Reading Logs
Almost every week during this history class we were assigned to read some articles written by other historians. We then write about what we thought the articles main ideas. The readings were very intriguing. The readings talked about topics such as what life was like in pre-confederation Canada, First Nations, gender roles, changes within society, religion and traditions.
Below are my reading logs and a short summury about the reading log is talking about.
Week one: Intro to History in Pre-Confederation in Canada
This week we read the introduction of the history textbook. It mainly talked about the importance of history and how it changes. I thought this reading helped me have a deeper understanding for what history is and how we do it.
Week Two: Missionaries in Pre-Confederate Canada
In this reading log we learnt about the missionaries in pre-confederation Canada. The main focus was how the missionaries interacted with the first nations peoples. I found it sad how the native perspective was not told very well throughout pre-confederation Canada.
Week Three: Extinction of the Beothuk
These articles were a really interesting read. In the articles they talked about the first nation on Newfoundland and how they led themselves into extinction. I always knew that the First Nation community was greatly affected by the Europeans coming to the new world, but I didnt realize that in some areas the First Nations just went extinct.
Week Four: The King’s Daughters
I found this week a very unique topic. In the articles they talked about how the king of France had sent some unfortunate women to the New World to help populate it. We learnt how women also had a significant role in the fur trade. This reading made me think of what it would have been like being a early settler in Canada.
Week Five: The Acadians
In this reading we learnt about the group of people called the Acadians. We leant that they were a missed treated group of people and that their culture is still seen in Canada today. It was intrestesting how this group did not relate to any european country and was really a nuetral group of people in the new world. It was also intresting learning about what became of this group of people.
Week Six: The Resistance to Slavery
It was hard to believe that slavery took place in Canada. When I thought of Slavery before this read I thought about America and how they fled to Canada. However slavery was a very real in pre-confederation Canada. In the readings we learn how Slaves helped led to the abolishment of Slavery.
Week Seven: Gold Rush In British Columbia
In these readings we learn what the gold rush in British Columbia was like. We learn that not everyone found gold and learn about the difficulties of the gold rush. I could not imagine myself travelling to a new land in search of gold and induring what those gold miners indured.
Week Eight: Charivaris in Lower Canada
Charivaris came from french traditions and was a very ruthless tradition. The tradition was first used for religious reasons but it eventually shifted to be used in political reasons. I found this pretty crazy to believe that the traditions of charivaris would ever happen.
Week Nine: Dueling In Canada
Before this course I thought dueling only took place in the American wild west. However in this weeks readings we learnt all about why and how dueling took place in Canada. We also had some interesting primary sources that talked about duels.
Week Ten: What is History and How Do We Do It?
In this reading log we stated what we thought history is and explained how you can do history. This was a reflective reading log. Earlier in the semester we had answered the questions and at the end we reanswered the questions.