Project!!

Table of Contents ECON 321 Research Project, Step 2 1 Question 1 (Regular) 2 1.a. (0 marks, just for reference) 2 1.b. 3 1.c. 4 1.d. 5 Question 2 (Challenge) 6 2.a 6 2.b. 7 2.c. 7 ‘Small topic’ suggestions for the ‘starter kit’ topics 8 The Bait Act 8 Steamboats and the Fur Trade 8 “Greater Production” and the Blood Reserve 8 Head taxes & Chinese in Victoria 8 A Canadian Sugar Cartel 9 Prairie farmers and the elevator monopoly 9 World War I and Women’s Work 9

What is the topic you are researching? (This is the topic you chose in Step 1.)

How World War I changed Women’s Work in Canada (Women & Paid Work)

The topics from Step 1 are very broad: you could write an entire book or thesis about some of them. It’s time to think small, Shrink your topic[footnoteRef:0]. Narrow it down to the smallest story that you can still tell completely. (You can find suggestions for the starter kit topics at the end of this assignment file.) This serves a few different purposes: smaller topics are more straightforward to research when you have limited time, they tend to provide more interesting stories (would you rather read a table of bankruptcy statistics or learn about how one specific person lost everything due to a bank failure, and the effect this had on their family?), and it’s often easier to clearly see the economics of the situation, because the sacrifices and tradeoffs, opportunities taken and lost, are on full display. [0: Example: If your ‘big’ topic from Step 1 was ‘Credit and the Newfoundland Cod Fishery’, you could narrow it down to the effect of the bank crashes of 1894 on the Newfoundland cod fishery. That, in turn, could be narrowed down to the effect of the effect of the collapse of the Commercial Bank of Newfoundland, in 1894, on cod merchants. And then, provided you had enough information, you could narrow that down to the impact of the collapse of the Commercial Bank on one particular merchant based in St. John’s. Your smaller topic could then be “The effect of the collapse of the Commercial Bank of Newfoundland on merchant So-and-So.”. The place, since this merchant was based in St. John’s, could be St. John’s, Newfoundland. What about the time? The bank crash happened in 1894. You want to know how this person conducted business before the crash, and what they did after the crash, so five years in either direction seems about right. Since 1894 – 5 = 1889, and 1894 + 5 = 1899, your time period would be 1889 – 1899 (at least for now – you can refine that in later steps).]

Smaller Topic:

The impact of the First World War on female nurse workers.

Time:

After 1880

Place:

Vancouver

Start telling your story. Very briefly, tell me the basics of what happened[footnoteRef:1]. What was the original situation? What happened? What changed as a result of what happened? Provide sources for any claims you make. Each section (beginning, middle & end) should be no more than half a page long . [1: Continuing our previous example about Merchant So-and-So of St. John’s, Newfoundland: The ‘beginning’ could be: ‘Before the bank crash, Merchant So-and-So ran a successful seasonal business. During the cod fishing season, they advanced food and materials to fishing families in Trinity Bay, who ‘paid’ for this with cod they caught and dried. The merchant financed the operation in the off-season with a line of credit at the Commercial Bank, where they held a seat on the Board of Directors.’ The ‘middle’ would be about the failure of the Commercial Bank in 1894 (briefly covered in class). The ‘end’ would be how the crash affected the merchant. For example: “The crash left the merchant penniless. They were forced to sell their business to a rival merchant, receiving only cents on the dollar. This was not enough to pay all their debts, because a newspaper ad lists the former merchant’s personal property as being up for auction in March of 1895. Eventually, the former merchant was forced to leave Newfoundland and find work in New England, where they used their knowledge of accounting to earn a living as a book-keeper for a pickled herring factory.” ]

Beginning:

During and before the First World War, women were not allowed to go out to work, and their usual jobs were women's affairs. The work accepted every day is just cooking, washing clothes, cleaning up housework, taking care of children, etc.

Middle:

After experiencing the effects of the First World War, women began to come into contact with the jobs held by some men, and they also began to appear on the battlefield. Under the constant influence, around 1885, women were formally employed as nurses for the first time, allowing women to enter the war zone little by little to fight side by side with men.

End:

After entering the 20th century, by constantly stimulating women's workability and influence on traditional concepts, many women have changed from nurses to soldiers, and through training and teaching, they have also entered the army. For example, in 1941, the first female soldiers appeared from the Army and Air Force respectively. After that, the ranks of women entering the army continued to expand.

Sources you used, cited in APA format:

Chenier, N. M. (2020). Canadian Women and War. THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/women-and-war

What is the main economic point of your story?[footnoteRef:2] (Answer this like you would answer the same question in a 3-2-1 report.) [2: In our continued example, one candidate for main economic point would be that the failure of the Commercial Bank led to a concentration of power in the Newfoundland cod fishery, as the merchants who survived the crash were able to buy the businesses that failed at bargain rates. Merchants who were caught up in the crash mostly went bankrupt, but those who survived saw an increase in their market power. (This is not actually what happened in real life, but it’s consistent with the fictional example we’ve been looking at.)]

The influence and evolution of the First World War changed people's views on inherent jobs at that time, changed the inherent economic development model, allowed women to study and engage in male jobs, and encouraged more women to enter the battlefield to fight side by side with men.

In this question, you need to find a primary source related to your (narrowed down) topic. This source should be from the time period in question (or written later by someone who participated in the event you’re writing about), and should be an original source of information. So, for example, a letter written by a government official in 1913 about the situation on the Blood Reserve would be a primary source on that topic. A peer-reviewed article published in 2018 that talks about that letter would NOT be primary source. For the purpose of this assignment, newspaper and journal articles written at the time of the event you are talking about are primary sources.

The following list of resources can help you find a primary source:

· Canadiana: https://www.canadiana.ca/

· Library and Archives Canada Advanced Search[footnoteRef:3]: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx [3: When using this, don’t forget to set the ‘Available Online’ drop-down menu to ‘only’. That will restrict your search to items that are available online.]

· Peel’s Prairie Provinces (Newspapers for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, 1871 – 2013): http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/

· Censuses (Library and Archives Canada) (1825 – 1926): https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx

· The British Colonist (Victoria newspaper, 1858 – 1970s): https://britishcolonist.ca/

· B.C. Historical Newspapers (1859 – 1995): https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers

· Hudson’s Bay Company Archives - Biographical Sheets[footnoteRef:4]: https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/ [4: These count as primary sources for the purpose of this assignment. If you need to learn about someone who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company, this is the place to go to for information.]

a. (3 marks) Find a primary source that is relevant to your topic, and cite it in APA format[footnoteRef:5]: [5: If you have trouble finding out how to cite, say, a census sheet, you can find information by running a Google search for ‘census sheet APA’.]

2.b.

b. (3 marks) Briefly explain why this source is relevant to your topic. How are they connected?

This source mainly introduces the increase in nurse positions after the First World War and the important tasks they undertake. Rescued tens of thousands of dead and wounded soldiers who were seriously injured on the battlefield. This is the kind of woman who has been looked at by others with colored glasses and has been busy and exhausted. My topic is that due to the impact of the First World War, the profession of nurses has increased, and at the same time, more women have entered the battlefield. Therefore, the connection between the subject and the source is closely connected. This is the increase in the number of nurses and the dedication to society and the army during that period. It is helping one person after another and enabling women to gradually play an important role in society.

c. (4 marks) Briefly explain what you learned from this source, and how it affected your understanding of the economics of the situation you are studying.

I learned from this source that after the First World War, it was not only women in Canada that were not respected by similar professions, but in other wars, it was also difficult for women to be accepted by men. However, in order to prove that they are capable of this profession and can make certain achievements, many women study harder and prove to more people. In fact, the women of that period did indeed achieve this. Through their own efforts and performance, others recognized and entered positions that were impossible to hold before. The impact of this aspect has made men and women more balanced, and the global socio-economic development is more united and powerful. So this historic change explains why so many women are higher than men in some respects.

· Focus on the impact of the Bait Act on one particular group: France, or the United States, or Canada. If you can, narrow it down to the impact on one particular company or person belonging to that particular group. Or, if there were a number of arguments about the Bait Act, restrict yourself to just one of the ‘fights’ and investigate it thoroughly. You can get a start by searching ‘Newfoundland in International Context’ for the phrase ‘bait act’: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/willmore/wp-content/uploads/sites/5845/2021/01/NFIntContext.pdf

· Focus on the impact of ONE steamboat on the area it served. Possible choices include Hudson’s Bay Company steamships such as the Anson Northup (1861), Athabasca (1888 – 1897), Athabasca River I (1912 – 1917), Baychimo (1921 – 1931), Bayeskimo (1922 – 1925), Athabasca River II (1922 – 1949) and the Anyox (1933). For more information on these see https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/ships_histories.html

· ‘Our Betrayed Wards,’ in its table of contents, lists dozens of different ways in which government actions affected reserve agriculture during the relevant time period (e.g. ‘Eviction of Indians’, ‘Waste of Invaluable Hay,’ etc.). Pick one of these to focus on. You may wish to try to find information for a few different options, and then go for the one that you are able to research most effectively. ‘Our Betrayed Wards’: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/willmore/wp-content/uploads/sites/5845/2021/01/ourbetrayedwards.pdf

· Focus on one head tax. There were a number of different head taxes passed in British Columbia. Some of them were eventually ruled illegal, but not before they had interesting effects on the economic behavior of the people affected. For example, a head tax imposed by the City of Victoria in 1878 led to a general strike by Chinese workers in Victoria. (See ‘The Head Tax of 1878,’ starting on page 260 of ‘Stories from Canada’s Economic History’: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/willmore/wp-content/uploads/sites/5845/2021/01/SCEH2ED.pdf ) Meanwhile, the first federal head tax was imposed in 1885. This was important because it was applied at a federal level.

· Once you’ve chosen on one head tax to focus on, try to focus on the impact on one specific group: a person, a family, a business, an association (e.g. how did the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association react?), etc.

· There were a number of court cases having to do with controlling the price of sugar. You could focus on ONE of the court cases, and further narrow it down to ONE of the parties involved in the court case.

· In the period under consideration, there were very few sugar refiners in Canada. You could focus on how ONE specific refinery reacted to a particular shock to the sugar industry (I suggest that B.C. sugar during wartime may be especially interesting, since they were disconnected from the eastern refiners).

· You could look at how ONE particular firm was affected by the end of the elevator monopoly (e.g. What did the Ogilvie flour milling company do after the Manitoba Grain Act was passed?)

· You could also look at this as an opportunity to study the history of Canadian co-operative farming, by examining a particular group of farmers and their reactions to elevator-related issues. For example, the elevator monopoly led to the founding (in 1910) of the Manitoba Elevator Commission, but it was arguably the failure of this Commission that allowed the United Grain Growers to grow into the powerhouse it eventually became. If you were to take this topic, the natural ‘middle’ to your story would probably be the failure of the Manitoba Elevator Commission, and the ‘End’ how it allowed the United Grain Growers to expand & gain influence. See ‘A Study of Grain Elevators in Manitoba’, at https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/internal_reports/pdfs/Grain_Elevators_study.pdf

· In Step 1, I suggested that you follow a specific profession across World War I (e.g. telephone operators). To narrow it down further, you could look at a specific place (telephone operators in Montreal), a specific company (telephone operators working for Bell), or a specific person, if you’re fortunate enough to find enough information (e.g. a specific woman who first worked as a telephone operator during World War I – your ‘beginning’ would be about her job and living situation before working as a telephone operator, and the ‘after’ would be what happened after the war).

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