– Sir Wilfrid Laurier

The British Empire as Sir Robert Borden views it.

"The highest future for this Dominion lies within this Empire upon conditions of equal status."

– Sir Robert Borden


Understanding the Ethical DimensionMost historians try not to make ethical judgments about past actions as they create their accounts. This is because historians understand that today’sethicalstandards—thecodepeopleusetojudgewhetheractionsarerightorwrong—maybedifferentfromthestandardspeopleusedinthe period they are describing.

But at the same time, if a story is to be meaningful, an ethical judgment is usually involved. A history of the Holocaust, for example, is unlikely to mean much if it does not take an ethical stand.

Studying and learning from past actions can help shape the way people think about ethical dilemmas today. Sometimes, history helps peoplehonouradebtofmemory—toancestors,forexample,whosacrificed to ensure the well-being of those who came after them. Other times, history helps clarify whether an apology is due for past actions, suchastheinternmentofJapanesepeopleduringWorldWarII.Andstillother times, history supports a case for making amends to crime victims, such as Aboriginal children who were abused at residential schools.

Aspects of the Ethical Dimension

a) All meaningful historical accounts involve ethical judgments. These may be implied or plainly expressed.

b)Injudgingpastactions,historianstrytotakeahistoricalperspectiveand guard against imposing today’s ethical standards on the past.

c)Theneedtomakeanethicaljudgmentcanconflictwiththeneedto guard against imposing today’s ethical standards on past actions. Historiansoftendealwiththisconflictby• askingquestionsthathaveanethicaldimension(e.g.,Isitfairtosay

that Canadian society in 1914 was racist?)• suspendingjudgmenttotrytounderstandtheperspectivesofthe

historicalfigures• emergingfromthestudyofhistoricalactionswithobservationsabout

how the ethical implications of these past actions should be applied today

ED

Practise Understanding the Ethical Dimension

In 1945, World War II ended in Europe, but Japan fought on. In the meantime, American scientists had developed the atomic bomb, a weapon that could cause massive destruction. This placed United States president Harry Truman in a dilemma.

Truman could use the new weapon against Japan. This would probably end the war quickly, but many Japanese civilians would be killed.

At the same time, American forces were successfully fighting Japanese forces in the Pacific. If Truman did not use the bomb, this fighting would continue. It looked as if the Americans would win — but at the cost of many lives.

In the end, Truman chose to use the bomb. His decision was controversial at the time, and it remains controversial today.

1. Take a historical perspective and think about the decision Truman faced. Develop two questions that could help you explore the ethical dimensions of his decision — from a historical perspective.

11mhr • Prologue

12

Your courseChallenge

Your CourseChallenge

Steps to Your

Challenge Steps to Your

Challenge

Create a museum display that responds to the overall course issue question:To what extent have local, national, and global forces shaped Canadian identity?

Creating Canada • mhr

An Enduring Controversy at the Canadian War Museum

In2006,manywarveteranswereoutragedwhentheCanadianWarMuseum in Ottawa mounted an exhibit titled An Enduring Controversy. The exhibit included photographs of German cities that had been flattenedbyAlliedbombsduringWorldWarII.Thedescriptionconcluded:“ThevalueandmoralityofthestrategicbomberoffensiveagainstGermanyremainsbitterlycontested.”

The veterans said that the description was inaccurate. The museum said the description was factual. Respected historians weighed in on both sides of the debate.

Finally, veterans’ groups took their complaints to the Senate. After hearingthearguments,thesenatorssaid,“Theveterans’argumentisbased on fact and emotion, while the Canadian War Museum’s stand is basedonfactandacademicobjectivity.”Thesenatorsaskedthemuseumtorewritethedescriptiontoavoidmisunderstandings—whilealso“presentinganequallyhistoricallyaccurateversion”oftheraids.

The museum rewrote the description, noting public support in Canada for the raids, the damaging effects of the raids on Germany, and the courage and sacrifice of the Canadian aircrews involved. The rewrittenversionconcluded:“ThestrategicbombingcampaignagainstGermany, an important part of the Allied effort that achieved victory, remainsasourceofcontroversytoday.”

History and Perspective

Although the Allies’ bombing of German cities had taken place more than60yearsearlier,thecontroversyovertheCanadianWarMuseum’sapproach to the campaign showed its continuing power to spark debate.

Everyone involved probably agreed that the bombing raids happened and were historically significant. But they disagreed over how the story of the raids should be told. Those who assembled the museum display interpretedtheeventsaccordingtotheirperspective—andothersbrought differing perspectives to the issue.

The original Canadian War Museum panel, shown here, said: “Although Bomber Command and American attacks left 600,000 Germans dead, and more than five million homeless, the raids resulted in only small reductions in German war production until late in the war.”

Your Museum Display

As you proceed through the four units of Creating Canada, you will assemble a museum display to present your view of past events and issues. Each unit challenge asks you to respond to the unit issue question by creating one exhibit for your display. Your finished display will include fourexhibitsthatidentify,analyze,interpret,andevaluatetheextenttowhich local, national, and global forces have shaped Canadian identity since 1914.

What Your Museum Display Will Include

The four exhibits that make up your display will help show your understandings of, and your opinions about, each unit issue question. Each will contribute to your overall understanding of the ways in which local, national and global forces have shaped Canadian identity since 1914.

You will also create a guide to help people who visit your display understand and appreciate your point of view on the unit questions and the course issue question. The guide may be printed, audio- or videotaped, or produced using computer presentation software.

At the end of each unit, you will have an opportunity to complete one element of your display and begin putting together your guide.

13mhr • Your Course Challenge

1989 TO 2006Unit

UnitONE 1989 to the present

TipTo help plan

your exhibits, visit a historical museum in

your community.

Unit 1 (1989–Present) Interview Witnesses to History

Unit 3 (1938–1959) Create Historical Trading Cards

Unit 2 (1914–1938) Interpret History Using Written Primary Sources

Unit 4 (1960–1988) Interpret History Using Visual Primary Sources

Issue Question: To what degree has a commitment to social justice been significant in creating Canada today?

To help you respond to this issue question, your challenge asks you to conduct and report on two interviews with people who were witnesses to the history of the period.

Issue Question: To what degree did events and issues transform Canada between 1939 and 1959?

To help you respond to this issue question, you will create two trading cards that represent people or events that helped transform Canada during this period.

Issue Question: To what degree did internal and external forces transform Canada between 1914 and 1938?

To help you respond to this issue question, your challenge asks you to analyze, interpret, and evaluate written primary source documents from the period.

Issue Question: To what degree did internal and external forces transform Canada between 1960 and 1988?

To help you respond to this issue question, you will analyze, interpret, and evaluate visual records from the period.

14

Assembling Your Museum Display

Step 1 Keep Notes

As you complete each of the four exhibits that will make up your museum display, keep notes to help you pull everything together. You might, for example, note the feedback you receive from classmates and your teacher so that you can revise and improve each exhibit before assembling the display. And be sure to keep track of the sources you consult. You will need to include these in your guide.

Tohelpyoudothis,youmaywishtocreateanorganizerlikethe one shown.

Step 2 Plan Your Overall Presentation

Think about how you will present your display, as well as the materials and equipment (e.g., a table, a bulletin board) you will need to present it effectively.

To do this, think about techniques that can enhance your display (e.g., colourful, attention-grabbing headings). Share your ideas with a partner or your teacher. On the basis of the feedback you receive, you may wish to revise or add to your ideas.

Step 3 Anticipate Questions and Alternative Views

Identifyandanalyzethekeyideasandinterpretationsineachexhibitandhow these will help you respond to the course issue question.

Think about questions your audience is likely to ask about both the display and your response to the course issue question. Try to anticipate questions and prepare yourself to respond to alternative points of view.

Creating Canada • mhr

Step 2Step 2Step 2Step 2Step 2Step 2Step 2 Plan Your Overall Presentation

My Museum Display

Unit What My Exhibit Will Include

Feedback Sources

Unit 1 Interviews

Unit 2 Primary Sources

Unit 3 Trading Cards

Unit 4 Visual Sources

Step 4 Put Together Your Guide

Plan, research, draft, and revise your guide. Think about the layout, visuals, and words you might use.

Your guide should• clearlystateyourresponsetothecourseissuequestion• describehowidentifying,analyzing,interpreting,andevaluatingthe

issues in each of the four exhibits helped you arrive at your response to the course issue question

• explainyourcriteria,summarizeyourevidence,andexplainhowtheevidence supports your position

• includealistofresearchsourcesinthecorrectformatThink about how you might describe each exhibit to show how

itrelatestothefocusofyourdisplay.Draftplansfororganizingthecomponents of your guide.

Prepare a first draft of your guide. Share this with a partner or your teacher and use this feedback to edit your guide. Then read your guide several times. Focus on a specific editing aspect each time and revise as needed.

15mhr • Your Course Challenge

Editing Your Museum Guide

First Reading — Focus on the big picture. Ask yourself whether you have

(clearly stated your position on the course issue question

(provided enough evidence to support your position

(presented your arguments in a logical order

Second Reading — Focus on language. Ask yourself whether you have

(included logical connections between the parts of the guide

(communicated exactly what you want your audience to know

(used language that is appropriate for your audience

Third Reading — Focus on grammar, spelling, usage, and other fine points. Ask yourself whether you have

(checked the spelling of words you are not sure about

(constructed sentences that are grammatically correct

(included an accurate and complete list of sources

Fourth Reading — Focus on reviewing the guide against the checklist for success.As you complete this challenge, use the checklist for success (see Appendix 1: Checklists for Success, p. 406) to make sure your display includes all the elements necessary to be successful.

Documents

Creating Canada a History - 1914 to tHe Present · 2017. 9. 18. · Canada and Canadian identity have evolved since 1914 and how this evolution has shaped Canada today. These units