Links to essay writing advice can be found here.

A rubric (grading scheme) will be distributed in class. This scheme will form the basis of how your essay will be graded. A copy of it can be found here.

Refer also to the Essay Help section of this web page for further instruction in essay writing. 

Through the course the beginning of some classes (15 minutes) will be devoted to essay writing instruction.

If you wish to hand in rough drafts of your essay to me for comments please feel free to do so.  You can e-mail me your essay, or give it to me in class.  If you only have a portion of your essay (i.e.: an introduction) you can also give that to me.

Essay Instructions

Your final essay will be an 8 to 10 page formal essay on one of the topics distributed to you in class. You are free to pick your own topic if you clear it with me first.

Your essay will be typed in 12 pitch font, and double spaced. All footnotes/endnotes will be in Chicago style (see Rampolla, pp. 47-48 and the link to the History Department's web page regarding essay writing). Do not play with the margins, or provide additional line spacing between paragraphs to lengthen your essay.

For your essay you will be required to have a minimum of 6 sources. Two of these must be some form of article from either a journal or collection of articles in the library, or found on JSTORE. One of these articles can be taken from Readings in Canadian History, but no more than one. If you wish you may use one source from the internet. If you choose to do this it must be a primary source web site.

The following topics are offered as suggestions. You can choose one, or alter a suggested topic or develop your own topic. If you prefer the latter two choices check with me first before proceeding.

The topics below require that you refine them. They are not, as they stand, a suitable thesis. What they offer are subjects for you to explore, research, and develop your own thesis.

Remember, a formal essay is argumentative -- it must have a thesis/argument in it.

Suggested Essay Topics

1.     Examine the pressure on the Dominion government which led to the expansion of the federal union in the years 1867-1873.  Can trends or similarities be found?

2.     What was ultramontanism?  Examines its significance for politics and nationalism in Quebec in the 1867 to 1896 period.

3.     Examine the origins of and evolution of Macdonald’s National Policy.  Was it really a national policy, or was it simply politics?

4.     Examine the effects of the “provincial rights” movement of the 1870s and 1880s on the nature of the federal union.  Were men like Oliver Mowat misinterpreting the constitution, or the nature of Confederation?

5.     Why was the Manitoba Schools Question a critical issue in the 1890s?

6.     What events led to the Red River Rebellion of 1869-70?  Were the Métis justified in rising up against the government? 

8.     What events led to the Northwest Rebellion of 1885?  Consider either the Cree of Metis, but not both.  Were the Métis or Cree justified in rising up against the government?

9.     How did Canada’s entanglement with Britain affect domestic politics from 1899 to 1911?

10. Why was conscription introduced in Canada in 1917?  Why was it so divisive?

12. Account for the rise and subsequent collapse of the Progressive Party?

13. Examine the causes, events and consequences of the Winnipeg General Strike?  Can the outbreak of violence be blamed on anyone or any group in particular?

14. What was Bennet’s New Deal?  Did it work?

15. Why was conscription introduced in Canada during World War II?  Why was it less divisive than it had been during World War I?

16. Why and to what extent did Canada participate in the Korean War?

17. Account for the Diefenbaker Phenomenon in 1957-58.

18. What was the October Crisis of 1970?  Was the federal government justified in implementing the War Measures Act?