-
1500
Beliefs about death
-Culture and traditions are expressed through beliefs
-The immortality of the soul after death: circle of life
-Dead people get buried with numerous objects which will continue with them during their afterlife
-Huron-Wendats transferred all skeletal remains of the deceased into a pit so that the spirit can be liberated -
1500
Dreams
-Dreams predicted everyone's future, either if it was good or bad
-Shamans were responsible for interpreting dreams
-They had lots of plants and with these plants, they were able to heal many people
-Healing a person was generally accompanied by chants and dancing
-They used masks in order to harness the healing power of supernatural beings (they offered supernatural powers) -
1500
Sweat lodges
-The goal of a sweat lodge is purification and contact with nature
-They pour water over hot rocks to saturate the tent with steam (steam)
-These tents represent the womb of the mother and the stones represent the ancestors
-All ceremonies are accompanied by chants, encouraging introspection and reflection
-Shamans enter the tent and spend their nights (communicating with the spirits) singing and playing a drum until the spirits appear making animal cries and until the tent shake -
1500
Social relationships
-All beings were equal and interdependent
-Chiefs did not impose their authority nor did any individual profit at the expense of another
-Relationships were improved through trades
-After every treaty, they exchanged belts (beads)
-There was a ceremony of smoking the calumet for peace
-All children had an equal education
-When Iroquois captured prisoners, they offered them to the family of the deceased for adoption
-Prisoners put to death would first be tortured to show their courage -
1500
The French evangelized Amerindians
-Many Amerindians adopted the lifestyle and belief system of the French
-The French thought the Amerindian way of thinking was archaic and simplistic
-They sent missionaries to the Americas to convert the Amerindians and to make them more sedentary and to expose the French language
-All of thus isolated the Amerindians who had converted from the Amerindians who hadn't because they were no longer allowed to participate in their community ceremonies -
1500
Cultural interactions (Amerindians and French)
-Amerindians focused on fur trades
-Their trade network moved to the Europeans
-They changed their trade practices to those of the Europeans
-They gave up traditional activities and became dependent on the Europeans
-Les Canadiens adopted Amerindian culture practices
-The Europeans added certain Amerindian objects, such as canoes and even tobacco to their material culture
-Many Amerindians died because of war, epidemics and even French colonization
-The Amerindian culture emerged -
The Church
-The King and the Church worked in tandem
-The clergy incited their congregation to submit to the authority of the King
-The King allowed the church to manage education, social services and healthcare
-The clergy of New France was part of a very powerful European institution
-The parish priest was Canadian
-The Catholic believers were forced to respect fasting and praying -
A new true Canadian culture
-During the French regime, a new Canadian culture was created
-It was developed rapidly
-It was characterized by the need to adapt to the natural environment
-It showed signs on the Amerindian influence
-Canadians began travelling like the Amerindians
-They also began growing vegetables
-They started educating their children the same way as the Amerindians did -
Higher Education
-During the French regime, 2 Québec institutions took charge of education
-1) The Grand Séminaire: trained priests
-2) The Collège des Jésuites: in 1635 by a French nobleman
-- Boys from Québec Elite attended this school
-- Only a couple of 100 of people completed their secondary education because there were many wars with the Amerindians and the British and there was a lack of interesting opportunities beyond priesthood
--In order to continue on to college, all students needed to go to France -
Gallicanism
-End of the 17th century: new current thought, Gallicanism appeared in France and in New France
-This advocated the submission of the Church of France to the power of the King and not to the Pope in Rome -
Cathecism
-The clergy printed a Catechism to set the dogma of the church
-This expressed the teaching of the Catholic faith and its practices
-It was printed in France and then in New France
-It was presented in the form of questions and answers
-It was designed for children and new converts
-This all helped the Church suppress multiple forms of artistic expression that didn't conform religious boundaries
-The Bishop rebuked comedy and dances
-The clergy also added plays and other French literary works -
Education
-Education was provided by religious communities
-In Montréal and in Québec, there were many primary schools
-Education was available in the city and only rarely in the country
-Rural parishes had some schools run by religious congregations
-Priests spent some of their time educating the children of their parish for them to become priests as well
-17th + 18th century: many people were illiterate
-Members of the elite and artisans knew how to read and write
-1727: government intervened -
Popular culture
-Many people were illiterate
-Many songs were written
-Everything was passed orally instead of being written
-There were more people who lived in New France who started writing songs than in France
-People would pass on their cultural beliefs during social gatherings
-People would play cards and tell stories
-These people usually did all these things during the vigorous winters -
The first newspapers
-British regime: newspapers = ideas
-The first newspaper was The Québec Gazette in 1764 (French and English)
-1775: the first newspaper got printed by Fleury Mesplet
-The catholic clergy demanded a Legislative Assembly
-The newspaper became the voice of the Canadian intellectuals
-This eventually became only English and was named The Gazette
-19th century: newspapers spoke for English-Canadian merchants (ex. Québec Mercury) and for French (ex. Le Canadien)
-La Presse was found in 1884 -
Liberalism
-People thought under the British regime, economic liberalism was the dominant school
-The colony demanded a modernization of the educational system
-2 main groups who supported liberalism
-1) Members of the French Canadian professional middle-class: la petite bourgeoisie (lawyers, notaries, doctors) were represented by the Parti Patriote and the Parti Rouge
-2) Member of the English-Canadian business class (la bourgeoisie d'affaires) were represented by the conservative Tory Party -
Laicism
-The Catholic Church was a big influence which is why a vast majority of people went to Church
-The Church was charged with registering births, marriages and deaths
-1837: the bishop were very powerful and the cures became the most important people in the parish
-1852: University of Laval
-The Church was in charge of the orphanages, shelters, charities and religious festivities
-The Protestants were divided (Anglicans, Presbyterians,.)
-1821: McGill (University)
-1843: Bishops (University) -
St. Jean Baptiste Association
-June 24, 1834: Ludger Duvernay (journalist) set up a nationalist organization to promote the French Canadian culture called the St. Jean Baptiste Association
-They adopted the maple leaf as the emblem of the French Canadian society
-They adopted the hymn
-They erected monuments in honour of celebrated French Canadians
-They organized contests
-They promoted culture
-They participated in the foundation of the Montréal Chamber of Commerce -
The beginning of a dual identity and culture
-Some French Canadians admired the British laws and its justice system while others worried about its future
-In 1840, there was the Union Act
-There was a Durham Report
-1845: François-Xavier Garneau published Histoire du Canada
-This new way of literature paid tribute to the Catholic religion
-1862: Jean Rivard le défricheur was published by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie (novel)
-1863: Les anciens Canadiens was published by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé (novel) -
Capitalism
-A bit of Québec's heritage was built thanks to the capital of a big business
-This economy helped entrepreneurs with their financial resources to construct buildings
-The wealthy living class lived in Mille carré doré (a neighbourhood for the wealthy)
-This neighbourhood only had mansions after 1850
-Having a home there, was considered success
-The French bourgeoisie lived in comfortable houses -
The government
-There are three levels in the government: federal, provincial and municipal
-Each level has different functions and is represented by different people
-Executive government
--Makes decisions about administration
--The power is held by cabinets (federal)
-Legislative
--Makes or amends laws
--Imposes taxes
--The power is held by the House of Commons (federal)
-Judicial
--Ensures laws are applied
--Judges are appointed by the cabinet for life (federal) -
The Anticlerical Movement
-Members of the Parti Patriote were against the power of the Catholic Church
-These people supported political liberalism and refused to submit to the British Government
-The Patriotes and the Parti Rouge became the Church's primary adversary (1850-1860)
-These parties claimed that secularization of education was needed
-Newspapers such as L'avenir (1846-1857) and Le pays (1852-1871) expressed these ideas
-French Canadian intellectuals exercised a greater freedom of expression -
Liberalism
-Liberalism triumphed in the 19th century
-Newspapers had huge subscriptions
-Newspapers replaced newsletters
-All main political parties in Québec supported the principles of individual liberties and private property -
Agriculturism
-The Québec clergy tried to ward off the negative effects on industrialization
-This promoted a rural life
-This also promoted the traditional agricultural way of life
-The advantages of all this were: fewer negative market fluctuations, better health, no fixed schedules, community life of rural parishes
-They wanted French Canadians to settle in the undeveloped region of Québec
-Priests organized the settlement of the Laurentians, the Lanaudière and Lac St. Jean regions -
Aboriginalism
-First Nation people needed to define and affirm their identity
-In order to express their own nationalism and culture, thy turned to their past and to their traditions
-They attained autonomy with education
-As once said the chief of First Nations of Québec, Ghislain Picard, "friends can attain a superior relationship if they know how to recognize and take stock of their mutual flaws" -
Agricultural colonization
-1915: the government started participating in the creation of the Cercles des fermières du Québec
-This permitted rural women to exchange ideas and obtain technical knowledge
-Agriculturalism was also featured in rural novels (ex. Un homme et son pêché in 1933)
-Claude Henri Grignon was one of the few interested in radio drama
-1930's (Great Depression): politicians and members of the clergy returned to agriculturalism
-This was a solution to urban poverty -
Socialism
-1929: stock market crash
-There was a subsequent crisis
-After these two events, living conditions of workers rapidly worsened
-Socialism is an ideology
-It's a system or theory of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capitals and land in the community -
Communism
-Communism is an ideology
-It became popular in Québec, in Europe and in the United States
-It became popular after the stock market crash in 1929 and the subsequent crisis
-Communism was popular with unions, intellectuals and European immigrants
-This ideology wanted to replace private property and individualism with collective property and equality -
Cooperatism
-Cooperatism achieved success in Québec
-Cooperatism was based on equality and collaboration
-The Knights of Labour applied cooperatism
-This system proposed changing the wage system with a redistribution of company profits between the owners and the workers
-The media didn't like cooperation and that is why they didn't promote the principles
-Cooperatism transpired in rural regions
-1900: Caisses Populaires Desjardins, the Catholic Farmers Union and the Farm Producers Union
