National Policy and the CPR Student Activities

Draw a map of the colony of British Columbia circa 1869.

Examine the famous picture of the driving of the Last Spike. Imagine that you are a journalist sent to cover the event. Write a story that will live through the ages.

List the concerns that Prince Edward Islanders would have had on the eve of joining Canada. Which do you think would have been the greatest? Why?

Map the route of the CPR.

Explain what a tariff is and how it operates. Include a diagram in your explanation. What are the purposes of a tariff? Who benefits from a tariff? Why? Who suffers with a tariff? Why? On the whole, are tariffs positive or negative?

Research one of the well-known aboriginal leaders and create a bristol board display.

Research the contribution of William Van Horne to the building of the CPR.

What was the last obstacle to British Columbia joining Confederation? Explain. How and when was that impediment removed?

Create a PowerPoint presentation entitled "The History of the Mounties in Canada."

Create a PowerPoint presentation on the building of the CPR.

Download Gordon Lightfoot's song "Canadian Railroad Trilogy." What feeling do you get listening to the song? Why? Note three moving lines from the song.

Form groups of three. You are the three-man delegation sent from British Columbia to negotiate your colony's entrance into Confederation. You are meeting in a hotel room drawing up the terms, conditions, and provisions for an agreement with the Canadian government. List all those terms, conditions, and provisions. Make sure to provide a rationale for each. Which ones are more important? Why?

List all the difficulties associated with the building of the CPR. Classify those difficulties. What category of difficulties was the greatest? Why?

Upon the completion of the CPR, its American President, W. C. Van Horne, said the job of building Canada's transcontinental railway would have made the German Kaiser, Canadian. What did he mean? Why? Do you think he was right?

Your group is the highest level of the colonial government of British Columbia in 1869. You are a facing a severe financial crisis. Identify the options available to you. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Does joining Canada emerge as the best alternative? Why or why not?

Compare and contrast the differences between the settlement of the Canadian West and the settlement of the American West? How were the two experiences different? How were they the same? From where did the differences originate? What significant consequences stemmed from those differences?

Conduct a debate, either as a class or in triads, on the following resolution: Resolved that Prince Edward Island has been poorly served by being a part of Canada.

Construct a diagram that explains the inter-relatedness of the three components of the National Policy.

Create your own "Annexation Manifesto" as it might have appeared in British Columbia in 1869.

How do you think Macdonald would have felt had he been alive to witness Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's introduction of the Free Trade Agreement? Why? Dress up as Macdonald and make a speech about your reaction.

How do you think the aboriginals viewed the Mounties?

Overall would you judge Prince Edward Island's entrance into Confederation to be largely similar or different from that of British Columbia? Explain.

Research the Cypress Hills Massacre. Was it rightly named? Why or why not?

Research the life of the colourful Amor de Cosmos. Present your findings to the class in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.

To what groups in Canada would Macdonald have appealed with his National Policy? Why? Which groups would not have liked it? Why not?

What impact did the United States exert in British Columbia's decision to join Canada?

Why was the Canadian government so generous in negotiating British Columbia's entrance into Confederation?

Write a contemporary editorial entitled, "Conflict with the Aboriginals is Inevitable in the 1870s."

Write and deliver a eulogy for Sanford Fleming.

Debate the following resolution: "The National Policy unfairly exploited western Canadians."

Do the numbered treaties of the 1870s still have an impact today, over one hundred and thirty years later? Why or why not?

Do you think that over the last one hundred and thirty years that the Canadian government has made adequate redress for the injustices inflicted on the aboriginals of Canada during the nineteenth century? Do you think that the Canadian government has done too much? Explain your position by citing supporting historical and contemporary evidence.

Frame of reference, or perspective, is critical in history. Explain the two very different perspectives, Canadian and aboriginal, of the numbered treaties. How and why were the two perspectives so radically different? What were the repercussions of those differences?

Has British Columbia been well served by its decision to become a part of Canada? Write a thematic paper arguing one side of the question.

The Pacific Scandal was arguably the first instance of government corruption in Canada. Do some research and see if you can find others. Is government corruption inevitable? Does "power corrupt?"

What is Standard Time, how did it originate, and why was it so critically important?

What role did racism play in negotiating the numbered treaties?