HIST 235 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Downtown Vancouver, Population Growth, Gastown
Document Summary
Saskatchewan in 1885: supported & accelerated dispossession & marginalization of indigenous people in west, nation-building "myth" of cpr. Iconic photograph: 7 november 1885, donald smith (lord strathcona) drove in ceremonial last spike in craigellachie, british columbia: he bent spike; image of last spike & its symbol of nation-building is false. Skilled workers who built railway weren"t pictured: why was cpr built, 1867 - bna act & dominion of canada, canada brought together british colonies in east & turned them into dominion of canada, ontario, quebec, nb & ns. In beginning - scandal & corruption & gets built very slowly: october 1880 - macdonald (pm) finds contract w/ new company called canadian. Pacific railway: promised 25 million dollars in cash, land, & 20-year monopoly on shipping in western part of railway, workers were protesting b/c they worked terrible conditions for little to no pay. Strikes: 1883 medicine hat, 1885 rogers pass in rockies, one strike leader was shot & wounded.
