UNIT 3: Boom & Bust (1920-1939)

Key Words

Bluenose = Bootleggers/ Charleston = Charlie Flappers = A Group of

The Bluenose was Rum Runners A popular jazz Chaplin = A new style focussed Seven = A
a Canadian = People who dance in the 1920s English comic less on showing the group of painters
fishing and inspired by actor, film female physical from Ontario
smuggled flasks of
racing schooner Americans director, and form and was and Quebec.
alcohol to
built in composer. He focussed more on Who painted the
transport it into
1921. was best known freedom and landscape of
the United States.
for his work comfort. (ladies Canada
[women]
during the silent who rebelled). [Tom Thomson
film era. ● Looser founding father]
People who made
and
home-made
shorter
alcohol for sale
clothes
and consumption
● Blackless
● No Hoses
● ETC

Ford Model T Mary William Lyon Speakeasies / Suffragettes = Bennett

= A famous car Pickford = was Mackenzie Blind pig = Women who fought Buggies = A
built in 1908 by a famous King = A prime Secret and private for the right for car who pulled
Henry Ford Canadian movie clubs that served women to vote. horses or oxen as
minister near the
[Was mass actress who was 1930s who alcohol. owners could not
produce and made known as angered Speakeasies = afford to put gas
affordable] “America’s Canadians with Upper class in it
Sweetheart.” his Five-Cent Blind pig = Lower
Speech and was class
voted out of the
next election

Black Buying On Five Cent Hobos/ New Political Private/

Tuesday = The Margin = Speech = A Transients = Parties = Help Public Relief
day that the stock paying only 10% public statement People who keep provided by the = Help provided
market crashed in and the remaining saying that the traveling from city government by
new york 90% on credit prime minister to city charities/churche
wouldn’t give a s/organizations
“five cent piece”
to any province
with a
Conservative
Government.

Relief Camps Riding the Stock Market Hobo Jungles/ Escapism = The
= A place by the Rails = Illegally Crash = In Bennett Burgs desire to retreat into
government to riding around on 1929 the stock = Places where imaginative
provide work and trains and hitched market crashed entertainment
hobos live outside
a place to live. [in hike and trek on rather than deal
the city in
rural areas] foot with the stress of
cardboard shacks
reality.
 5 Underlying Causes Of The Great Depression
1. Canada’s Dependence On The US
2. High Tariffs (taxes) Choked Off International Trade
3. Too Much Optimism About the Future
4. Over Production & Over Expansion
5. Canada’s Dependence on Primary Products

2 Direct Causes of the Great Depression

1. The Stock Market Crash (Black Tuesday)
2. Drought In the Prairies

Conditions During The Great Depressions

● Unemployment
● Starvation
● Malnutrition
● And other Lack Of Necessities

The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl = In 1929 The Prairies experienced a drought for 10 years and became a dessert. There
was a lack of rain and over farming. [High temperatures & Plagues (Locusts and Grasshoppers)]

Farmers were devastated and left their farms for work in the cities

Relief Camps
In 1932, the federal government set up relief camps for young, unemployed men to provide them with
work and a place to live.
● Often underpaid
● Pointless work
● 170,000 men worked at these camps
● Did not help people climb out of the depression
 On-To-Ottawa Trek / Regina Riots
In 1935, relief camp workers in British Columbia went on
Strike. They demanded:
● Better living and working conditions
● Better wages
They took control of a freight train and headed to Ottawa to present their demands to Prime Minister
Bennett. Bennett ordered the train stopped at Regina, Saskatchewan and refused to give in to their
demands. [Plan failed]

Regina Riots = When they reached Regina Saskatchewan the federal government wanted to stop them
there. [Bennett didn’t want more unemployed trekkers So he agreed to meet trek leaders in Ottawa if the
rest of the trekkers would stay in Regina. Bennett agreed to pay for their food while they waited for their
leaders to return.]
● When Prime Minister Bennett agreed to meet with some of the trek leaders in Ottawa, he had no
intention of meeting their demands.
● Police arrested protesters and many were injured

King [Liberals] vs R.B Bennett [Conservative]

Liberals [King] Conservative [R.B Bennett]

● Elected in 1919 ● In 1920 R.B Bennett replaced Prime

● Supported conscription Minister Borden
● Tries to compromise for both sides ● Did not believe in compromising
● Focused on national unity ● Supported conscription
● Wanted to end the Winnipeg General
Strike
● Was in favor of high tariffs
● Was blamed for the rising unemployment
and declining industry

3 New Political Parties & Why (1930s)

The Famous Five

Nellic McClung, Louise McKinny. Irene Parlby, Emily Murphy, and Henrietta Muir Edwards = fought for
the “Person’s case” in court. Which fought for the right for women to be considered a person.
● They appealed to the British Privy Council (not Canada because they were not fully
independent)
 1920s Changes for Women
● Felt more empowered
● They rebelled by cutting their hair short and wearing revealing clothing
● Started smoking
● Had more free time from chores due to new technology
● These rebels were known as flappers
● Women started driving their own cars and going out on their own (stayed late at night to party)
● They began campaigning for women’s right to vote
● Fought for the person’s case
● Some found freedom in sports

Prohibition
Prohibition is a historical period during the 1920’s when the law prohibited any alcohol manufacture,
stored or sold.

PROS CONS

● Grains should be used to feed soldiers. ● Provincial governments lost millions of

● Money should be spend to feed families. dollars in potential
● Crime rate dropped taxes on alcohol.
● Child & wife abuse decreased
● Enforcement was extremely difficult.
● Workers no longer spent their paychecks
People could easily acquire alcohol.
at the bar.
● Higher productivity in the workplace. ● People could consume alcohol for
‘medical’ purposes with a prescription.
● Organized Crime was created and
gangsters made a fortune
● smuggling liquor.
 1920s Slang?

Alcohol terms:
● Giggle Water
● Hootch
● Moonshine
● Quilt
● Rot Gut
● Tarantula Juice
● Panther Piss

3 New technologies of the 1920s

● Radio
● Automobiles
● Household Appliances

Politics of the 1920s

Liberals Conservatives The Progressives

William Lyon Mackenzie King Arthur Meighen Thomas A. Crerar

● Compromise ● Does not believe the ● Supports farmers
● Unity compromise

Chanak Affair (1922)

● The British occupied the land of Turkey.
● Turkey fended off the Greeks and they started to attack Britain now.
● Prime minister King refused to let Canada go and wanted the parliament to decide.
[The Chanak Affair signaled that Canada wanted to make its own decisions about becoming involved in
conflicts.]
 King - Byng Crisis (1926)
● a 1926 Canadian constitutional crisis.
● Prime minister was against the powers of the Governor General
● Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King asked Governor General Julian Byng to dissolve
Parliament and call fresh elections.
● Byng refused.
● King’s government resigned and Byng asked the Conservative Party to form a government, but it
failed within 5 days.
● People believed his actions undermined Canadian Autonomy
● The King-Byng Crisis exemplified British interference in Canadian affairs.

Statute Of Westminster (1931)

● Balfour’s Report became law in 1931, when the Statute of Westminster was adopted.
● This act of the British Parliament officially recognized the equality of Britain and the dominions.
● Britain could no longer make laws for its former colonies.
● Referred to Canada’s “Declaration of Independence”

Sports in 1920s
1. New form of leisure time
2. People could watch the game by driving to or use the radio
3. The Edmonton Grads had remarkable success. The all-female team that began as a high school
team amassed an unbelievable record by winning 49 of a possible 51 domestic titles from 1915 to
1940.
4. The Grey cup = In 1921, teams from Western Canada were permitted to challenge for the Grey
Cup for the first time.
5. The Olympic Games = In the 1920s, Canadians were tremendously successful in the Olympic
games
6. Hockey night = Foster Hewitt’s Hockey Night in Canada was the first Canadian program to be
widely broadcast.
7. The Bluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner built in 1921.
 IDK list
Sports in 1920s
Statute of Westminster
King - Byng Crisis
Chanak Affair
Prohibition
Liberals vs Conservatives
On-to-Ottawa Trek / Regina Riot
5 underlying causes for the great Depressions
Conditions of the great depression
3 new political parties & why (1920s)
Buying on margin
Mary pickford
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Group of Seven
5 cent speech
Ford Model T
Public & Private relief
Relief camps