Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just being the devil's advocate, but what aspects of your history are you interested in, then?
The migration of the Loyalists was arguably the single biggest thing that put in place the foundations of the society that you live in today. This is a fact.
Well put this way AJ - I don't have long roots in Canada and the grandchild of immigrants. All four of my grandparents came to Canada between 1910-1920 from one of two places - Ireland and Scotland. So yes, I was born here and so were my parents but none of my grandparents.. If I wasn't rooted here, presumably I would be rooted elsewhere.
Mitochondrial DNA points us all back to origins to a small group of people in Africa - every last one of us so they laid the foundation for all societies in the world outside that small parcel of land outside Africa. Which one should I be more interested in - their story or the story of the loyalists or the countless stories of peoples from around the world throughout history. Even where I live today, it is a place that is a cultural amalgam from places around the world...
This isn't knocking the loyalists story and I'd certainly be open to learning more about these people - but in the context of Canada i'd rather look at things in the present and where we are going instead of getting too personally involved in the history of the place..
Well put this way AJ - I don't have long roots in Canada and the grandchild of immigrants. All four of my grandparents came to Canada between 1910-1920 from one of two places - Ireland and Scotland. So yes, I was born here and so were my parents but none of my grandparents.. If I wasn't rooted here, presumably I would be rooted elsewhere.
Mitochondrial DNA points us all back to origins to a small group of people in Africa - every last one of us so they laid the foundation for all societies in the world outside that small parcel of land outside Africa. Which one should I be more interested in - their story or the story of the loyalists or the countless stories of peoples from around the world throughout history. Even where I live today, it is a place that is a cultural amalgam from places around the world...
This isn't knocking the loyalists story and I'd certainly be open to learning more about these people - but in the context of Canada i'd rather look at things in the present and where we are going instead of getting too personally involved in the history of the place..
But don't you realize what and who put in place the society in which you live in today and that you value?
It's much more relevant than Lucy romping about the Rift Valley thousands of years ago.
Seems just like a cop-out to use an extreme example like that.
No Loyalists means no John A. Macdonald, and potentially no National Policy (helping keep Canada independent from the US), no Charter, no multiculturalism and no gay rights...
Everything comes from somewhere.
Today's Canada didn't just drop out of the sky ready to plug into the wall.
But don't you realize what and who put in place the society in which you live in today and that you value?
It's much more relevant than Lucy romping about the Rift Valley thousands of years ago.
Seems just like a cop-out to use an extreme example like that.
No Loyalists means no John A. Macdonald, and potentially no National Policy (helping keep Canada independent from the US), no Charter, no multiculturalism and no gay rights...
Everything comes from somewhere.
Today's Canada didn't just drop out of the sky ready to plug into the wall.
AJ - i'm not sure what exactly you want here.. You want me to study the history of the loyalists so that it'll provide me with a foundation for what exactly - how they are connected to the society I live in now? Will it change my reality? Will my more thorough knowledge of the loyalists, the fathers of confederation change that we live in a multicultural and diverse place with a charter of rights and freedoms etc..
I think you're being too hard on me here. I'm Canadian.. I live in a multicultural city in a country that has embraced immigration and I'd like for us all to make the best of it, in the here and now and moving forward.. Its sort of like working as a team for something better.
The fact I like to travel and explore various cultures, places and see the sights and sounds of the world as far as I'm concerned makes me a better inhabitant of it.. Will my interest in Canadian history grow over time - well maybe lots of opportunity costs there. In the meantime, i'm pretty happy where I live from what I know that isnt' extraordinarily threatened but I like to meet people the world over and just explore it..
With that said - if there is a book or resources that you would recommend to learn more about the loyalists i'd be happy for you to share and will read them.
btw Lucy predated the humans who left Africa to settle the modern day world as we know it by a loooong time lol...
AJ - i'm not sure what exactly you want here.. You want me to study the history of the loyalists so that it'll provide me with a foundation for what exactly - how they are connected to the society I live in now? Will it change my reality? Will my more thorough knowledge of the loyalists, the fathers of confederation change that we live in a multicultural and diverse place with a charter of rights and freedoms etc..
I think you're being too hard on me here. I'm Canadian.. I live in a multicultural city in a country that has embraced immigration and I'd like for us all to make the best of it, in the here and now and moving forward.. Its sort of like working as a team for something better.
The fact I like to travel and explore various cultures, places and see the sights and sounds of the world as far as I'm concerned makes me a better inhabitant of it.. Will my interest in Canadian history grow over time - well maybe lots of opportunity costs there. In the meantime, i'm pretty happy where I live from what I know that isnt' extraordinarily threatened but I like to meet people the world over and just explore it..
Lighten up man lol..
Oh, don't worry. I am feeing very light. I just like a good discussion.
It's just such an uncommon way of viewing things (though I realize it's fairly widespread in Anglo-Canada).
A virtual friend of mine on another forum calls it ''ahistoricism''. He's actually an Anglo-Canadian himself, though he's lived in Europe for a while and appears likely to stay.
I also don't think it's a side-effect of diversity. All of the other multicultural societies I can think of still seem to inculcate a feeling among their people (regardless of origin) that the national historical narrative is relevant to them.
The fact I like to travel and explore various cultures, places and see the sights and sounds of the world as far as I'm concerned makes me a better inhabitant of it.. .
Out of curiosity, do you find that you have a lot of stuff that's ''Canadian'' (and knowledge of it) to share with people from other countries to whom you might want to return the favour?
Out of curiosity, do you find that you have a lot of stuff that's ''Canadian'' (and knowledge of it) to share with people from other countries to whom you might want to return the favour?
Well I asked you with good intentions for a resource or book for you to recommend and you did not (sure I could find that on my own but asked you genuinely)... As far as people from other countries and their curiosity with Canada - it is usually more linked to our modern way of life as opposed to the history of our land and how things started here or how we got to where we are.. What type of music we listen to, what we like to eat.. They usually ask about quality of life issues, geography stuff like that..
When my partner and I were in Mexico city - we met one guy who listened to a Canadian music group who we thought wasn't well known to some random Mexican dude, but he knew of the band - Metric - which was super cool..
I think there are posters in here from Anglo Canada who have a fair good knowledge of our history... I do sense a certain amount of judgement towards me from your end tbh AJ... Aside from that, why don't English Canadians know more about the history of the nation - well I might not be the best person to ask so will leave that to some others.. Chevy, Bru, Nat come to mind.
I think there are posters in here from Anglo Canada who have a fair good knowledge of our history... I do sense a certain amount of judgement towards me from your end tbh AJ...
Please don't take it that way. I am asking honestly...
Aside from that, why don't English Canadians know more about the history of the nation - well I might not be the best person to ask so will leave that to some others.. Chevy, Bru, Nat come to mind.
Well, they all seem to think that Anglo-Canadians are every bit as knowledgeable about their country's history and culture than any other nationality in the world, so...
Please don't take it that way. I am asking honestly...
Thanks.
Canadian history has never really been a big thing for me.. Whether that is the case for most Anglo's I really don't know.. Maybe in Toronto!?... Perhaps there is more knowledge in other places in Anglo Canada.. I really haven't thought much of it tbh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Well, they all seem to think that Anglo-Canadians are every bit as knowledgeable about their country's history and culture than any other nationality in the world, so...
Really though, do you think every nation in the world and its inhabitants are super knowledgeable about the history of their nation?.. Maybe a lot of them fell asleep in their history classes as well lol.. I don't think its as widespread in most nations as you think.. I think there are some people who are very knowledgeable about history and they flaunt it - including on forums but for the general populace or a cross section of the populace in nations the world over, no I don't think they are as knowledgeable as contended.
Most of the people I meet - 'on the street' if you will in other countries its more along the lines of what to do, where to go, where to eat etc.. Of course, when I go on tours with tour guides they naturally have to be knowledgeable about the subject matter... I just wish my group tour guide in the Valley of the Kings spoke better English - I hardly understood a word he said... Nobody else in the group did either so we ended up ignoring him and just did our own thing lol.
But don't you realize what and who put in place the society in which you live in today and that you value?
It's much more relevant than Lucy romping about the Rift Valley thousands of years ago.
Seems just like a cop-out to use an extreme example like that.
No Loyalists means no John A. Macdonald, and potentially no National Policy (helping keep Canada independent from the US), no Charter, no multiculturalism and no gay rights...
Everything comes from somewhere.
Today's Canada didn't just drop out of the sky ready to plug into the wall.
Good post, Acajack.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
