The Roaring Twenties
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Transcript The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Interwar Period
Changes in the 1920’s
1. Economy
2. Mobility/Communication
3. Women’s Rights
4. Minority Rights
5. Regionalism and Federalism
Life after War
During war workers agreed to work for lower wages as
part of their patriotic duty
Inflation soon made it impossible to live on wages
Workers demanded more money confrontation with
employers was inevitable
Beginning of Unions
Response to Unrest
Communism: a social and economic theory that
property, production, and distribution of goods and
services should be owned by the public, and the labour
force organized for the benefit of all members of society
Socialist: believing in a system in which the government
controls the economy so that everyone benefits equally
Strikes and labour disputes took hold throughout the
nation
Led to creation of systems and political parties we still
see present today (NDP Party Roots)
Changing Economy
Demand for Canadian raw resources grew and boosted
Canadian economy
Wheat, pulp and paper, Mining (lead, silver, zinc, copper)
Export and trade with the United States grew
significantly
75% of newsprint exported to USA
American companies, specifically the automotive
industry, began manufacturing protects within Canada
(Branch Plants) - Why? Who benefited?
Tariffs
Tariff: Tax on foreign goods being imported.
The federal government introduced tariffs to protect
Canada’s manufacturing and industrial base.
Example: US made farm machinery was taxed so that it was
more expensive than Canadian-made farm machinery.
What did this do for Canadian companies?
A New Prosperity
Economy improved by mid-1920s
Canadians went into a spending frenzy
Made sacrifices during WWI, now they get to have some
fun
Cars, radios, movies, jazz clubs, tourism, fashion, etc.
Era of consumerism, leisure, and rebellion
Increased Mobility
Automobiles
Cars cheaper, more popular, because of he assembly line
(Henry Ford). Highway construction all over Canada
Switched from driving on left hand to right hand side of
road
1928 White Spot opened first drive in restaurant
Often connecting Canada and USA
Flight
Flight
Pilots testing limits
Planes used to transport supplies to isolated locations
Veterans became “Bush Pilots” who flew geologists into
remote areas to explore mining opportunities
Connected isolated communities- deliver antitoxin to treat
diphtheria outbreak in Northern Alberta
Improved Communication
Telephones common household item
Radio linked people across Canada
Spread popular culture, entertainment,
Information
Dominated by American programming- Canadian protectionism
Movies
Silent until late-1920s
Dominated by Hollywood
Arts and Sports
Group of Seven Canadian landscapes in modern style
Emily Carr- Painted scenes of West Coast
Forest and Aboriginal life
- Revolutionary broad strokes, bright colours
Figure 3-10: Emily
Carr Totems and
Indian Houses
Arts and Sports
Increase in sports as entertainment
First radio broadcast of hockey by Foster Hewitt – 1923
Increasing popularity of modern Olympics
Baseball, professional boxing,
Rugby football, curling, golf
Figure 3-9
Role of Women
Hopes for reform high after WWI – “New Era for Women”
BUT
Women encouraged to give jobs back to men
Women still expected to stay home
If they worked, paid less than men
Nurses, teachers, secretaries, operators
Agnes Macphail First woman elected to Parliament (1921)
Government still dominated by men
Women in Politics
1921- Only 5 women ran for office, only one, Agnes
Macphail, won her seat. She was the only woman in the
House of Commons until 1935
4 western provinces elected 9 women to their legislaturefederal and provinical governments make dominated
The Persons Case
Emily Murphy appointed a magistrate in Alberta in 1929
Challenged on basis only “persons” could hold office under BNA Act
Women were not persons in the eyes of the law
Supreme Court of Alberta ruled that Murphy did, indeed, have the
right to be a judge
Emily Murphy and 4 other women activists challenged PM King to
appoint a woman senator and clarify definition of person
Took case to Supreme Court of Canada
In 1928 Supreme Court of Canada decided women were NOT….
WHAT???
This is a picture of the famous five.
From left to right: Nelly McClung, Louise McKinley, Henrietta
Edwards, Emily Murphy and Irene Parlby.
Appealed to Privy Council in London
Famous Five appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in
Britian
1929 Judicial Committee declared its support for women
“… to those who would ask why the word “person” should include females,
the obvious answer is, why should it not?!?!?!?!?!?!?”
Missing the Roar
First Nations
Residential Schools
Not classified as “persons”
under the law
Discrimination and racism
in cities
Not allowed to vote (BC:
1949, Fed: 1960)
Conditions poor on reserves,
many looked for
employment in cities
Separated from families,
culture
Many abused physically and
emotionally
Either adapt or be punished
Assimilation
Missing the Roar
First Nations
Aboriginal Title (land claims)
Potlatch ceremonies outlawed
Most BC land not officially
signed over to government in
treaties
Government still took land
from reserves
Illegal since 1884, but strictly
enforced in ’20s
Cut-off lands
Argued for treaty negotiations
with gov.
Federal government forbid
land claims
Residential Schools
Missing the Roar
Immigrants
Much racism, ethnocentrism (Ku Klux Klan)
Russian and Eastern European immigrants believed to be
communist revolutionaries
British and Americans preferred
White and spoke English
Some businesses welcomed immigrants because they worked
for little money in unpleasant jobs
Labour unions often against open immigration. WHY??M
Missing the Roar
Asian immigrants treated the worst
Chinese Head Tax since 1885
Chinese Exclusion Act (1923)
Only allowed if merchant, diplomat, student Japanese
immigration severely restricted in 1922
Economy improved in mid-1920s, immigration laws relaxed
(except for Asian immigrants) to increase Canada’s
population, market