After World War 1, Canada gained independence but also struggled with economic and social issues. The Winnipeg general strike of 1919 saw 30,000 workers walk off jobs demanding higher wages and collective bargaining rights. This period also saw the rise of labor unions and communist ideas which concerned the government. In the 1920s, Canada initially experienced an economic boom through trade with the US, but this prosperity did not reach all groups equally and the stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression.

1. The Roaring 20’s
Clara Bow Brewster 1921
The Famous Five

2. Canada After the War
• War propelled Canada into independence.
• The war had changed the perception of war for so
many people.
• Canada lost 46,000 dead and wounded from the
war. This led to the emergence of a lost generation
Tyne Cot
Commonwealth War
Graves Cemetery
and Memorial to the
Missing in Belgium

3. The League of Nations
• Canada was a founding member of the newly
created League of Nations
• The League pledged every member to defend the
boundaries established at Versailles, and ultimately
an era of peace.
• American Senate rejected the states from becoming
members of the League, even though Wilson was
responsible for its creation
• Many were uncomfortable with Collective Security
• Attempted to use economic sanctions against
nations
• Proved idealistic and without military force

4. Trouble for Canada
• At the end of the war Munitions factories
were shut down
• Over a quarter million workers were suddenly
out of jobs
• Canadian government had to pay 250 million
in back pay to soldiers returning from front
• There was a distinct lack of support and
employment for veterans

5. Trouble for Canada continued
• Membership in unions increased during the
war from 143,000 in 1915 to 378,000 by 1919.
• Many workers talked of a revolution like the
one in Russia
• The government became scared of threat of
Communism (Red Scare)

6. Winnipeg General Strike
• A general strike began in Winnipeg on May 15, 1919.
• 30,000 metal and building workers walked off the
job together
• The general strike spread across Canada
• Most employees wanted to bargain with employer
not a revolution
Winnipeg General Strike

7. Striker Demands
• The strikers had stiff demands.
• Strikers wanted higher wages and a shorter
work week.
• They also wanted Collective Bargaining, which
meant the companies had to negotiate with
the workers as a whole.

8. Crowd gathered outside old City Hall
during the Winnipeg General Strike, June
21, 1919

9. Business Backlash
• Business leaders, politicians and
industrialists wanted to protect their own
interests.
• They formed the Citizen’s Committee of One
Thousand to attack the strike in the press.
• The committee
had the support
of the government.

10. Winnipeg Strike Continued
• Parliament made it illegal to even talk about a
revolution.
• Government ordered the leaders of the strike
arrested June 17th.
• Protestors organized a mass rally.
• On June 21, 1919, mounted police charged the
crowds on Main Street Winnipeg, in a Confrontation
that became known as Bloody Saturday.

11. Disgruntled Canadian Farmers
• Farmers were very unhappy
• The price of wheat was determined by government
Wheat Board.
• In 1919 the board set the price at $2.15 per bushel just
when world price rose to $3.15 per bushel
• The next year the government dissolved the board just as
a bumper crop in Europe dropped the price of wheat to
$1.11 per bushel, forcing many farmers who had
borrowed money on the original price into bankruptcy
• Farmers wanted Free trade with the US in order to buy
cheaper machinery

12. The Election of 1921
• Borden didn’t run in the election.
• Liberal party leader: William Lyon Mackenzie
King.
• Conservative party leader: Arthur Meighen
• And a new party representing the needs of
farmers known as the Progressives

13. The Election 1921 Continued
• For the first time, Canadians had three choices.
• The election brought in the creation of Regionalism as a
result of different parts of the country having such
different needs.
• King won with a minority government and led Canada
into a time of economic boom
• Review: What does minority government mean?

14. Government and Crisis
• The Progressives did not last long but they were
influential in creating pensions.
• In 1922 when Britain announced its planned
invasion of Turkey, PM Mackenzie King said
Canada would not support Britain.
• This is known as the Chanak Crisis
• We had officially challenged Britain’s
stranglehold on Canadian international affairs.

15. The Improving Economy
• The 1920’s started in depression.
• Then the US started investing in Canada and our
economy grew.
• US Companies set up ‘Branch Plants’ which operated
here but for American business men.
• With the increase in employment and economic
prosperity few Canadians questioned the long term
effects of American involvement.

16. Bootlegging the Border
• The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
pushed prohibition into legislation in Canada and the
US.
• By 1921 provincial governments were overturning the
decision because of its unpopularity.
• The US, however, enforced it until 1933. Canadians
sold illegal alcohol over the border for about 10 years.

17. Prosperous Times
• With the new booming economy Canadians were
afforded more opportunities to enjoy the luxuries
of life.
• Motor cars were becoming affordable and
popular.
• Telephone lines were becoming commonplace for
all houses in cities.
• Professional sports were also increasing in
popularity.

19. Changing Attitudes and Culture
• How does war change a Country?
An individual?
• Now mix that up with prosperity and
new luxuries, and what do you get?
• here's a glimpse

20. Fashion ad.
US 1910
1920s

21. • Pre-WWI 1920s

22. The Roaring 20’s
A nation of 10 million was buying 2 million
movie tickets a week (for mostly American
movies)
American pro baseball became the big pass
time in North America
The NHL had 6 teams, (2 Canadian)
Canadian Artwork began to be recognized and
work such as that by the Group of 7 and Emily
Carr became well known.
This was seen as a much needed Canadian
expression of Culture.

23. The Group of Seven
• The group was made of painters from the 1920s
(Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson,
Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H.
MacDonald, and Frederick Varley).
• They were influenced by European Impressionism
had bright colours, unique brush styles,
interesting view angles, and a large inclusion of
nature.

25. Emily Carr
• Emily Carr was from Victoria and is considered
one of Canada’s most important painters ever.
She was also a writer.
• She was impressed by the Group of 7 and took
this style to her paintings of the west coast
lifestyle.
• Visited remote First Nations' communities;
inspired by and documented the art and lifestyle
of indigenous people.

26. Odds and Ends,
by Emily Carr

28. “Blue Sky” by Emily
Carr, 1936

29. The roaring 20s were not so fun and roaring for
everyone....

30. The Forgotten Ones…
Aboriginal peoples
• Even after serving in WWI Aboriginal people were still
not legally considered adult people.
• They were wards of the state and the government had
been taking land from Aboriginal people as they saw fit,
providing reserves for them to live on where conditions
were very poor.
• Review: What is assimilation?
• Aboriginal peoples were split on whether they should
accept a British style of living.
• The Potlatch, an important Aboriginal celebration, was
banned and people were thrown in jail.

31. The Forgotten Ones…
Aboriginal peoples
• In 1920, under the Indian Act, it became
mandatory for every Indian child to
attend a residential school and illegal for
them to attend any other educational
institution.
• More about Residential schools later, but the abuses
that occurred in the schools and the forced
separation of families have had detrimental and
destructive consequences for the individuals and the
following generations, effects that we still see today.

33. The Forgotten Ones…
The Allied Tribes
• Formed in 1916 to protect Aboriginal land and protest
the racist decisions they faced from the government.
• They wanted to seek a resolution to land claims in BC
through negotiations with the federal and provincial
governments.
• In 1927 they were made illegal by the federal
government who changed the Indian Act.
• For more extensive information, see “Native Issues”
power point, in a file folder near you.

34. The Forgotten Ones…
African Canadians
• African immigrants were discouraged but never blocked from
immigrating.
• Some provinces set up a separate school system and many
public areas excluded coloured minorities.
• The Klu Klux Klan had a 2nd flourish in the states in the
1920s, spreading non-white and non-Protestant hatred
and violence, adding the distinctive white hooded
costumes and the act of cross burning. The KKK
established some local branches in Canada in the
1920s

35. The Forgotten Ones…
Other Immigrants
• Employers often welcomed new immigrants to
Canada because it was assumed they would work
cheaper.
• For this reason unions hated immigrants. They
believed immigrants cut down the wages they could
achieve.
• In 1923 the federal government passed the Chinese
Exclusion Act barring all immigrants from China
• Japanese immigrants were also limited

36. And Then It Crashed…
• By 1927 the price of wheat was dropping
and the world market showed weakness.
• People still believed that the post-war
world had infinite economic possibilities
and that things would keep getting better.

37. Stock Market Crash
of 1929
• Then, on ‘Black Tuesday,’ a flurry of stocks
suddenly plummeted.
• People lost billions and rushed to protect
the money they had.
• The great depression was on…
Crowd gathering on Wall
Street after the 1929 crash