History of Canadian Labor

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the two significant periods of working-class militancy in Canadian history, the Knights of Labor in the 1880s and the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. The paper analyzes how the issues of racism and sexism in the pre-20th century period in Canada brought about some of the most dramatic changes in the Canadian society and how these issues were key factors in the challenges of the Knights of Labor and the Winnipeg General Strike. The author explains how these two events, one of which marks the actual beginning of the revolutionary attempts concerning labor, and the other marking the culminating point and eventual results respectively, helped shaped the development of the Canadian working force.

From the Paper:

"The history of the Canadian state has been marked by a lot of important events which came to shape its present. In particular concerning the current social and economic situation, in can be said that one of the most important periods in its history was the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th as the events which took place at the time constituted some of the most dramatic changes in the Canadian society. However the strive for development and emancipation could not have been achieved without sacrifices and without the background of general events that in the end shaped the way in which the Canadian society emerged in the 20th century."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Creese, G. (1988) "Exclusion or solidarity? Vancouver Workers confront the 'Oriental Problem". BC Studies, University of British Columbia Press.
• Heron, C. (1984) '"Laborism and the Canadian Working Class". Labor/ Le Travail. Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• Marks, L. (1991) "The Knights of Labor and the Salvation Army: religion and working-class culture in Ontario, 1882-1890". Labor/ Le Travail, 28, 89-127.
• Phelan, C. (2000) Grand Master Workman: Terence Powderly and the Knights of Labor. Westport: Greenwood Press.
• Schulze, D. (1990) "The industrial workers on the World and the unemployment in Edmonton and Calgary in the Depression of 1913-1915". Labor/le Travail, 25, 47-75

More papers on History of Canadian Labor:

• Term Paper # 114017 : "The Canadian Labor Movement"
• Comparison Essay # 37648 : "Canadian Labor History"
• Term Paper # 114019 : "Canadian Labor 1920-1940"

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