What is the Canadian historical significance of the Winnipeg General Strike (what happened, who was involved, what were the results?)
- WW1 veterans returned to find jobs were gone or very low paying
- In Winnipeg on May 15, negotiations between management and labour in the building and metal trades fell apart
- The Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council (WTLC) called a general strike
- Almost 30,000 workers left within hours
- Closed factories, crippled Winnipeg’s retail trade, stopped trains
- Public-sector employees joined the workers of the private industry
- Coordinated by the Central Strike Committee
- Delegates elected from each of the unions of the WTLC
- Bargained with employers on behalf of the workers
- Coordinated the provision of essential services
- Opposition was organized by the Citizens’ Committee of 1000, created after the strike began
- Made up of Winnipeg’s most influential manufacturers, bankers, politicians
- Declared the strike a revolutionary conspiracy lead by “alien scum”
- Supported by Winnipeg’s leading newspapers
- Federal government decided to intervene, afraid the strike would spark confrontations in other cities
- Senator Gideon Robertson, minister of labour
- Arthur Meighen, minister of the interior and acting minister of justice
- Supported the employers and refused requests from the Central Strike Committee for a hearing
- Federal workers ordered to return to work immediately or face dismissal
- June 17, the government arrested 10 leaders of the Central Strike Committee and 2 propagandists from the One Big Union
- Strikers decided to return to work on June 25
- Sparked a wave of increased unionism and militancy
- Sympathetic strikes erupted
Why did the economy start to turn around in the mid-1920s? What role did our natural resources play in this? Ex: wheat, mining, forestry, hydro and oil
- Foreign demand for Canadian raw materials increased
- Better market and increasing demand for traditional resources like wheat and timber
Why did the 1920s ROAR?
- The 1920s brought a new modern age
- New inventions like automobiles and radios created a new energetic and busy lifestyle
- Foreign demand for Canadian raw materials increased, helping the economy greatly
- Women were finally getting their rights
- Canada began to see itself independent from Britain, we began making our own decisions about war and representation
What were the five new inventions of the 1920s that made it roar
- Radio could broadcast any audio across Canada
- Automobiles helped people travel outside or around the city without using public transportation
- Planes could quickly fly people from city to city
- Phones became widely used and call anywhere, even across the sea
- Movies became very popular in the 1920s
What were two ways that the radio changed Canadian lives
- Radio became a new form of communication and entertainment
- Radio shows were broadcasted
- People anywhere could listen to news, sports, comedy shows, dramas, live music, political addresses
- People could find out what was happening much faster than waiting for newspapers
- Used for education
- Radio programs created for classroom curriculum
- Education radio has views of society that were much different than that of the school books
Who was the famous radio announcer? What did he announce?
- Foster Hewitt
- Announced the first radio broadcast of a hockey game
- He began announcing live broadcasting of various sports like hockey, sailing, and baseball
What was the new production technique used to make Model T fords? What did this do for car sales in Canada?
- The Model T used the first moving assembly line
- The production of the Model T dramatically increased
- Lowered the cost of the vehicle to consumers
- More people started to buy cars
What were two ways that the car changed the daily lives of Canadians in the 1920s
- Created mobility on a scale never seen before
- Freed people from living near railways or stations
- People could live anywhere in an urban area as long as there were roads
- Farmers could easily ship products by truck or car
- Created new jobs
- Fast food, convenience stores
- City/highway construction
- State patrol/police
- Gas stations, auto repair shops
Where did most of our fads and fashions come from?
- Most of our fads were influenced by the United States
The 1920s saw the beginning of what, in terms of entertainment?
- Cinema replaced the old vaudeville genre
- Film was cheap and accessible, and at the end of the 1920s sound film was introduced
- Many vaudeville performers and theaters were absorbed into the new film industry
How did fashion change for women? List three changes and explain
- Women wore less restricting clothing
- Along with more freedom with their rights, women wore more comfortable clothing
- Short skirts, trousers, changes from the tight-laced clothing they previously wore
- Designer clothing
- Fashion designers were popular in the 1920s
- Designer styles were embraced by women of all levels of society
- Hats
- Hats were much smaller and simpler
- Smaller hats encouraged shorter haircuts to fit under the hats
- Other popular head wear included tams, berets, turbans and decorated headbands
- In 1928, women started wearing men’s slouch hats in honour of film star Greta Garbo
Where does jazz have its roots?
- Jazz originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States
Name two famous jazz musicians and a few of their “greatest hits”
- Willie “The Lion” Smith
- Echoes of Spring
- FInger Buster
- Music on My Mind
- “The Footsteps of a Legend” Jelly Roll Morton
- Winin’ Boy Blues
- Creepy Feeling
- Hyena Stomp
What was the famous dance associated to jazz music?
- Tap dance and jitterbug
How did movies evolve in the 1920s? List five popular films of the 1920s
- Technicolour made movies much more rich and vibrant
- Quick expansion of Hollywood film
- Focused on feature films instead of “shorts” or “two-reelers”
- Popular films included
- Sherlock Jr.
- The Passion of Joan of Arc
- Pandora’s Box
- He Who Gets Slapped
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Who was the famous Canadian actress? List three of her films.
- Mary Pickford
- The Poor Little Rich Girl
- Coquette
- Sparrows
Who were the Famous Five? Why are they famous (what did they do)
- The Famous Five were 5 women from Alberta petitioning in the Persons Case in the Supreme Court of Canada
- Emily Murphy
- Henrietta Edwards
- Nellie McClung
- Louise McKinney
- Irene Parlby
- They won the case and right for women in Canada
Name a turning point for women in the 1920s
- In 1929, women gained recognition as ‘persons’ under the law
- Women were able to make their own decisions
- They were able to have jobs and vote
Who was Frederick Banting and what is he famous for?
- Frederick Banting was a medical scientist and painter
- He co-discovered insulin in late 1921
- He won the Nobel Prize and was also the first professor of medical research at the University of Toronto
Define the following terms:
- Assimilation
People or groups of a different ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant Culture. Assimilation makes the separate group and makes them indistinguishable from other members of the dominant society
- Indian Act
Canadian act that defines how the Government interacts with the First Nations and their property. It tried to collect the varied population of First Nations peoples and limit their identities and culture. The act also required children to attend residential schools, and religious ceremonies were illegal. It was illegal for First Nations peoples to hire lawyers or dispute land claimsagainst the government without the government’s consent
- Prohibition
Prohibition prohibited the sale of liquor in Canada. Liquor was an obstacle to many issues and growth in Canada
- Residential School
Government built residential schools to assimilate Indigenous children into the dominant culture. Christian churches and the Canadian government took the children from their communities and conformed them to Canadian societies
- Chinese Exclusion Act
An act passed by the Government of Canada to ban most Chinese immigration to Canada
Who was welcome to Canada in the 1920s? Who was not welcome?
Britain, United States, and Northwestern Europe were welcome to Canada. Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium
and France were considered “preferred countries”. Non-British immigrants were very
restricted from entering Canada. Chinese and Japanese were prohibited from
immigrating. Austria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Southern Europe were “non-preferred countries”
Who wanted prohibition and why? Who did not want prohibition and why?
The Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic and the
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, as well as Baptists, Methodists,
Presbyterians and Congregationalists, wanted prohibition because drinking was seen
as a detriment to the society and the source of misery. Workers, travelers, nursing
mothers, and other people who used alcohol plentifully were against prohibition
because they believed that it would keep them strong, warm, and serve as a
medicine.
Why did the government set up residential schools? What were the goals/intentions of these schools?
The government wanted to integrate Indigenous people into Canadian society. The government wanted to school them in hopes of making the First Nations economically self-sufficient
What were some of the experiences of the survivors of residential schools?
The experience of the survivors was traumatizing. They felt alone and locked up. Sexual and physical abuse was common. People were constantly in fear of going to school and what would happen to them at school. People came out with permanent emotional and physical damage.
