Historical Perspective How can we better understand the people of the past?

Perspective There is an ocean of difference between current worldviews (beliefs, values and motivations) and those of earlier periods of history

Perspective Presentism- present ideas and customs on people and events of the past There is some value in applying the common experiences of humans present day and in the past (love, death, hunger)…but we cannot think like the past

Perspective We must work hard to explain why an idea or belief generally accepted in the past may not be accepted today We can “infer” how people felt and thought in the past by understanding the context (the time period or event) and by assessing evidence

Perspective We can analyze how and why people acted in a particular time and why the actions of people today might be different Here is the most important part: tension exists between conflicting ideas of the past and present day viewpoints about historic events DO NOT APPLY PRESENT DAY VALUES TO EVENTS OR ATTITUDES OF THE PAST UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE THEY WERE SIMILAR

Names- 1920’s BOYS Robert John James William Charles GIRLS Mary Dorothy Helen Betty Margaret

Names- 1980’s BOYS Michael Christopher Matthew Joshua David GIRLS Jessica Jennifer Amanda Ashley Sarah

Names 2000’s BOYS Jacob Michael Joshua Matthew Daniel GIRLS Emily Madison Emma Olivia Hannah

Canadian Society and WAR 1914- women had very defined and accepted roles- most believed that their major roles were to be a wife and mother Legally they were considered to be property of their fathers, husbands and in some cases brothers Could not vote, discouraged from taking paying jobs and were paid much less then men when they did have a job Women did not receive property rights and could not obtain a divorce and had no rights to custody if their husband sought a divorce

Canadian Society and WAR Canada was also racially divided- Black women were expected to work as domestics or servants First Nation, Chinese and Japanese women were also discriminated against (legally and socially) However despite the accepted ‘racial’ and social attitudes at the time, many women contributed with the war effort- on the homefront and as nurses on the Western Front

Canadian Society and WAR 1914 The War Measures Act- strict government control of society Interned 8500 “enemy” immigrants- who were they? 1917 The Government took away the right to vote from anyone who was born in an enemy country even if they had become Canadian citizens

Black Canadians 1914 Canadian society had a very rigid racial, linguistic, religious and ethnic structure White-Anglo Saxon males were at the top of this ladder, followed by white immigrants from Europe, then white immigrants from Russia and Ukraine Non-white immigrants were at the lower end of the social ladder This structure of society continued as the war occured

Black Canadians The Military Policy at the time was that any man who was of age and medically fit could join the army HOWEVER it was up to commanding officers of the local regiments or battalions to accept or reject applicants 1914 Black Canadians were rejected- even if the Canadian soldiers in the battalions agreed with it, the commanding officers rejected them

Was Canada’s Response to Black Canadians Racist?