Phone: 474-3450 x4402
E-mail: jamesm at nipissingu dot ca (replace "at" and "dot" with the appropriate symbols)
Pre-Requisites: 12 credits of History at the 1000 and 2000 level.
Classroom: A129
Class Time: WF 12:30-2:00 pm
Office Hours: W 9:300-11:00 and Th 4:00-5:00
I encourage you to come by my office, whether to get help with assignments, ask questions about course material, discuss your progress, or simply to talk history.
Introduction
After 1800 Europeans came to stay in the regions that now make up the Canadian west. Europeans adapted to their new surroundings and created “a new society with its own values and momentum.” But this was a process that required the prior displacement of First Nations people who were there when Europeans arrived. This course focuses on this process of displacement and creation, struggle, triumph and defeat. In doing so it lays the groundwork for an understanding of western Canada, a region of increasing importance in Canada. It also presents a case study of the process of British settler colonialism, a phenomenon that occurred in the Canadian west but also in other parts of Canada and around the world.
Course Structure
As a 3rd-year history class, this course is designed to accomplish several objectives. First and most obviously, it will teach you about the history of the Canadian west. However, it is also designed to prepare you for History seminar classes in 4th-year. Thus, the course itself is more focused on theory and argument than a 2nd-year course. We will also spend significant time in class and small group discussions aimed at understanding and critiquing the arguments of assigned readings.
Required Texts
- Hist 3217 Course Reader
- Rampolla, Mary Lynn. A Pocket Guide to Writing in
History, 4th or 5th ed. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2004 or 2006. Note: Required for all courses in
history. No work will be assigned from this book but it
will be assumed that you have it.
Grading
Reading Questions
10%
Due: Each Week
Essay #1 (Source Analysis)
20-30%
Due: Oct 19
Mid-Term Test
10%
Date: Oct 3
Essay #2 (Historiographical)
20-30%
Due: Nov 23
Final Exam
30%
Date: TBA
Essay marks will add up to 50%. Whichever assignment you score lowest on will be worth 20%, and whichever you score highest on will be worth 30%.
Reading Questions
Students will be required, at regular intervals, to create and hand in a question (or questions) based on the week’s readings. We will discuss these questions in class following the lecture and come up with a question (or questions) for the midterm test and final exam (though not all the questions generated in class will necessarily appear on the exams). Questions must be e-mailed to the instructor (at jamesm@nipissingu.ca) at least 24 hours before the start of the first class of the week (iow, by Thursday at 12:30). Questions will be marked on a pass/fail basis. More details in class.
Essay #1 (Source Analysis)
This assignment will ask you to answer a question about an assigned primary source document. In formulating your answer, you will need to keep in mind the document’s purpose, context, bias, approach, style, methodology, and importance and relevance. Key to this assignment will be your ability to justify your critique and thoughts. Your essay is to be 5-6 pages in length, and include at least two (2) secondary sources.
Essay #2 (Historiographical): Why did Douglas Stop Negotiating Treaties?
As the first Governor of colonial British Columbia, James Douglas initially followed standard British practice in negotiating and signing treaties with First Nations. Then, for reasons unknown, he abruptly stopped. Explaining why he did this is a key and ongoing debate amongst historians of BC. The debate is intriguing because Douglas left no documents explaining his decision; it is important because no further treaties were signed in BC, locking the province into a state of uncertainty over land and Native rights that has become particularly pronounced in our own days.
In this assignment you will read the key works in this debate and give your interpretation as to why Douglas stopped negotiating treaties. Readings will be assigned by the instructor. This assignment tests your ability to read carefully, to express your thoughts in essay form, and to analyze and evaluate historical debates. 5-6 pages.
Mid-term Test
The midterm test will be a relatively short test (about 30 minutes) designed to give you a sense of your grasp of course material so far. It will be largely based on the questions generated in class (and so will be largely based directly on readings).
Final Exam
To be taken during the April exam period. The final exam will contain some questions designed to test basic knowledge and some essay questions designed to test your understanding of course concepts and your ability to integrate your knowledge into a coherent historical argument. The exam will contain a selection of the questions generated in class (and so will contain questions directly related to readings).
University Grading Standards (from the Academic Calendar)
"A" - (80-100%)
"B" - (70-79%)
"C" - (60-69%)
"D" - (50-59%)
"F" - (0-49%)
"A" indicates Exceptional Performance : comprehensive in-depth knowledge of the principles and materials treated in the course, fluency in communicating that knowledge and independence in applying material and principles.
"B" indicates Good Performance : thorough understanding of the breadth of materials and principles treated in the course and ability to apply and communicate that understanding effectively.
"C" indicates Satisfactory Performance : basic understanding of the breadth of principles and materials treated in the course and an ability to apply and communicate that
understanding competently.
"D" indicates Minimally Competent Performance : adequate understanding of most principles and materials treated in the course, but significant weakness in some areas and in the ability to apply and communicate that understanding.
"F" indicates Failure: inadequate or fragmentary knowledge of the principles and materials treated in the course or failure to complete the work required in the course.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism. The definition of cheating is fairly straightforward. The following information on plagiarism is offered to clear up any possible confusion. I advise you to read the section of the university calendar dealing with academic dishonesty and come to me if you have any questions or concerns.
The university calendar defines plagiarism as follows:
“Essentially, plagiarism involves submitting or presenting work in a course as if it were the student’s own work done expressly for that particular course when, in fact, it is not. Most commonly plagiarism exists when:
a) the work submitted or presented was done, in whole or in part, by an individual other than the one submitting or presenting the work.
b) parts of the work (e.g. phrases, ideas through paraphrase or sentences) are taken from another source without reference to the original author.
c) the whole work (e.g. an essay) is copied from another source and/or
d) a student submits or presents a work in one course which has also been submitted or presented in another course (although it may be completely original with that student) without the knowledge or prior agreement of the instructors involved.”
Penalties range from a grade of zero on the assignment concerned to expulsion from the university. Students should be warned that I take a very dim view of plagiarism and will pursue the maximum possible penalty against anyone suspected of it.
Late Policy
Assignments must be handed in at the start of class on the due date. After this time assignments will be considered to be late.
Penalties: Late assignments will be penalized 3% per day, counting weekends as one day. Assignments handed in more than 10 days after the due date will receive a grade of zero.
Assignments cannot be submitted by e-mail.
Lecture Schedule
Week 1 (Sept 7): Introduction to the Course
Readings: None
2 (Sept 12&14): Settler Colonialism & the European World System
Readings
- Cole Harris, “How Did Colonialism Dispossess?
Comments from an Edge of Empire,” Annals of the
Association of American Geographers 94(1) (March
2004), 165-82. Avail. online through Education Centre
Library Electronic Journals.
3 (Sept 19&21): Europeans and Natives in the early 19th Century Fur Trade
Readings
- Harris, “Strategies of Power in the Cordilleran Fur Trade.”
- Peterson, “The Indian and Fur Trade: A Review of the
Literature.”
4 (Sept 26&28): Fur Trade Society
Readings
- Van Kirk, “Women in Between: Indian Women in Fur Trade Society in Western Canada.”
- Rollason Driscoll, “‘A Most Important Chain of
Connection’: Marriage in the Hudson’s Bay Company.”
5 (Oct 3&5): The Beginnings of Resettlement in British Columbia
Readings
- Van Kirk, “Tracing the Fortunes of Five Founding Families of Victoria.”
- McDonald, “Lumber Society on the Industrial Frontier: Burrard Inlet, 1863-1886.”
- Perry, “Bachelors in the Backwoods: White Men and
Homosocial Culture in Upcountry British Columbia,
1858-71.”
6 (Oct 10&12): Study Week
7 (Oct 17&19): The Métis and Red River
Readings
- Friesen, “The Métis and the Red River settlement, 1844-70.”
- Ens, “Métis Agriclture in Red River During the
Transition from Peasant Society to Industrial
Capitalism.”
8 (Oct 24&26): The Basic Geography: Taking Native Land
Readings
- Fisher, “Joseph Trutch and Indian Land Policy.”
- Harris, “Ideology and Land Policy, 1864-71,” and
“Sproat and the Native Voice, 1878-80,” in Making Native
Space.
9 (Oct 31 & Nov 1): The National Policy, Economic Development, and Resettlement: I
Readings
- Norrie, “The National Policy and the Rate of Prairie Settlement.”
- Regehr, “Western Canada and the Burden of National
Transportation Policies.”
10 (Nov 7&9): The National Policy, Economic Development, and Resettlement: II
Readings
- Harris, “Industry and the Good Life Around Idaho Peak.”
- Rajala, “The Forest as Factory: Technological Change
and Worker Control in the West Coast Logging Industry."
11 (Nov 14&16): King Wheat
Readings
- Thomas, “The Old Homestead: Romance & Reality.”
- Danysk, “‘A Bachelor’s Paradise’: Homesteaders, Hired
Hands, and the Construction of Masculinity.”
Readings
- Kay J. Anderson, “The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77(4), pp. 580-98. Avail. online through Education Centre Library Electronic Journals.
- Palmer, “Strangers and Stereotypes.”
13 (Nov 28&30): Cities & Provinces
Readings
- Voisey, “The Urbanization of the Canadian Prairies.”
- McDonald, “Victoria, Vancouver, and the Economic
Development of British Columbia.”
14 (Dec 5): Review