John A. MacDonald - Great Canadian or Genocidal Leader?? A History Lesson

John A. MacDonald - Great Canadian or Genocidal Leader??

This weeks @steemiteducation homework centered around a historical figure that had some impact on the world. This got me immediately thinking of my experience in history class this year.

As a grade 8 teacher I get to teach a variety of subject. History happens to be one that at times I struggle with. The struggle relates to keeping the students engaged in content that they will openly tell you is boring. I have always been a bit of a history buff so I have always tried to share my passion about the information with them and over the years have achieved a variety of results. In recent years I have put a big focus on two things:

1)Historical Significance - What makes the event of person we are studying significant? How did it/they impact the future etc..
2)Relevance - Why is this information relevant to us today? How can we make connections between these past events and things that are happening in the world today?

Both points ultimately lead to the understanding that by knowing our past and understanding the circumstances around the why and how, our generation and future generations might learn from these events and better be able to avoid the mistakes of our past.

In grade 8, history lessons are based on the creation of Canada and the events/people that had significant roles to play. Through this exploration we naturally get to learn about Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A MacDonald. This year however there have been some major developments and significant public awareness to a variety of issues that has given new life to my history class and brought the late 1800’s right into our present day classroom.

John A MacDonald was born on January 11, 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to Canada with his family when he was 5 years old. He grew up in Kingston, Ontario where his father was a local businessman. MacDonald started working at the age of 15 articling for a lawyer, the first steps in his pursuit to become a lawyer himself. He became involved in politics in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s. In Canada at the time there was a great deal of tension between upper and lower Canada (what we now know as Ontario and Quebec). These were the two largest populated colonies and the political jockeying for control was heated and controversial. Macdonald, being a passionate man was right at home in the political ring. MacDonald was known for being brash and very aggressive in his pursuits to be elected but at the same time someone that many people respected and admired.

MacDonald is recognized as the being man who is responsible for Canada becoming a country. During the 1850’s and 1860’s there were a lot of factors that were contributing to unrest in the Canadian British colonies. There was fear of American invasion, lost trade creating economic stress and Britain was already cutting ties. The government was in shambles because of the use of equal representation and the inability of any government to pass legislation. MacDonald was a significant part of what was called the Great Coalition. MacDonald encouraged the parties to dissolve government and work together to create a united Canada. His efforts were a big part in the success of Canadian confederation and he was eventually elected Canada’s first Prime Minister is 1867.

As a school age child I grew up learning about all the great things John A. MacDonald did. He was The Father of Confederation. Although there were many other people involved in the Great Coalition and in the creation of Canada it is widely believed that if it were not for MacDonald then the quest to confederation would have fallen short in which case many people believe that Canada would have been annexed by the United States. It was his charismatic demeanour and often aggressive tactics that enabled him to lead people and make things happen. He was able to win people over in debates and convince them to support his ideas. Throughout Canada MacDonald has been immortalized by the erection of statues and having his name used for schools and roads. His face is even on the $10 bill.

John A MacDonald was by no means a perfect man. It was well documented that he was a frequent visitor of many after hours establishments and he fancied himself the drink. His drunkenness was well known and seemingly accepted. There were even occasions where he would be drunk while conducting himself during electoral debates and even in cabinet. He once even threw up during a debate due to being intoxicated and used this as a way to embarrass his competitor saying that his speech was making him sick.

Now, in politics it often takes shrewdness and sometimes maliciousness to get things accomplished. John A MacDonald for all his greatness was far from an innocent man. He did accomplish the uniting of the British colonies to form Canada and he was a major part of the expansion of Canada to the west into Manitoba and British Columbia but some of these accomplishments came at a severe price. At the time of Canada’s expansion there was an issue with land. The indigenous peoples felt that they still owned much of the land that the Canadian government was seeking to take over. The government at the time did very little if not anything at all to recognize the rights of indigenous people. The issue saw many several standoffs as the government attempted to push the indigenous people out. MacDonald instituted policies in legislation that targeted indigenous people in a way that is now being called “Crimes against Humanity” and “The Canadian Genocide”

The policies that were put forth by MacDonald and his government were designed to force the indigenous people to bend to the governments will. The government was able to cut of trade with indigenous people making it very difficult for them to get food and essentially starving them. He was also instrumental in the creation of “Residential Schools”. These were schools for indigenous children. Basically, indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to attend these schools where they would also live. They were stripped of their indigenous names and culture and assimilated into christian values. They were forced to dress a certain way and forget their native language so they could adopt english as their first language. The stories of abuse and mistreatment of the children at these residential schools has been well documented and is horrific in nature.It wasn’t just the indigenous peoples. The Chinese immigrants at the time were also greatly mistreated and given very little rights. To top this off MacDonald was quoted on several occasions referring to indigenous people with racist remarks. I won’t get into the specific quotes here but you are welcome to look them up in links below.

Fast forward to present day and my classroom. In recent years there has been a big push from indigenous rights groups for there to be more recognition for the atrocities committed back then. This push for recognition has become an even bigger push for relevant and visible change. Many are now calling for the statues of MacDonald to come down and for the schools and buildings that have his name to be changed. There have been demonstrations and petitions and the occasional violent demonstration by people looking to be heard and initiate change. Even the Ontario teachers union has voiced in with their opinion about how school names should change.

This has provided me with a great opportunity in my class. I am a teacher who wants first and foremost to teach students to think critically and to look at all the information that is being presented to them before they make a decision. All of their knowledge to this day was about how great John A. MacDonald was. Now, they were being presented with an alternate view of the man known are The father of Canada. I challenged them to learn as much as they could about what happened back then and to listen to the perspectives of those supporting change and those saying things should remain as they are. They ultimately had to come up with and answer to the question:

Should John A. MacDonald’s name be removed from schools and other buildings and should his statues come down?

It lead to some wonderful debates in the class and even more questions for us to seek out answers to. The activities truly made them see the relevance of historical information. I had several students talk to me about how they used to hate history but that now they were excited to come to class. I even received an email from a parent thanking me for making the discussions in class so meaningful.

A great man? A drunk? A racist? John A MacDonald was a lot of things and I encourage you to do a little research and make your own decision. The debate isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

By @broncofan99

http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/Politics/pm/johnmacdonald.htm
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-john-alexander-macdonald/3
https://globalnews.ca/news/3693078/sir-john-a-macdonald-controversy-canadas-first-prime-minister/
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/rachel-decoste/john-a-macdonald_b_6450442.html
https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/10-quotes-john-a.-macdonald-made-about-first-nations

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