Canada: from New France to the 1960s
Fall 2003, 506:391:03
Tuesdays, 2:50-5:50 (5,6)
Tillett Hall110, Livingston
Instructor: Brian C. Shipley
Contact Info: Mondays, Wednesdays-Fridays: (973) 243-5645
Tuesdays: Thomas A. Edison Papers, 2nd Floor, Livingston Theater, (732) 445-8511
Office Hours: before and after class, or by appointment
Course Description and Goals
The first goal of the course is simply to give you general familiarity with major themes and issues in Canadian history, especially those of interest to historians in other fields. However, since it is impossible to address all topics in a single term, the larger goal is to develop your critical skills in analyzing primary and secondary documents, and your ability to express your conclusions in precise, brief, and effective language. A third goal is to explore the increasingly large volume of high-quality research materials available online, including both archival and printed primary sources, and the latest scholarly publications.
Required Texts (at the Livingston College Bookstore)
Brown, C., ed. The Illustrated History of Canada. Revised edition. Toronto: Key Porter, 2002.
Thorner, T., ed. “A Few Acres of Snow”: Documents in Pre-Confederation Canadian History. Second edition. Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press, 2003.
Assignments and Grading
Class attendance and participation: 20%
Weekly assignments – due at the beginning of each class (ten best): 50%
Final examination: 30%
The weekly assignment is to prepare a one-page (maximum) comment based on your analysis of the primary source readings for that week. You may also refer to the secondary articles, to illustrations in the textbook, and to other reference materials such as the online Canadian Encylopedia (highly recommended). Rather than trying to cover every aspect of the documents, however, you should focus on making one or two solid points and communicating them as clearly as possible in a few paragraphs. Grading will be based on the strength of your argument, your use of evidence from the documents, and the overall clarity and correctness of your writing.
Although there is an assignment due every week, only the ten best will count towards your final grade, so you have three opportunities to improve your grade or take the week off. However, it is still imperative that you do the readings and come to class prepared to contribute every week. This is a small, upper-level, discussion-oriented course, so attendance is mandatory. Missed classes will count against your participation grade, unless excused with a note from an appropriate authority (Dean’s office, physician, etc). Please also read and respect the “Statement on Plagiarism,” and the “Policy on Mutual Responsibilities and Classroom Etiquette,” both available on the Undergraduate page of the History Department’s website.
Class schedule and readings
Almost all of the secondary sources are available directly in IRIS, either through the catalog entry for the periodical title or under Reserve Desk; for other readings marked [online], use the links on the WebCT page for this course.
Sept 2: Introduction, geography of Canada
Sept 9: The Native world of early New France
Brown: (Ray) 1-30, 55-73, (Moore) 95-111; Thorner: ch. 1
A. Greer, “Colonial Saints: Gender, Race, and Hagiography in New France,” William and Mary Quarterly 57 (2000): 323-348. [JSTOR]
P. A. Goddard, “Converting the sauvage: Jesuit and Montagnais in Seventeenth-century New France,” Catholic Historical Review 84.2 (1998): 219-239. [EBSCO]
Sept 16: The European world of later New France
Brown: (Moore) 111-165; Thorner: ch. 2
P. Moogk, “Reluctant Exiles: Emigrants from France in Canada before 1760,” William and Mary Quarterly 46 (1989): 463-505. [JSTOR]
K. A. Young, “‘sauf les perils et fortunes de la mer’: Merchant Women in New France and the French Transatlantic Trade, 1713-46,” Canadian Historical Review 77.3 (1996): 388-407. [EBSCO, under the title “Notes and comments.”]
Sept 23: Acadia, Louisbourg, and the Conquest
Brown: (Moore) 166-180; Thorner: ch. 3, 4
K. Donovan, “‘After Midnight We Danced Until Daylight’: Music, Song and Dance in Cape Breton, 1713-1758,” Acadiensis 32 (2002): 3-28. [on reserve]
J. Noel, “Caste and Clientage in an Eighteenth-Century Quebec Convent,” Canadian Historical Review 82.3 (2001): 465-490. [EBSCO]
Sept 30: British North American identities
Brown: (Wynn) 181-223; Thorner: ch. 5, 11, 12
C. Morgan, “‘In Search of the Phantom Misnamed Honour’: Duelling in Upper Canada,” Canadian Historical Review 76.4 (1995): 526-562. [EBSCO]
H. A. Whitfield, “‘We Can Do As We Like Here’: An Analysis of Self Assertion and Agency among Black Refugees in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1813-1821,” Acadiensis 32 (2002): 29-49. [on reserve]
Oct 7: Men of the fur trade
Brown: (Ray) 30-55, 73-94, (Wynn) 224-233; Thorner: ch. 8, 16
C. Podruchny, “Baptizing Novices: Ritual Moments among French Canadian Voyageurs in the Montreal Fur Trade, 1780-1821,” Canadian Historical Review 83.2 (2002): 165-195. [EBSCO]
E. Vibert, “Real Men Hunt Buffalo: Masculinity, Race and Class in British Fur Traders’ Narratives,” Gender & History 8 (1996): 4-21. [on reserve]
Oct 14: Immigration and tensions
Brown: (Wynn) 233-276; Thorner: ch. 6, 13, 15
D. Murray, “Hands Across the Border: The Abortive Extradition of Solomon Moseby,” Canadian Review of American Studies 30.2 (2000): 187-209. [EBSCO]
S. W. See, “‘An Unprecedented Influx’: Nativism and Irish Famine Immigration to Canada,” American Review of Canadian Studies 30.4 (2000): 429-453. [EBSCO]
Oct 21: Rebellions and the search for balance
Brown: (Waite) 277-312; Thorner: ch. 7, 9, 14
J. L. McNairn, “Publius of the North: Tory Republicanism and the American Constitution in Upper Canada, 1848-54,” Canadian Historical Review 77.4 (1996): 504-537. [EBSCO]
A. Perry, “‘Fair Ones of a Purer Caste’: White Women and Colonialism in Nineteenth-Century British Columbia,” Feminist Studies 23.3 (1997): 501-524. [EBSCO]
Oct 28: Confederation and the British Empire
Brown: (Waite) 312-328; Thorner: 10, 17
P. Buckner, “Whatever Happened to the British Empire?,” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 4 (1993): 3-32. [Canadian Historical Association]
G. Martin, “‘Our advices from Canada are unimportant’: The Times and British North America, 1841-1861,” in C. Eldridge, ed., Kith and Kin: Canada, Britain and the United States from the Revolution to the Cold War (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1997): 61-93. [on reserve]
Nov 4: Railroads and territorial expansion
Brown: (Waite) 328-376
Correspondence and Papers connected with Recent Occurrences in the North-West Territories (Ottawa: Printed by order of Parliament, 1870). [Early Canadiana Online]
S. Mathieu, “North of the Colour Line: Sleeping Car Porters and the Battle Against Jim Crow on Canadian Rails, 1880-1920,” Labour/Le Travail 47 (2001): 9-41. [History Cooperative]
C. Porsild, “Klondike Family Life,” BC Studies 123 (1999): 59-68. [on reserve]
Nov 11: World War I and its aftermath
Brown: (Cook) 377-423
National Library, “The Virtual Gramophone: Canadian Historical Sound Recordings.” [online]
National Archives, “Canada and the First World War.” [online]
T. Cook, “Creating the Faith: The Canadian Gas Services in the First World War,” Journal of Military History 62 (1998): 755-786. [JSTOR]
S. Hewitt, “Royal Canadian Mounted Spy: The Secret Life of John Leopold/Jack Esselwein,” Intelligence and National Security 15.1 (2000): 144-168. [EBSCO]
Nov 18: The Depression and WWII: challenges and responses
Brown: (Cook) 423-472
National Archives, “A Real Companion and Friend: The Diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King.” [online]
M. Dawson, “‘That Nice Red Coat Goes to my Head like Champagne’: Gender, Anti-modernism and the Mountie Image, 1880-1960,” Journal of Canadian Studies 32 (1997): 119-139. [on reserve]
I. McKay, “History and the Tourist Gaze: The Politics of Commemoration in Nova Scotia, 1935-1964,” Acadiensis 22 (1993): 102-138. [on reserve]
Nov 25: [no class – week of Thanksgiving]
Dec 2: Postwar innovations and concerns
Brown: (Morton) 473-503
University of Saskatchewan Libraries, “Saskatchewan’s Top News Stories: Health.” [online]
F. Iacovetta, “Gossip, Contest, and Power in the Making of Suburban Bad Girls: Toronto, 1945-1960,” Canadian Historical Review 80.4 (1999): 585-623. [EBSCO]
J. Parr, “What Makes Washday Less Blue?: Gender, Nation, and Technology Choice in Postwar Canada,” Technology and Culture 38 (1997): 153-186. [on reserve]
Dec 9: The Quiet Revolution and Canada’s future(s)
Brown: (Morton) 503-530
A. Laurendeau and D. Dunton, “The Work of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism,” address to the Empire Club, 9 April 1964. [online]
National Archives, “expo 67, A virtual experience.” [online]
K. Abel and K. S. Coates, “The North and the Nation,” in K. Abel and K. S. Coates, eds., Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2001): 7-21. [on reserve]
M. Gauvreau, “From Rechristianization to Contestation: Catholic Values and Quebec Society, 1931-1970,” Church History 69.4 (2000): 803-833. [EBSCO]
**Monday, December 15, 2003 – final exam, 12:00-3:00 pm.**
The exam will cover all assigned readings.