Chapter 14 : Canada In The World

Daughter of the Empire

Countries were referred to as “she”. Therefore, Canada was called a “daughter of the British Empire”.

A common saying was that “the sun never sets on the British Empire” because about 1/4 of the world’s people were part of this empire which was spread out all over the world.

Some of the evidence of the British Empire’s influence in Canadian culture included

money stamps Queen’s birthday

and Empire Day Union Jack flag

( until 1965 ) Anthem was “God

Save The King”

Canada also had political and economic ties to Great Britain

Political

By 1910, Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had all become self - governing dominions.

Each dominion had complete control over its own affairs but Britain still controlled foreign affairs.

If Britain went to war, its dominions were also at war

Economical

Trade was very important in the British Empire

In early 1900's, most Canadian exports were sold to Britain

Most investments in Canadian businesses came from Britain

Newfoundland’s trade of salt cod was still controlled by Britain

Rethinking The Empire

Most Canadians were either imperialists (wanted closer ties to Britain) or they were nationalists ( thought that Canada should be less dependent on Britain )

At the turn of the 20th century, there were strong feelings of nationalism (extreme pride in one’s country)

Many Canadians were extremely proud to be part of the British Empire.

However, three events soon caused Canada to rethink their loyalty to Britain

Boer War ( 1899 - 1902 )

In 1899 war broke out in South Africa between the British and the Boxers (Dutch settlers)who lived near by

Many British settlers moved to South Africa after gold and diamonds were discovered there and the 2 groups did not trust each other

The Boers declared war on Great Britain

Britain asked Canada to send troops, the imperialists agreed but French Canadians disagreed

Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier made a compromise by sending a small volunteer force to South Africa

Britain won the Boer War in 1902

The long-term effects of the Boer War on Canada was that

nobody in Canada was happy with Laurier’s compromise

historians feel that Laurier’s compromise was the best solution since anything else would have led to serious conflict within Canada

Boer War led to the development of Canada’s own military

Alaska Boundary Dispute

In 1903, Canada and the U.S. argued over their boundaries near Alaska

Due to the Klondike Gold Rush both countries wanted control of the area’s coastline needed to access the Chilkoot Pass

The dispute was settled by a panel of 6 officials ( 3 American, 2 Canadian and 1 British )

The British official sided with the Americans

Britain may have wanted the U. S. as an ally if war broke out with Germany

Canadians felt betrayed

The long-term effects were that

more Canadians (even imperialists) began to think that Canada should have more independence from Britain

the dispute increased the Canadian fear of being invaded by the U.S.

Naval Service Bill

Britain feared a build up of the German Navy and asked Canada for money to build navy ships

Nationalists felt Canada should build its own navy

Prime Minister Laurier decided to create the Naval Service Bill in 1910 thus creating Canada’s own navy

This navy would help defend Canada from being attacked and also be lent to Britain in times of war

The long-term effects of the Naval Service Bill was that

imperialists saw this new navy as a “tin pot navy” since it only had 2 old ships

nationalists thought that the new navy was useless

offering to lend ships to Britain would get Canada involved in Britain’s wars