Sunday, 31 March 2013

MS St. Louis

 The voyage of the MS St. Louis is a dark stain on the history of Canada because the Canadian government refused to accept the European Jews into Canada and made them go back to Europe. The government refused to accept them because it was very anti-Semitic at that time. The government faced pressure from the Canadian population to allow the Jewish refugees into Canada, but did nothing. Some people changed their opinion, wanted the Jewish people to stay, and tried to assist them by pressuring the government to help.  The captain, Gustav Schröder, said to the Canadians that the Jewish people where planning a mass suicide to try and get the government to help them. If the government had helped the Jewish people, they wouldn't have had to return to Europe and most of them would not have died in the concentration camps. This reveals that Canada was very anti-Semitic when the Jewish people came.

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Discrimination Against The Jewish


                       What is revealed about Canada at this time?

The image above shows the SS St. Louis ship with Jewish refugees on board. The Jews fled from Germany to Cuba  in hope of equality and justice. However, when they arrived in Cuba they were not welcomed. The Jews had only one place else to go, Canada, they heard that Canadians were just people and they could be free.

 During the 1930's Canada was a very discriminating country.  The Germans despised the Jews and blamed them for their country's economic decrease. The Jewish  left Germany with the "hope that they would get into a country that would accept them"  (When Canada Said No: The Abandoned Jews of the MS St. Louis). After their long journey they were 
discriminated and were unwelcome by the English Canadians.  There were news reports that Jewish shops
  were being vandalized in Brantford Ontario and this proves that Christian English Canadians were 
discriminating the Jewish. The English  Canadians told the Jewish to become Christians, therefore, this also proves  
segregation, because Canadians were Christians and  the Jews had a different religion and, to be accepted they
 would have to become Christians. To conclude, we very much discriminated the Jewish refugees by 
our actions towards them, and this was a very shameful time for Canada

St. Louis

In the 1930's in Nazi Germany 937 Jews boarded the St. Louis ship on its way to Cuba in hopes to escape the risk of being captured by the Nazi's. Once they arrived in Cuba they realized that not all could be accommodated, the ship then started to make it's way to Canada in hopes that they would find refuge there.  When they arrived they were turned away due to the discrimination of the Jews that was going on in Canada.  This reveals that Canada's identity during this time period was cowardly.  Canada's identity was cowardly because when the Jews arrived and desperately needed a safe place to stay Canada said no. But once they realized the severity of their situation they then begged the government to let them come to Canada, King stayed silent because of the fear that he would lose future votes. With no where to turn the St. Louis went back to Europe.  England, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take in the Jews.  This shows that when Canada was needed the most they turned their backs because they were to scared of what would happen to them and the thoughts of other countries.  If Canada had taken in the passengers of the St. Louis hundreds of lives could have been saved.   


What is revealed about Canada during this time period

During World War 2 Canada had become more independent because they had gained a lot of respect from Britain during the last World War. Canada fought hard during the first war and lost many brave men and women so Canada became known and a strong country. Canada's economy was getting better after King had come back in power in 1935, King was desperate to maintain national unity. Canada denied Jewish refugees to enter the country. Canada believed immigrants took jobs away from Canadians. Some cities in Canada had Jewish communities because 4000 Jewish refugees were accepted, yet the Jewish were still treated poorly. This shows that many Canadians were anti-Semites. 

MS St. Louis

In 1939 the Ocean liner the MS St. Louis left German with 937 Jewish refugees who were trying to escape death in the holocaust and find a new safe home. The MS St. Louis was headed for Havana, Cuba but when they arrived the Cuban government denied them access to dock there. After this they tried to dock in the United States and then Canada and both countries denied them.  Canada didn't allow the ship to dock because of many reasons. One reason was that most of the English population in Canada at this time was
anti-semitic, which means they had a hatred of Jewish people, so if King let in all of the Jewish people he was worried he would lose the next election because most of English  would be angry that he let in 937 Jewish people and not vote for him. Another reason is that both Prime Minister King and the immigrations officer were both anti-semitic so they didn't want the refugees either. This reveals that a lot of Canadian's had the same hatred against Jewish people as Germany did during this time period but they didn't go the the level that Hitler did.

                      Beginning Of World War 2

The world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September, 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and after declarations of war on Germany by France and Britain to retaliate the attach that Germany maid on Poland. This eventualy formed two opposing military forces called the allies which was made up of the British Common Wealth, the Solviet Union and Amarica, also known as the "Big Three" and the Axis which contained Germany, Italy and Japan. People think the appeasement caused the war. appeasemant is when you give your countries power to anouthr country (in this case Germany) that you would be peasefull and woudn't go to war with them. This backfired and Germany still attacked to take total controle of other countries. I think that these conrties are foolish. they shouyld have never given Hilter that much power and if they never did appeasement the second world war might have never happened.
What is revealed about Canada in this time period?

I think that in this time period it was revealed that Canada were very secure. They were secure of their country being the nation that they had gained, also keeping the independence they had gained after the first World War. With Canada not wanting to let the Jews into the country showed that they didn't want to keep them in their country just in case Nazi Germany would invade Canada to get to the Jews. It also shows they are secure of their country because after World War 1 Canada gained their independence and by taking in refugee Jews, other countries might start to think that again Canada were taking orders from other countries. With new immigrants coming into the country just after the depression, this meant that they would be taking jobs, one in which the were not very many of at the time, and also there was still not a lot of money around. 
Not all Canadians were anti-Semitic. Many Canadians supported the efforts of the Canadian Jewish Congress to increase public awareness of the immigration of Jews in Canada. Despite their efforts, they could not persuade King to change his governments policy.  

A Disappionting Time in Canadian History

The Ms St. Louis was carrying 937 jewish refugees to Cuba in Spring, 1939, they were denied entry and tried to gain entry to other Western Countries. They tried Canada but unfortunately the government wanted nothing to do with these jewish people, this is because most of the english speaking Canadians were anti-semenis. Prime minister Mackenzie King didnt want to lose votes so he completely ignored these jewish people in need. I Believe, if Canada hadnt been judgemental and let these people into the country, they would have saved all 937 lives instead of forcing them back to europe where they were to get slaughtered by the Nazis. This is a disappointing time in Canadaian History, however we can only learn from this and never repeat this again.

Trying to Find a Home

At the time of the S.S. St.Louis, all Jewish refugees had escaped and were now aboard St. Louis and on their way to Cuba hoping for a safe place to start a new life, but Cuba did not allow the refugees to live in Cuba. After being turned down by Cuba the SS St. Louis headed to Canada, but that this time Canada was against the Jews and would not allow them to live here. This reveals that at this point in time the Canadians we not very helpful people and were very strict and religious. Canada was a very religious country at the time of world war 2 because all the Jews wanted was to be able to find a country far enough away from Europe so that they would feel safe. Canada did not help out the Jewish due to a strict religion and not wanting to let any Jewish in unless they had come from Britain due to the fact that Canada only ever wanted to help Britain because of the amount of help that we got from them in world war 1 to be known as the Independent Country. Now that Canada was known for being independent they wanted to stick to their laws and even the government had disagreed with helping the Jewish and it was very selfish of them. the Jewish wanted nothing more than to have a country help live a safer life away from Hitler, the holocaust, and the war in their country.

A Revelation of Ignorance

One thing that is revealed about Canada when the Jewish refugees were rejected is that Canada wasn't always as accepting of immigrants and helpful as it appears today. It is a disappointing and shameful contrast of how Canada seems to be a safe haven for international immigrants and refugees now, but in the 1930s  Canada (among other countries) had a blatant disregard for the needs of the Jews and failed to provide assistance to them like any human being should be allowed, an example of this being the passengers of the MS St. Louis being denied entry into the country for safety from prejudice. I find it troubling that the country had a strong Christian religious background and ignored the Jews in their time of need, when a huge portion of Jesus Christ's teachings were to love your neighbour, and to treat them no worse than you would treat yourself. These Christians turned their backs on the Jews, contradictory to Jesus' messages. It may have been fear, ignorance, selfishness, hatred or a combination of all of these things, but at this time Canada was ignorant to the needs of Jewish refugees.

Canada's reaction to the St. Louis

In the 1930's during the time of the St.Louis ship Canada was discriminant. There were 937 passengers on the ship they were all Jewish trying to flee Germany to prevent Nazi execution. After the Capitan tried to drop off the people in Cuba they were sent away because there Visa's were not accepted they came to Canada in hope of acceptance. Yet again the people had the same response of rejection. Canada would not allow them simply because they were all Jews and not Christians. At that time period Canada was a Christian country and would only want and allow Christian immigrants in. Because of Canada's act of sending them away because of the people's religion I would say that Canada was discriminant.

The image shows the amount of people that were on the boat and wanted to be free in Canada but were rejected because of Canada's discriminant attitude.

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

                                                            Rememberance Day

Remberance day is a day to remember the fallen soilders of WW1. On Nov 11th at 11oclock we take a minute of silence to show that we still remember the soilders actions of WW1. 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m. World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. The poppy has been used since 1920 to remember the soilders who died in WW1. The wearing of poppies was introduces by by the famous WW1 peom "In Flandors Fields". Mostly you will see military verterans wearing them.

This image represents that remembering our troops by showing our respect is an easy and impactful thing to do. Wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day is and easy thing to do, the reason this is so resepectful and impactful is because our troops have fought and lost their lives so we can be free today. If you wear a poppy on Remembrance Day you can so your respect and show how happy you are to be free.

Canada was affected by the Stock Market Crash of 1929

This is an image of the many unemployed people during the Stock Market Crash of 1929. I chose this image because it shows how negatively affected Canadians were after this crash. The Stock  Market Crash was a big surprise. When people started selling shares for what they bought them for and no one bought them, the Stock Market crashed. Not only was it because of the lack of sell, but the bankers and owners were becoming very greedy, they decided to sell things for a much higher and unreasonable price. Canada was affected by this crash because the U.S. was our biggest trading partner, since many people became bankrupt from losing their jobs, the U.S. was unable to export their goods to Canada. 

Is Canada Independent?

    During the mid 1920's Canada was known as an independent nation but i don't think that we were completely independent. Canada's most important trade partner was the United States and when the US could no longer trade with them due to the Stock Market Crash causing the Depression, it had major effects on Canada. The farmers in Canada were dependent on the US to buy their food and when they didn't, most of them went broke. The results of the farmers not producing as much food meant that factories producing farming equiptment didn't need to produce as much so they laid off workers. The unemployment rate rose due to the lack of farm equiptment needed which meant that less people could afford cars or other appliances. This lead to more layoffs to people in the factories that produced those items as well. This was all in all a vicious cycle. The more people that got laid off, the less people could afford to buy things which meant that the people producing those things didn't have to produce them anymore ending up with them getting laid off. Canada's Depression started with the US Stack Market Crash which shows how much we depended on them for our own economy. If Canada was independent, why did the US Stock Market Crash have such a big impact on Canada?

Friday, 22 March 2013

Canada's Identity After Unit 1

 What I’ve learned about the Canadian identity up to this point is that Canada is not only a country, but a nation. I believe that a nation is independent, and goes through triumph alone and suffers losses alone. A nation is able to pick itself up after it is staggered, and a nation supports its own efforts. Canada started defining its independence during World War One, as a fighting force in the fierce trench battles. After the war, Mackenzie King worked towards forging Canada into even more of a sovereign nation through events such as the Imperial Conferences and the Halibut Treaty, to name a few. Canada further proved its nationality when the economy suffered a staggering blow in the early 20s, when such things as labour unrest, lack of employment for soldiers and prohibition emerged. However, the nation was able to recover. Using its natural resources and the resourcefulness of its people to its advantage, Canada used things like the manufacturing of automobiles, the discovery of insulin, the export of newsprint, and mining to start the economy on a path to great success. Furthermore, after the stock market crash, Canada was rocked by the great depression. The unemployed workers fought to feed their families and found income in relief camps set by the government. Later on, Canada would use the Second World War to restore itself to a working nation. These examples provide proof of Canada’s identity as a nation.       

The Great Depression,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44158598,d.aWc&biw=1920&bih=979&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&

The Great Depression took place in the 1930's. It was devastating because the stock market crashed and many people lost their money. The market crashed because of many factors. The most prominent was that people tried to make money on the stock market by buying stocks then selling them at an even higher price. The sudden decrease in stock prices was the reason why it crashed. Many people had to leave their houses to go look for work. The churches and charities soon became overwhelmed and had to ask the government to help house the men looking for work. The government opened relief camps where the men could go live and work cutting down trees for 20 cents a day. These are the reasons why I think the depression was one of the worst times to live in North America.  

Thursday, 21 March 2013

The Great Depression In Canada

                           The Great Depression In Canada

"Great Depression In Canada." N.p., 2001. Web. 21 Mar.
When the Americans were hit by the great depression, this effected Canada. Canada's most important trade partner was the United States, Canada was hit the second hardest. Canada's Prime minister, Mackenzie King, believed that the government did not have a role to play during the great depression. Although the government believed that they had no part of the depression, they still helped out by creating camps which feed the unfortunate.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Prohibition in Canada

The prohibition was the law to make it illegal to have possession and sell alcohol. This law was made because the wheat used to make alcohol could be used for food, and the money that was spent on alcohol could be used to pay for food. The first province to pass this law was Prince Edward Island in 1901. By 1919 most of the provinces joined this bandwagon and had outlawed alcohol. These laws didn't last very long in most provinces. Quebec was the first to repeal the law in the same year it was established, which was 1919. Most provinces repealed the law by 1922, because of a lot of pressure from the populace.  Many Canadians made a fortune smuggling alcohol into the united states, due to the law being there until 1933.

Write about Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day

Remembrance day is a day where we as a nation take a moment of silence to remember the soldiers who bravely and courageously fought for our countries freedom but sadly lost there  lives in World War 1. World War 1 began on the 28th of July 1914 and lasted until the November 11th 1918. Remembrance day has now taken place in the 11th month of the 11th day of the 11th hour ever since the war has ended. On this day a poppy is worn to show the respect to the soldiers who have lost their lives in World War 1 but also the red poppy has become a very well known and respected emblem because of the poem "In Flanders Fields". Remembrance day is not only significant in our nation, many other countries still do the moment of silence for the ones who lost their lives fighting for there country. I believe that this is why we as a country should pay more attention to this day and the ones we lost because they are the reason we live in a free country.     

The Canadian Depression

How did the Depression affect Canada’s sense of identity?

  The great depression deeply effected Canada's economy and Canadians. During the 1920's, many people joined the stock market hoping that we would be getting rich quickly. Investors bought stocks at low prices and sold them high. But then in 1929 U.S.A. and Canada went into poverty. The values of stocks fell dramatically, and the more stocks they sold, the lower the prices would be. In a few hours the market of stock exchanging dropped 50%! Millions of dollars was lost and the stock crash was staring to spread to Canada even more. In Canada during this depression, the recession was severe and prolonged, the sales were the lowest they have ever been, people who still had jobs wages were not a living salary, the prices dropped, the production was low, and Unemployment was at an all time high. During this time period "the dirty thirties", nearly 30 percent of Canadian workers had lost their jobs due to the stock market crash. Without money people were unable to pay for their mortgages, so they lost their homes. People also couldn't afford to feed themselves and their families, so they would find soup kitchens around the area they could eat. This shows that the Canadian identity is strong. They are strong because even through the rough times and the depression they got through it and found employment after the depression.                          

Canada's Independance During the Great Depression

     When the stock market crashed in 1929 U.S citizens lost everything, in one day 10 billion dolars were lost.  After that business closed, banks had no money, items were being repossesed, and 14 billion people were out of jobs.  All this trouble led to the Great Depression and the decade known as the "Dirty Thirties".  But it wasn't just the U.S who went through hard times, when their economy crippled it had an effect on most of the other countries around the world.

     If Canada claimed its full independance after world war one like they said why did troubles in the U.S affect Canadians?  Some arguements say that Canada was not independant because of their struggles due to the failing economy in the U.S, but the other countries that experienced the depression were thought of as very strong independant nations too.  Canada's best and most important trading partner was the U.S, when their economy dropped so did their trading indusrty... alot.  Which left Canada with no good trading partners and a major industry decrease.  Canada's economy depended greatly on their trades so when demands decreased and prices dropped the impact was huge.  All factories, businesses, and farmers, that produced anything for trade, had to lay off workers, decrease production and some businesses shut down all together, because Canada's plentiful resources were no longer in high demand. This left many people jobless and moneyless relying on churches and charities for everyday needs.  The lack of trade led to the lack of businesses the lack of jobs the lack of money and the decreased economy. 

     Europe also went through similar situations with their trade which led the depression to europe aswell. 
Europe was known as a very strong, independant, and important nation and it went through all the same struggles as Canada.  Europeans lost money, jobs and their economy just as Canada did.  So I do not think that Canada wasn't independant just beacuse they were affected by the crippling US, so were other Countries around the world who were very strong and important.  Each and every country relies on other countries for food, and goods so when one country has troubles other countries will suffer, however It in no way means they aren't independant.

The affects on Canada from the Stock Market Crash.

This image represents how many people, including Canadians, were negatively affected by the crash.
I chose this image because it shows how angry and defeated many people were during and after this crash.
When the early warning signs of a crash were ignored, people tried selling shares for the amount of money they bought them for, or for an overpriced amount. Since no one purchased the shares, this caused the Stock Market to crash.
This affected Canadians because they depended on the U.S, as our biggest trading partner, to export their goods, supplies and other necessities needed. Since the crash occured, many Canadians lost their jobs, had fewer orders for Canadian resources and products, had fewer markets to sell and were unable to obtain any exported goods from the U.S. Therefore, this picture represents how angry, defeated and negatively affected Canadians were during the Stock Market Crash.
Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a day to take time and remember the soldiers that bravely fought for us in the armed forces during World War 1. We remember the people who died in the line of duty and pay our respects to their families and loved ones. Remembrance Day is seen on November 11 to recall the end of hostilities of World War 1, on that date in 1918. The War formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The red colour of the poppy flower is used to symbolize the blood spilled during the war, this flower has become well known to Canadians due to the poem In Flanders Fields. Remembrance Days are also observed in other countries and places such as India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The traditions are different in these other places but people still take the time to show their appreciation for the men and women that lost their lives during the War. 

Lauren Murray 

What was the most signficant long term cause of the depression?

What was the most signficant long term cause of the depression?

﻿The most signficant long term cause of the depression was there was too much easy credit. There were many other causes of the depression like the New York Stock Market crash, the shrinking demand of natural resources, protective tariffs, lack of financial regulation and Canada's economic ties with the United States. However, I believe that too much easy credit was the most significant cause of the depression. Small business' in Canada borrowed to much money which was fine until the prices dropped and banks demanded their money back. Many business went bankrupt which in turn caused many Canadian families particularly in the west to lose everything they owned. This hurt everyone accross Canada all because it was too easy to get money and people couldn't repay the money they owed. Most people never thought a depression would happen so they weren't ready when it did. This was the long term problem in Canada and the other smaller causes like protective tariffs made the situation worse until the depression happened. I believe that the easy access to borrow money was the most significant long term cause of the great depression.
Remembrance Day.
Remembrance day takes place on 11th November. It is a day we take to celebrate the courageous lives of all the women and men who were killed in both World Wars and other conflicts. 
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar symbol of remembrance day due to the poem "In Flanders Field".The poppies were symbolic because when the war was over poppies started growing in some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War 1, their vibrant, strong colour was a great symbol for the blood spilled in the war. This is why today around remembrance day we wear a red poppy, the money made from selling these poppies goes towards helping veterans and their dependence. 
It is important to remember those who have passed for us during wars, because they devoted their time, their love, and even their own lives so that we can have what we have today. Also because they fought for us we get to live life the way we want too, not under a dictator, and we get to speak for our rights. This is why we should appreciate what they have done for us because they have given us everything we have today and we should keep supporting fighters today in wars. 

Most signficant long term cause of the depression

In my opinion the most signficant long term cause of the depression was the banks. Why I think this is the banks would loan money to anyone even the people they know who couldn't afford it because they were greedy knowing that the people who couldn't pay the loan off the bank would charge them interest.

The War at Home

   The war affected Canadian's lives at home because everyone contributed to the war efforts in some way. The women worked in factories doing the jobs that men would do, the children collected war stamps and people bought Victory Bonds. People had jobs in areas they may not have had experience in or jobs that they didn't want but i think that because they were supporting the war overseas, they put up with it. I think that during this war, Canadian's lives at home became harder and people had to step up and take roles that they would not have to do had there been no war. Men were encouraged to join the military, to fight for their country but without the war, i believe most of them would not have enlisted.
  The picture above is a woman working in a factory producing war items. Before the war, it was very uncommon for a women to work in a factory, but during the war, most women did. This shows how the roles of some Canadians had had changed because of the war.

--->Picture Source <---

The Canadian Homefront during WW1

﻿﻿﻿This is a picture of many women working in a factory during WW1, while the men left as soldiers to fight for their country.
I chose this image because I think it shows that the Canadian Homefront during WW1 was very supportive. I believe this picture represents that we were supportive, because the women took over the mens jobs as; farmers, factory workers and other occupations; sewing, producing food and materials and general supplies to ship to the soldiers at war. Not only did the women work long hours in difficult and dangerous conditions, but we, as Canadians used our time and money to support and lead our soldiers to victory. Therefore, I think this represents how Canadians were supportive during WW1.

Stock Market crash

In  my opinion the reason the stock market crash happened was because the bank kept loaning money to people they kept investing their money into stocks. When the economy for stocks decreased people were worried that they will lose money on their stocks so they started to withdrawl them causing more and more people to withdrawl the money from stocks causing the Stock Market crash. In my opinion of how this affected Canada is they lost their biggest trade partner so this caused Canada to lose money as well.

People from Wall Street going to the bank to collect their stocks after the crash  (Wikipedia)

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Propaganda Comparison

These are pictures of WWI propaganda posters to enforce food preservation. An American poster (left), and a Canadian poster (right) . I chose to compare these posters for this blog because I find the differences between them very interesting. The American poster is incredibly dark, suggesting starvation for women and children. With haunting expressions of fear and pain, this poster encourages food preservation by strongly targeting ones empathy. The Canadian poster is much different in tone, colour and technique. This poster has a very bright and cheerful tone, and unlike the American poster, it doesn't even hint at a deadly consequence of wasting food but instead gives a replacement for the food that must be given up. The expressions of the butcher and his customer also show their joy in supporting the war effort. I think that these posters suggest that perhaps Canadians were more easily supportive of the war effort on the home front, whereas Americans had more so had to be encouraged to give up food for others. Also, showing fish as an alternative for meat in this poster may allude to the strength of Canada's fisheries during the war. I find the optimism in the Canadian propaganda reflective of its identity as a nation shown in its skill as a fighting force during WWI, in that it endures strongly through hardships. The harsh images in the American propaganda suggest that America was more focused on the consequences of failure in the war rather than the joy of victory.

Saturday, 2 March 2013

The Canadian Economy in the 1920s

Here are the Popplets you made in class today.  Please take a look at your classmates' work and respond.

Popplet 1

Courtney et al.

Tyler and Shianne

Rosie et al.

Josh et al.

John and Chloe

Popplet 2

Graham et al.