WASPs Essay 2014 11 11
“WASP” Essay
The issue of discrimination within societies has been prevalent for as long as there has been recorded history, Canada is certainly no exception, and whenever one group of individuals has privilege over another they tend to try and keep it. During the late 19th century and into the 1930s “WASPs” (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were the dominant members within Canadian society, and being the dominant group they took numerous steps to ensure they would remain so. Enacting such acts as the Indian Act passed in 1876, or the Education Act of 1918 in Nova Scotia, as well as the Immigration Act of 1919, along with the undisguised racism rampant throughout Canadian culture at the time.
When the British Empire took over northern North America they imposed their own government, comprised of their own people, governing over their subjects they sent from Europe to the newly founded Dominion. These people were predominantly White Anglo Saxon Protestants, thus setting the balance of power within Canadian society for decades to come. One of the first steps in preserving WASPs dominance was to ‘deal’ with the indigenous peoples of North America, their response came through the enactment of the Indian Act of 1876. Forcing Natives to move onto reserves put together by the Canadian government, most importantly however was the establishment of residential schools. In an attempt to eradicate aboriginal culture and customs, ‘Indian Agents’ took children from their communities and sent them to schools far from their families and forbid any religious or traditional practices, as well punishing any who spoke their native language, all in an attempt to make natives abandon their way of life and instead adopt the European one. All of this had a detrimental effect on the prevalence and strength of aboriginal culture which still has a lingering effect of aboriginals today. Similarly in Nova Scotia, the government passed the Education Act of 1918 which also allowed segregation
The issue of discrimination within societies has been prevalent for as long as there has been recorded history, Canada is certainly no exception, and whenever one group of individuals has privilege over another they tend to try and keep it. During the late 19th century and into the 1930s “WASPs” (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) were the dominant members within Canadian society, and being the dominant group they took numerous steps to ensure they would remain so. Enacting such acts as the Indian Act passed in 1876, or the Education Act of 1918 in Nova Scotia, as well as the Immigration Act of 1919, along with the undisguised racism rampant throughout Canadian culture at the time.
When the British Empire took over northern North America they imposed their own government, comprised of their own people, governing over their subjects they sent from Europe to the newly founded Dominion. These people were predominantly White Anglo Saxon Protestants, thus setting the balance of power within Canadian society for decades to come. One of the first steps in preserving WASPs dominance was to ‘deal’ with the indigenous peoples of North America, their response came through the enactment of the Indian Act of 1876. Forcing Natives to move onto reserves put together by the Canadian government, most importantly however was the establishment of residential schools. In an attempt to eradicate aboriginal culture and customs, ‘Indian Agents’ took children from their communities and sent them to schools far from their families and forbid any religious or traditional practices, as well punishing any who spoke their native language, all in an attempt to make natives abandon their way of life and instead adopt the European one. All of this had a detrimental effect on the prevalence and strength of aboriginal culture which still has a lingering effect of aboriginals today. Similarly in Nova Scotia, the government passed the Education Act of 1918 which also allowed segregation