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A. Creating Canada, 1850–1890 · Creating Canada, 1850–1890

Creating Canada, 1850–1890: Unit Review

A1 A2 A3About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe significant events, developments and people in Canada between 1850 and 1890 and explain their impact.
  • I can compare the perspectives of different groups, including First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Black Canadians, French and English Canadians, women and newcomers.
  • I can compare life in 1850–1890 with life today and use the historical inquiry process.

Words to know

Confederation
The joining of colonies to form Canada on July 1, 1867.
numbered treaties
Agreements between First Nations and the Crown; Treaties 1–7 were signed 1871–1877 and are still in effect.
assimilation
Policies meant to make a group give up its culture and identity.
head tax
A fee only Chinese immigrants had to pay to enter Canada, from 1885.
resistance
Actions taken to oppose a power or a change seen as unjust.
historical perspective
How people at the time saw events, based on who they were.

Let's review!

In this unit you followed Canada from 1850 to 1890. You studied Black communities in Canada West in the 1850s; the causes of Confederation and the BNA Act; the Red River Resistance and Manitoba; British Columbia, PEI and the Black pioneers of Victoria; the numbered treaties; the Indian Act; the beginnings of residential schools; the National Policy, the CPR and Chinese workers; the North-West Resistance of 1885; Black Canadians after Confederation; and everyday life for women, workers and newcomers.

This review has a few questions from every lesson. Try each one, then press Show answer. If a section feels tricky, go back to that lesson.

1890Governments and the countryPeoples and communities1864 Confederation conferences1867 Confederation1870–73 Manitoba, BC, PEI join1876 Indian Act1879 National Policy1885 CPR finished1850 Fugitive Slave Act1853 Provincial Freeman1858 Black pioneers in Victoria1869–70 Red River Resistance1871–77 Numbered Treaties 1–71883 first industrial school1885 NW Resistance; head tax
The whole unit on one timeline, drawn to scale: government decisions on the left, the experiences of peoples and communities on the right. Many of the biggest events cluster in the 1870s and 1885.
BCVictoria 1858Craigellachie1885Alta.Treaty 71877John WareSask.BatocheDuck Lake1885Man.Red River1869–70OntarioChathamSt. CatharinesTorontoOwen SoundQuebecQuebecConference1864MaritimesCharlottetownConference1864west (Pacific)east (Atlantic)Schematic: today's provinces, not to scale
Where some of this unit's events happened, from west to east, using today's province names. This is a schematic, not a map.

British North America in 1850: Setting the Stage

1

Was there a country called Canada in 1850?

2

Name the four historical thinking concepts.

3

Make this question stronger: "When did Manitoba join Canada?"

Black Communities in Canada West in the 1850s: Freedom, Voice and Obstacles

1

What newspaper did Mary Ann Shadd found in 1853?

2

Why did more freedom seekers come to Canada West after 1850?

3

Who was the first Black man elected to municipal government in Canada, and when?

4

Name one obstacle Black families faced in Canada West.

Why Confederation? Causes and Pressures

1

What was political deadlock?

2

Give one economic and one military cause of Confederation.

3

Who formed the Great Coalition?

The Road to Confederation and the BNA Act, 1864–1867

1

Name the three Confederation conferences in order.

2

Is education federal or provincial under the BNA Act?

3

Why did many Nova Scotians oppose Confederation?

The Red River Resistance and the Creation of Manitoba, 1869–1870

1

What sparked the Red River Resistance in 1869?

2

What did the Manitoba Act of 1870 protect?

3

Why do many historians say "resistance" rather than "rebellion"?

From Sea to Sea: British Columbia, PEI and the Black Pioneers of Victoria

1

Who was Mifflin Gibbs?

2

What did Canada promise BC in 1871?

3

Why did PEI join in 1873?

The Numbered Treaties, 1871–1877

1

When were Treaties 1 to 7 signed?

2

What is the Treaty 6 medicine chest clause, and why does it matter today?

3

Why did First Nations and the government understand the treaties differently?

The Indian Act of 1876

1

What was the goal of the Indian Act of 1876?

2

Give two things the Indian Act controlled.

3

Is the Indian Act still in effect?

Residential Schools: Beginnings, Purpose and Lasting Impact

1

When did the first federal industrial school open on the Prairies?

2

What was the purpose of residential schools?

3

Name one step toward reconciliation.

The National Policy, the CPR and Chinese Railway Workers

1

Name the three parts of the National Policy.

2

What did Chinese railway workers face?

3

When and where was the last spike driven?

The North-West Resistance of 1885

1

Give one Métis and one First Nations cause of 1885.

2

What happened to Louis Riel?

3

Why is Poundmaker remembered as a peacemaker?

Black Canadians in the New Dominion, 1860s–1880s

1

Who was Anderson Ruffin Abbott?

2

How did Toronto's Black community help Albert Jackson in 1882?

3

What has Owen Sound celebrated every year since 1862?

Life in Canada, 1850–1890: Women, Workers and Newcomers

1

What did the 1872 Trade Unions Act do?

2

Who was Emily Stowe?

3

List the five steps of historical inquiry.

How to use this review

  • Do the review in two or three short sittings. Each section matches one lesson.
  • Answer out loud first, then check. Explaining in your own words is the best test.
  • For each event, ask the four historian questions: Why significant? What caused it and what followed? What changed and what stayed the same? Whose perspective?
  • Make a timeline from 1850 to 1890 with two rows: political events above, and the experiences of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Black, Chinese and other communities below.
  • Star any question you missed and revisit that lesson's practice.
Just for fun

Review riddle: I started as a group project nobody could agree on. Three conferences, 72 resolutions and one act of the British Parliament later, I became a country. What am I?

Confederation! Proof that group projects can work out... eventually. 🇨🇦

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What did the US Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 lead to?

2.

Which was a cause of Confederation?

3.

Which four provinces formed Canada in 1867?

4.

What did the Manitoba Act of 1870 do?

5.

Which Black pioneer helped bring BC into Confederation as a Yale Convention delegate?

6.

Which statement about the numbered treaties is accurate?

7.

How was the Indian Act different from a treaty?

8.

What was the purpose of residential schools?

9.

What did Chinese immigrants have to pay from 1885?

10.

Who was hanged in Regina on November 16, 1885, after a jury recommended mercy?

For parents and teachers

Use mistakes to choose what to revisit. Each review section matches one lesson.

  • Thinks Canada existed before 1867, or asks only one-fact questions: revisit British North America in 1850: Setting the Stage.
  • Forgets Shadd, Tubman or Abraham Shadd, or thinks Canada West had no racism: revisit Black Communities in Canada West in the 1850s: Freedom, Voice and Obstacles.
  • Lists causes of Confederation without explaining them: revisit Why Confederation? Causes and Pressures.
  • Mixes up the conferences, or federal and provincial powers: revisit The Road to Confederation and the BNA Act, 1864–1867.
  • Confuses 1869–70 with 1885, or calls the Métis "half" anything: revisit The Red River Resistance and the Creation of Manitoba, 1869–1870.
  • Forgets the railway promise or the Black pioneers of Victoria: revisit From Sea to Sea: British Columbia, PEI and the Black Pioneers of Victoria.
  • Treats treaties as sales or as only history: revisit The Numbered Treaties, 1871–1877.
  • Confuses the Indian Act with treaties: revisit The Indian Act of 1876.
  • Thinks residential schools were long ago and finished, or the harm was accidental: revisit Residential Schools: Beginnings, Purpose and Lasting Impact.
  • Tells the CPR story only through officials: revisit The National Policy, the CPR and Chinese Railway Workers.
  • Labels Riel "good" or "bad" without explaining perspectives: revisit The North-West Resistance of 1885.
  • Thinks Black history ended with the Underground Railroad: revisit Black Canadians in the New Dominion, 1860s–1880s.
  • Assumes change was progress for everyone, or struggles with inquiry steps: revisit Life in Canada, 1850–1890: Women, Workers and Newcomers.

This unit includes hard history: residential schools, armed conflict, executions and racism. Check in with your child about how they feel, and balance hard history with the leadership, courage and contributions of the people involved. Praise careful use of evidence.