Date

War is Over. Here come the 20’s

Canada and the War

✤ Canadians were tired of the war. They were extremely glad it was over and did not look back on it fondly

✤ Over 60,000 Canadian men and women lost their lives and many more were wounded.

✤ Thanks to conscription the French and English now resented each other.

✤ “Enemy Aliens” also suffered after the war> they lost jobs, homes, businesses etc.

Positives

✤ Women had gained the right to vote during the war!

✤ Steel and munitions production grows!

✤ Canada becomes a more independent country, even though they were still a part of the British Empire.

✤ New political leaders are about to emerge!

The Lost Generation

✤ “The Lost Generation” was a term coined by Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein.

✤ Referred to people who came of age during WWI > even though this is an American term it still applies to Canada

✤ Young soldiers missed> first dates, late nights with friends, hanging out and being young etc

✤ They “lost” their adolescence. These people now had a grudge/sadness about the war

So what happens next?!

✤ Prohibition

✤ Winnipeg General Strike

✤ Assimilation

✤ Immigration issues

✤ New Political issues and leaders

✤ New rights for women!

✤ Changes in fads, fashions, and sports

✤ Important inventions and discoveries!

March 27th 2013

Prohibitionavailable online @ msbeenen.wikispaces.com

Drunk and Disorderly

✤ Prohibition is introduced in 1918> Why?

✤ In the 1870’s drinking becomes one of Canada’s favourite past times

✤ People become drunk and disorderly and women start to take notice

✤ Women’s Christian Temprence Movement and United Farm Women of Alberta come to save the day!

✤ The goal: going dry will decrease crime and create well-mannered, actively contributing citizens.

1901-1920’s

✤ 1901: PEI goes dry

✤ 1904: Toronto West End goes dry in an attempt to cut down on rowdiness

✤ 1920’s: Prohibition is widespread in Canada: most drinking establishments are closed and alcohol sales are forbidden with some exceptions.

If we can’t drink; we’ll just drink in secret!

✤ People started consuming “bootleg” booze: illegal liquor made and sold by bootleggers

✤ Illegal drinking establishments called “Speakeasies” started popping up everywhere> entry was approved through a peephole in the door.

✤ These speakeasies were swanky, often contained fashionable surroundings, great musc, conversation and drinks!

✤ Women also started to attend these speakeasies and behave a little more like men.

Doctor, Doctor!

✤ Some provinces allow doctors to prescribe liquor to the ill>> lots of people are now “sick”

✤ Christmas holidays become one of the “sickest” holidays with long lines up at the drug store.

Did no booze= better people?✤ Violence did decrease, no

more rowdy drunks, things seemed to run a little smoother.

✤ Children and wives were spared abuse> not all, but the abuse rate did decrease.

✤ Workers brought their paychecks home instead of to the local tavern.

✤ People worked harder and better, fewer work days were missed

Canada misses its alcohol✤ Provincial governments

start to realize that prohibition is not going so well>> it was easier for them to tax liquor sales than forbid them.

✤ BC votes to make liquor legal through the government and Manitoba and Sask follow suit.

✤ By 1930 all provinces are tired of prohibition and vote against it (except PEI)

Prohibition Crime

✤ The US is still under strict prohibition so they get “rum runners” from Canada to bring alcohol over.

✤ Some Canadians made fortunes doing this.

✤ Smuggling made room for organized crime: enter Al Capone.

Al Capone

✤ American gangster>> dedicated to smuggling, bootlegging and prostitution.

✤ He was sometimes viewed as the modern day “Robin Hood” as he would “steal from the rich and give to the poor”

✤ St. Valentines Day Massacre changes that reputation.

✤ Without prohibition Al Capone would never had his rise to fame!

Quick fact:

✤ 3 areas of Nova Scotia vote against prohibition for the first time in 2005. Before then, liquor had to be bought in neighbouring towns or in New Brunswick.

Class Task:

✤ What are your thoughts on prohibition?

✤ Pick a character from the list and write a paragraph on what your thoughts would be on prohibition.

✤ Think of why prohibition would help you or hinder you.

✤ Characters:

✤ Struggling wife: you rarely see your husbands pay check because he has usually spent it at the bar. Your husband is a nice man, but sometimes he gets a little violent when drunk and you have 5 kids to protect.

✤ Tavern owner: Your tavern has been in your family for years and you already have your eldest son learning how to run it. You serve some food that gets the regular customers but you mostly rely on booze to bring the money in that will provide for your family.

✤ Bachelor: You just want some fun nights on the town with your friends. After just getting back from war you want to celebrate. Sure you might get rowdy sometimes, but who doesn’t?

✤ Mayor: your town is known as the slums thanks to all the drunks. It seems like every night theres a new incident involving drinking. The government doesn’t want to invest in your town because its too risky. If only there was a way to clean it up and get people to behave!