The First University

Officially established by royal charter by queen Victoria, in 1852, but in operation since 1663, Universite Laval was and still is the oldest university in Canada. In 1663, when it was started, Canadians did not have access to higher education, and Britain thought it had aught to expand liberal arts teachings to the new world. Although in continuous operation since 1663, it took until 1852, when queen Victoria, at the insistence of Lord Elgin, to become an “official” establishment. In the 1920s, it outgrew its campus in the now crowded city of Quebec, and moved to the rural outskirt of Sainte Foy. 350 or so years later, it is still a highly distinguished establishment. This IS something to be proud of.

Chinese Construction Workers and the CPR

In 1880-1885 construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, or CPR, was finally underway. During this time, many Chinese workers were hired to build the railway. Chinese workers were favoured over white workers because they were cheaper, and willing to do anything they were told. But this came with a large cost. Due to the dangerous conditions of the CPR construction sites, many Chinese workers were killed in accidents. There are around 600 recorded deaths, but it is figured that the actual number of Chinese workers who died was over 1’000. It was a common saying in the day that for every mile of railway track that was laid, a Chinese worker died. And none of the families of the deceased workers got any compensation. This is NOT a proud moment in Canadian history, but rather quite a shameful one.

In the 1850s to the early 1860s, Harriet Tubman ( born Araminta “minty” Ross), an American slave, helped, fellow slaves escape to Canada through the underground railroad. Slavery in Canada was abolished in 1833, making it an ideal location for slaves to take refuge. Harriet would go around from plantation to plantation helping to get slaves out of their plantations, to ferry them back to Canada through the underground railroad. The underground railroad was neither underground, nor a railroad, but rather a chain of safe houses or “posts” leading across the Canadian border. It is unknown how many slaves she freed, but it is known to be over 300, and she proudly maintained, that she “never lost a single passenger”. It is certainly something to be proud of, that Canada was a safe haven for African Americans during the time that slavery was still rampant in the US. I certainly think it is something to be proud of that Canada was able to act as a safe haven for African Americans.

It was in 1916 that, after much struggle, women finally gained the right to vote. When Canada was founded, women did not share the  same rights as the men. For centuries, millennia even, women were thought of as inferior to men. It was thought that they were weaker, less intelligent, delicate even. An ideology that we now know is false. When canadian women gained the right to vote in 1916, Canada was one of the first to make the radical change, and it was likely that it helped start the ball rolling for other countries as well. This is a moment in canadian history that I am quite proud of.

Group Of Seven

Group of seven was a group of impressionist painters in the 1920s. They started in the 1910s painting scenery from the Canadian landscape in the new arts and crafts style. These paintings gained popularity rapidly, and by the 1920s, they were ready to have their first exhibition. Their paintings of the Canadian landscape gained popularity rapidly, captivating the imaginations of people who had never before seen land like what existed in Canada. These paintings by the group of seven artists have helped shape our Canadian identity, and no doubt, in a time before photography was able to capture such things, enticed many to come to Canada. Paintings by group of seven painters are still considered to be some of the finest impressionist paintings, something which I think is worthy of being proud of.

Lord Selkirk and the Red River Colony

In 1811 lord selkirk, an earl from england, bought an extremely large amount of land in what is now manitoba. He called the land the red river colony, and used it to house impoverished scottish farmers. In doing this, he was killing two birds with one stone, in that not only was he giving starving immigrant farmers a chance at a better life, but he was also helping to expand canadian territory, and secure canada’s ownership over the west. But this

brought with it a problem. The land he was taking over was not uninhabited, and this lead to a violent clash with lord selkirk, and the native and metis people. I am not sure that this is something to be proud of as a canadian.Certainly it is good that lord selkirk helped impoverished Scottish farmers by giving them a home, But I am less proud that it so adversely affected the lives of the natives.