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

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

4. 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

6. 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

9. 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

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

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

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

13. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. Was Canada’s Response to Black Canadians Racist?