1999/2000 ACADEMIC YEAR –
FALL SESSION 2000
HISTORICAL STUDIES 339-L02
OFFICE NO: TBA
TELEPHONE: TBA
Office
Hours: Mondays and Fridays, 10:00-10:50, or by appointment
Course
Description:
The
course provides a comprehensive history of what is now Canada to 1867. Topics
include Natives and Native-white relations, New France and French-English
relations, the fur trade, military conflicts, political developments, social
and economic trends, and women.
Required
Readings:
R. Douglas Francis, Richard Jones,
and Donald B. Smith, Origins:
Canadian History to Confederation, fourth edition (2000)
R. Douglas Francis and Donald B.
Smith, eds., Readings in Canadian History: Pre-Confederation, fifth
edition (1998)
Department of History Essay Guide -
available in print and on the History Department web page
(http://hist.ucalgary.ca)
Grading:
First
Exam: 20% October 13
Research
Paper: 40% Due on November 17
Final
Exam: 40% Scheduled by the Registrar
Students
must complete all of the above requirements to pass the course. The exams are
not open book.
Schedule:
SEPTEMBER
11 - 15
Natives
before contact. Early European exploration.
Origins, 1-18, 27-44
SEPTEMBER
18 - 22
New
France, the Hurons, and the Iroquois.
Origins, 47-62, 65-82
Bruce
G. Trigger, ‘The French Presence in Huronia: The Structure of Franco-Huron Relations in the First Half of the
Seventeenth Century,’ in Readings, 22-42
SEPTEMBER
25 - 29
New
France as a Crown colony. The Anglo-French struggle for a continent. The
Conquest.
Origins, 87-112, 117-35
Jan
Noel, ‘New France: Les Femmes Favorisees,’ in Readings, 96-111
W.J.
Eccles, ‘Society and the Frontier,’ in Readings, 82-95
OCTOBER
2 - 6
Acadia
and Quebec to 1774.
Origins, 138-54, 162-84
Jose
Igartua, ‘A Change in Climate: The Conquest and the Marchands of Montreal,’ in Readings, 209-21
OCTOBER
9: No class - Thanksgiving Day
OCTOBER
11
Quebec
from the American Invasion to the Constitutional Act of 1791.
Origins, 188-204
OCTOBER
13: First exam
OCTOBER
16 - 20
The
Maritime colonies and Upper Canada to 1815.
Origins, 207-24, 228-48
Jane Errington, ‘“Woman ... Is a Very
Interesting Creature”: Some Women’s Experiences
in Early Upper Canada,’ in Readings, 240-53
OCTOBER
23 - 27
Lower
Canada to 1840. Upper Canada, 1815-1840.
Origins, 256-81, 286-310
Fernand
Ouellet, ‘The Insurrections,’ in Readings, 261-72
OCTOBER
30 - NOVEMBER 3
Politics
in the Canadas to 1864.
Origins,
315-37
NOVEMBER
6 - 10
Social
and economic developments in the Canadas to 1864.
Origins, 341-66
W.
Thomas Matthews, ‘The Myth of the Peaceable Kingdom: Upper Canadian Society during the Early Victorian Period,’
in Readings, 304-17
NOVEMBER
13: No class - reading day
NOVEMBER
15-17 (Research paper due on November 17)
The
Maritimes colonies, 1815 to 1864.
Newfoundland to the 1860s.
Origins, 376-98, 402-18
Graeme
Wynn, ‘Ideology, Society, and State in the Maritime Colonies of British North
America, 1840-1860,’ in Readings, 388-414
NOVEMBER
20 - 24
The
Northwest to the 1860s.
Origins, 423-43
Sylvia
Van Kirk, ‘“Women in Between”: Indian Women in Fur Trade Society in Western
Canada,’ in Readings, 64-74
NOVEMBER
27 - December 1
The
West Beyond the West to the 1860s.
Origins, 448-67
DECEMBER
4 - 8
The
Confederation movement. Conclusion.
Origins, 474-94
A.I.
Silver, ‘Confederation and Quebec,’ in Readings, 479-89
Research
Papers:
The research papers must be at least
ten pages of double-spaced text (approximately 2400 words), must be based on at
least six sources, and must conform to the requirements of the Department of
History Essay Guide (students should pay particular attention to the section on
plagiarism). A half grade will be deducted for each day the paper is late
without legitimate excuse. Students should keep a second copy of their essay to
protect them against loss.
The following are suggested essay
topics for papers. Students wishing to write on another subject must first
discuss their proposal with the instructor.
1. Analyze the role and status of
women in Iroquois society.
2. Compare the position of women in
different native societies.
3. Assess the various theories about
Norse activities in Greenland and North America.
4. Discuss the role of native women
in the fur trade.
5. To what extent, where, and when
did Amerindians become dependent on fur trade goods for their survival?
6. What theory or theories best explain
native participation in the fur trade?
7. Assess Calvin Martin’s thesis
that the eastern woodlands natives launched a ‘holy war of extermination’ on
the animals.
8. Discuss the relative strengths
and weaknesses of the Hudson’s Bay and North West companies and explain why
they merged in 1821.
9. Why did many Hurons become
Catholics in the 1640s?
10. Explain the successes and
failures of missionaries with a particular Amerindian group.
11. Was New France a relatively
egalitarian society?
12. Was the seigneurial system in
New France exploitative?
13. Did the Anishinabeg defeat the
Iroquois in the late seventeenth century?
14. Discuss the history and society
of the fortress town of Louisbourg.
15. Was the 1713-1748 period a
‘golden age’ for the Acadians?
16. Why were the Acadians deported
in 1755?
17. Compare Montcalm and Wolfe as
military leaders.
18. Why did New France fall in 1759-60?
19. Was the business class of New
France ‘decapitated’ by the Conquest?
20. Evaluate the scholarly arguments
about the effect of the Conquest on the subsequent history of Quebec.
21. Why did Nova Scotia remain loyal
to the Crown during the American revolution?
22. Examine the religious history of
the Maritimes starting with Henry Alline’s ‘new light movement.’
23. Discuss the lives of Loyalist
women.
24. How and why did Canada ‘win’ the
War of 1812?
25. Analyze the facts and myths
about Laura Secord.
26. Why did the Beothuk Indians of
Newfoundland become extinct?
27. Was there a wheat crisis in
Lower Canada in the early nineteenth century? If so, why?
28. Account for the rise in the
power of the Catholic church in Lower Canada/Canada East in the nineteenth
century.
29. Analyze the psychology and ideas
of Louis-Joseph Papineau.
30. Assess the literature on either
of the Rebellions of 1837-38.
31. What was the impact of the Union
of the Canadas on French-Canadians and French-English relations?
32. Compare the struggles for
responsible government in the British North American colonies.
33. Discuss the accomplishments and
shortcomings of the governments of the Canadas from 1841 to 1867. In light of
this record, was the Union a failure, as many historians have suggested?
34. Examine the political
development of Newfoundland to the mid nineteenth century.
35. Describe economic and social
dynamics of rural life in the Maritimes in the nineteenth century before
Confederation.
36. Discuss the reasons for the
frenzy of railway development in the Canadas in the mid nineteenth century.
37. Was the economic development of
Canada West in the early to mid nineteenth century based on the ‘wheat staple’?
38. Account for the violence between
Protestants and Catholics in British North America.
39. Examine the emergence of class,
class consciousness, and a working-class movement in the pre-Confederation
period.
40. Describe the experience of
Blacks in present-day Canada before Confederation.
41. Describe the experience of the
Chinese in present-day British Columbia before Confederation.
42. Evaluate James Douglas’s
Amerindian policies.
43. Compare official policy toward
Amerindians in New France, Quebec, the Canadas, and the Maritime colonies
before Confederation.
44. Discuss the history of the Metis
to the 1860s.
45. Was the Red River community
seriously divided by the 1860s?
46. Analyze the major political
developments in the Canadas in the quarter century before Confederation.
47. Why did Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick join Confederation?
48. Why did Newfoundland refrain
from joining Confederation in 1867?
49. Why did Prince Edward Island
join Confederation in 1873 rather than 1867?
50. Weigh the various factors that
led to Confederation.
Books
on Reserve:
Careless,
J.M.S. The Union of the Canadas: The Growth of Canadian Institutions, 1841- 1857 (1967)
Craig,
Gerald M. Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784-1841 (1963)
Dickason,
Olive P. Canada’s First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples from Earliest
Times, second edition.
(1997)
Dumont,
Michiline et al. Quebec Women: A History (1987)
Eccles,
W.J. France in America, revised edition (1990)
Francis,
R. Douglas, Richard Jones, and Donald B. Smith. Origins: Canadian History since Confederation, fourth
edition (2000)
Greer,
Allan. The People of New France (1997)
Harris,
R. Cole and John Warkentin. Canada before Confederation (1991)
MacNutt,
W.S. The Atlantic Provinces, 1712-1857 (1965)
Miquelon,
Dale. The First Canada: to 1791 (1994)
Morton,
W.L. The Critical Years: The Union of British North America, 1857-1873
(1964)
Neatby,
Hilda. Quebec: The Revolutionary Age, 1760-1791 (1966)
Ouellet,
Fernand. Lower Canada, 1791-1840: Social Change and Nationalism (1979)
Prentice,
Alison et al. Canadian Women: A History, second edition (1996)
Trudel,
Marcel. The Beginnings of New France, 1524-1663 (1973)
In
Reference Area of Library:
Taylor, M. Brook, ed. Canadian History: A Reader’s Guide, vol. 1, Beginnings to Confederation (1994)