Puritanism

Puritanism was a religious reform movement in England in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Puritans wanted to “purify” the  Church of England (a.k.a Anglican Church) of any signs or remnants of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Puritans wanted to follow a way of life that they thought would be more in line with what God wanted. They called themselves "the godly", but other people called them "Puritans." If they lived this way, Puritan people thought it would help them get into Heaven. Mainly these people wanted to live quiet, simple lives, spending a lot of their time praying, reading the Bible (which had just been translated into English), and listening to sermons. Puritans wore plain clothes and lived in plain houses. They went to church a lot (all day on Sundays and often on other days too). They thought that God wanted them to work very hard and be very serious. Puritans did not have parties. They thought listening to music, dancing, gambling, playing games, and drinking alcohol should be avoided and forbidden. They did not celebrate holidays, not even Christmas or Easter. 

They tried to make their lifestyle the pattern for the whole nation. Many others in England did not want to live this way. Their efforts to transform the nation contributed to civil war in England (1642-1650).

The Puritans got into trouble in England. Some of them were killed. So some of the Puritans decided to leave England and start a new life in North America. In 1620, the first Puritans sailed to Massachusetts in their ship, the Mayflower.

Witch Hunts

Horrible Histories: Witch Finders

Before the 9th century (800's) CE, there was a widespread popular belief that evil Witches existed. They were seen as evil persons, primarily women, who devoted their lives to harming and killing others through black magic and evil sorcery.

The first major witch hunts began in many western European countries around 1450. 

The Roman Catholic Church created an imaginary evil religion in which followers worshiped Diana and other Gods and Goddesses, were evil Witches who kidnapped babies, killed and ate their victims, sold their soul to Satan, were in league with demons, flew through the air, met in the middle of the night, caused male impotence and infertility, caused male genitals to disappear, and other such horrible things. 

Historians have speculated that this religiously inspired genocide was motivated by a desire by the Church to attain a complete religious monopoly, or was "a tool of repression, a form of reining-in deviant behavior, a backlash against women, or a tool of the common people to name scapegoats for spoiled crops, dead livestock or the death of babies and children."   

Other historians think the Church felt it had to invent Witches and demons in order to explain the existence of evil in the world. 

The years 1550 to 1650 CE are often referred to as "the burning times", since

trials and executions reached a peak during this 100 year span.  

These events were mostly concentrated in eastern France, Germany and Switzerland. Witch persecutions often occurred in areas where Catholics and Protestants were fighting (remember the Protestant Reformation? Reformers like Martin Luther began questioning and criticizing the Catholic Church for practices such as selling indulgences...). 

Suspected witches were mainly tried by secular (non-religious) courts. A minority were charged by church authorities; these were often cases involving the use of healing magic or midwifery. 

Read more @ Religious Tolerance.org 
Salem Witch Trials

A Brief History of Witch Hunts before the Salem Witch Trials 
Witch Hunts in European History and Today
Matthew Hopkins: Witch-finder General

Watch excerpts from  the NFB film, The Burning Times:
Part I
Part II

Witchcraft in Post -Medieval Europe

The Enlightenment

Philosophe is the French word for "philosopher," and was a word that the French Enlightenment thinkers applied to themselves. The philosophes were well-educated intellectuals concerned with solving the real problems of the world.

They wrote on subjects ranging from current affairs to art, and they wrote in every conceivable format: novels, operas, speeches, and autobiographies. Their works were very popular, even though they were often censored/forbidden by the government and church.
(Why do you think this would be the case?)

What Was the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment ... was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the 17th and 18th centuries. It stressed reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over blind religious faith and superstition. Logic wasn’t a new invention, having been used by the ancient Greeks, but it was now included in a world view which argued that empirical observation and the examination of human life could reveal the truth behind human society as well as the universe.

(Read more at about.com)

Influential thinkers and writers of The Enlightenment include John Locke, Isaac Newton, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau and others.

• Brief overview
• Key Thinkers of The Enlightenment
  
  

  
  

Exploration

Child Labour

Factory Conditions were appalling, especially for children: long hours, low wages, dangerous conditions

 Websites to check out:

 Child Labour During the Industrial Revolution
 Child Labour Conditions in the Victorian Age
Child Labour Helped Build Britain (article)

Youtube videos:

• images and factory owner quotes
• student project: working conditions for children
• children of the Industrial Revolution
• children's working conditions
• worst jobs in history (Victorian Age parts 3-6: child labour on farms, rat catchers, chimney sweep, work houses, tanners)
• worst jobs in history (eg. chimney sweep, label sticker, scavengers)
• worst jobs in history (Rail workers Victorian Age)

Quebec

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain travelled up the St. Lawrence River to what is now known as Quebec City. He chose a spot where the river narrowed. There was also a good harbour. The Iroquois village called Stadacona had once stood there. Champlain built a wooden fort called the "Abitation". The fort was surrounded by a fence made of logs. The fort was a fur-trading post and Native people came to trade furs in exchange for goods such as guns, cloth, blankets and cooking utensils.
Read more about the beginnings of Quebec @ Collections Canada

French Canada

Canadian Legal System

Great information on our laws, rights and courts can be found at the government site below:

• Canada's System of Justice

Canada's Government

Revolution

Political revolutions usually occur when an outspoken leader provides a focal point for the discontented citizens to vent their grievances. 

Revolutions also occur when tensions between opposing parties reach a boiling point. These intense emotions are unleashed through a catalyst, a major event that permits the outflow of emotion and actions towards the achievement of a certain cause. Incidents such as the assassination of political leaders, violence in protest rallies and terrorist acts are examples of such catalysts.

Whether successful or not, revolt always brings about decisive change in government, thus fulfilling the chief characteristic of the said revolution. However, if the change is not satisfactory, chances are events will repeat themselves and cycle towards a new revolution.

In conclusion, revolution comes as a tool for the masses. An ineffective governing body will assuredly come under intense scrutiny. If the will of the people is not followed, then a government, no matter how strong, will fall under its own corruption.

... from  librarythinkquest.org

European Contact

Wab Kinew: 8th Fire intro: What went wrong?

Aboriginal Peoples of Canadaa

People have been living in the country that we now call Canada for thousands of years.


For centuries before Europeans began to settle in North America, explorers who came here found thriving First Nations and Inuit societies with their own beliefs, ways of life and rich histories. It was these original inhabitants of this land who taught the early European visitors how to survive in this new and unfamiliar place.


When we look at a map of Canada today, we can see that many of the names of our provinces, territories and cities have Aboriginal origins. In fact, many people believe that the name "Canada" comes from the Huron word for "village", kanata. Toronto comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, which means "where the trees stand in the water". Kamloops in British Columbia was known by the Shushwap as kahm-o-loops, the "meeting of waters". This proud tradition continues to this day. The name of Canada's newest territory, Nunavut, means "our land" in Inuktitut.

Today, over one million Aboriginal people continue to help make this country strong, building upon a long and proud history that began so many years ago.
(from the  Indian and Northern Affairs Canada website.)

Examples of Contact, Cooperation and Conflict

Learn more at their kidstop interactive website.

For current social conditions, go to Historica Canada

Another good source is Explore the Communities

Check out a couple of Games (for smaller kids but still kind of fun, eg. build your own longhouse, design a tipi, etc.)

Learn more about First Nations peoples, their contributions and culture at

• The Royal Ontario Museum.
• Canadian Museum of History

The Government of Canada's Aboriginal Portal is a useful source of interesting information as well.

To learn about Residential Schools, check out Project of Heart.

Check out the Canadian Geographic Time Machine!

Agricultural Revolution

As the population grew in the 18th and 19th Centuries, so did agricultural production.  By 1850 it is estimated that around 6.5 million extra mouths were being fed from home production than in 1750.

The Agricultural Revolution (was it really a revolution?)
Some new thoughts: history does "change"...

The Fur Trade

Songs of the voyaguers

The Fur Trade

Jean Talon

Before Jean Talon came to New France, the population was small. To make matters worse, the colony's principal economic activity — the fur trade — had fallen into disarray following the 1648-1650 destruction of Huronia by the Iroquois. 

Faced with imminent ruin and possible abandonment, the colony needed an experienced and confident administrator. The intendant would also have to be a man of unquestioned loyalty to the Crown, because he would have to represent, in Louis XIV's own words, "the eye and hand of the King".


Jean Talon accepted the position of "Intendant of justice, policing and finance in Canada, Acadia, Newfoundland and France's other northern territories" for an initial term of two years. This was later extended by a year, for a period lasting from 1665 to 1668. ".

 Read this and more @ civilization.ca.

New France

In 1534, Jacques Cartier, along with many other explorers, was looking for a western short cut to Asia's silks and spices. In addition to this objective, the French King, Francis, or Francois I, had ordered him  “to discover certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold, and other precious things, are to be found.”

Cartier sailed to the continent later called North America. He didn't find gold, but he did find "other precious things" -- furs.

The fur trade became the start of French exploration and settlement in the "new" continent. (It was, of course, only new to Europeans, not to the aboriginal peoples living there for thousands of years previously). First came the fur traders themselves, who made money by trading for furs with the Native people. Then came settlers, hoping to claim the land for the king of France. As the French began to stay in this new, unexplored territory, more people came over from France -- farmers, carpenters, priests, nuns, workers and soldiers. The population grew and flourished.

Today there are French-speaking people in every part of Canada, especially in Quebec.
(from Collections Canada)

Read more:

• Virtual Museum of New France
• Kids' Site of Canadian Communities

Canada

There are many places to find good information on Canadian history.
Below are 2 sites that are easy-to-use, quick references.

CyberNorth
Canada History
Canadian Please music video

Geography

Canadian Geographic is a magazine that explores the landforms, animals, vegetation, minerals, economy, history and people of Canada. It is a very interesting and useful resource.
It has a companion website as well. Check it out. There are many photos, maps and interactive, animated quizzes to try.

Canadian Geographic 
Kids' Atlas Online (interactive maps and quizzes)
Geographic Regions of Canada 
Atlas of Canada (Physiographic Regions of Canada: maps and info. Click on "read more about this map" for info on characteristics of each region)
Video clip: Regions of Canada

Colonization and Imperialism

Get a real sense of what it was like to live in the British Colonies of the New World in the 17th Century (homes, food, clothes, leisure activities, etc.)

PBS site: Colonial Life

Political Ideologies Spectrum

What are YOUR political beliefs? Are you Conservative? Liberal? Socialist? Somewhere in between?

Take the political ideologies QUIZ and find out where you stand.

Democracy

de·moc·ra·cy

Definitions from dictionary.com: /dɪˈmɒkrəsi/ Show Spelle

• government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected representatives (in Canada, Members of Parliament(MP's) or in B.C.,  Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA's))

• a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

We tend to take this form of government for granted, since we have always lived under it. Throughout much of history, and in certain places in the world today, though, many people did NOT get the chance to voice their preferences for government or have much real power in how

their society was run.

• Brief(ish) history of democracy
• Democracy is... (short animated youtube video)
• 10 Things You Should Know About Democracy
• March of Democracy animated world map
• Building a World Democracy

Nationalism

The American Revolution

American Revolution website for kids (PPPST)
Short Movies/Films
Have Fun With History (American Revolution)

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Industrial Revolution involved a drastic change in manufacturing: from hand methods  to machine methods.

This change, which began in England about 1750 and later spread to other countries, is called a “revolution” because it brought vast changes in the way people work and live. It created an industrialized society—one in which large-scale mechanized manufacturing replaced farming as the main source of jobs. Instead of growing their own food and making at home the products they use, a great many people in an industrialized society work for wages and buy their food and other necessities. They live in towns and cities rather than in the country.

New inventions in farming, cloth-making (textiles industry) and transportation  (the steam engine) made the greatest impact.

The Industrial Revolution brought severe consequences to society. Factory owners, needing cheap, unskilled labor, profited greatly by using children and women to run the machines. By the age of 6, many children were already working 14 hours a day in factories! These kids had no free time to do anything else and earned low wages. Some got sick and died because of the toxic fumes, while others were severely injured and sometimes killed working at the dangerous machines in factories. Obviously, the Industrial Revolution had both good and bad sides.
(Read more at librarythinkquest.)


Other useful and interesting sites:

•  BBC for Kids (animated, interactive info)
• Biographies of Important People in the Industrial Revolution
• Inventors
• Children at Work
• Timeline of Inventions
• Industrial Revolution Summary notes
• Factory Scene from Modern Times, a Charlie Chaplin movie
• I Love Lucy chocolate factory scene

English Civil War

(Kids) History of the English Civil War

Freedom of Speech

Censorship, or the limiting of freedom of speech, is a major cause of, as well as a reactive measure against, many of the protests, uprisings, wars and revolutions studied in this course and occurring around the world today.

On December 10, 1948, The United Nations decreed, in Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom of opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

• Click on the link below to see what places in the world limit this right the most.

Ten Most Censored Countries

• Click on the link Below for a historical timeline of the freedom of speech.

History of Freedom of Speech