Assignment #6

As most of you if not all might know that February is Black History Month. During this month we remember the important people and events in the history of the Africans. In this assignment, we have to pick an African-Canadian and write about who he/she was and what contributions they made to the Canadian society and the World. Visit Canadian History for more information of what the assignment is about.

Lincoln Macaulay Alexander, a lawyer, parliamentarian, public servant, and served as the 24Th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. He was born on January 21, 1922 in Toronto, Ontario, his parents were originated from the West Indians and are immigrants to Canada. During the second world war, Lincoln Alexander served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. A few years later in 1953, he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. After getting his law degree, Alexander practiced law and went into politics as Conservative MP for Hamilton West in the 1968. He was also the first Black Canadian to sit in the house of common. In 1979 he became the minister of labour in the Clark government but a year later he left the elected office to become the chairman of the Ontario Worker's Compensation Board. He however, become the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Lincoln Alexander made a lot of contribution in the Canadian society and maybe the world. As a Lieutenant Governor, he was able to take a role in the multicultural affair in Ontario and he was able to bring attention toward education and youth issues. He was also known as an active spokesman on race relations and veterans' issues. He has accomplished so much throughout his life.

Interesting facts:

-There are three school named after him: Lincoln Alexander Public School, and Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School.

- The Government of Ontario also created a Lincoln M. Alexander Award to reward Ontarians who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in the elimination of racial discrimination.

For more information visit Lincoln M. Alexander and Lincoln Alexander

Its Freezing Here!!!

Canada has extremely cold winters but, we deal with this problem by wearing gloves or mittens to keep our hands warm, heavy coats to keep our upper part of our body warm, hats to keep our heads warm, boots to keep our feet dry from snow and snow pants or ski pants to keep our legs warm. We also wear lots and lots of layers of clothes under our jacket. We put on all that just to keep warm and we have heaters at our houses. Think about how Europeans settlers, vikings, and Aboriginal people survived Canada's dreadful winters.

The Aboriginal people, vikings and European settlers are all considered as immigrants to Canada. The Aboriginals were the first to find Canada and the first ones to settle there. It is believed that Aboriginals arrived from Asia about 30 000 years ago by way over of a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska after the last ice age. When they reached Canada they all spread across Canada forming colonies such as the Huron, Algonquian and etc. Vikings were however the second to arrive to Canada but they did not make permanent settlements. They stayed in Lance aux Meadow for about 25-30 years and most of them went back to there homeland. Europeans were the last ones to settle in Canada but not the last immigrant in Canada. After the vikings, European Explorers from England, France, and Spain came to Canada. They did not expect to find new land, they set sail to the west just to find silks, spices and other Asian goods. After awhile, the countries were competing over new land. Each country sent people to claim the land and possibly start a settlement there. That's how immigrants started coming to Canada.

As the new area opened for settlement, most settlers were facing some serious problems. These problems include:

- building houses
- providing themselves with basic needs
- diseases/ viruses such as cholera and smallpox
- COLD WEATHER

The cold weather and diseases were probably the main and serious problem they had. To begin with, diseases wiped up a lot of European and aboriginal populations. Due to the weather which most Europeans were unprepared for led them to lack of food and water. It also led them to a disease called scurvy which killed most Europeans. To face all these hardships and problems the aboriginals helped them a lot. If it weren't for the Aboriginals, the Europeans wouldn't have fur for clothes to keep them warm during winter, a cure for scurvy, and probably some really good hunting areas to hunt for food. The Aboriginals survived by using what the environment provided them with, such as:

- wood from trees for houses
- animals such as buffaloes for food and clothing.
- water from lakes/rivers to drink.
- the soil to grow vegetables, wheat for bread, barley, and oats.

The Europeans also farmed and grew most of there food, they traded with the aboriginals which provided with other needs.

Immigrants decided to leave their homeland and move to Canada, they even probably decided to stay there despite the cold weather because of the following reasons:

-They were not allowed freedom of worship.
-The government had control over their way of life.
-Men were forced to serve in the army.
-There were no jobs or the jobs were low-paying jobs.
-Many were poor and barely made enough to survive.
-Farmers wanted to own their own land.
-Cities were overcrowded, dirty and polluted.

Some of the reasons listed above are some of the reasons why my parents decided to move to Canada. First of all, the country we used to live in had a lot of crimes going on such as kidnapping. Second of all, people there did not have as much human rights as they should have. Third of all, my parents wanted their children to have better education.

My family and I were totally new to snow and cold temperature. In the country I used to live in had snow but the chances were once or twice in three years. We actually didn't face a lot of hardship because we had other family members living in Canada and they told us about the cold. So we were sort of prepared for upcoming hardships we may face. Therefore, the dreadful winter in Canada did not effect my family and most of the immigrants because of the technology we have right now and also because we are aware of what we may face. Unlike the Europeans who were not only unprepared but they had no experience of the cold. In other words, they were unaware.
Three new information i learned from this assignment:
From the http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html I learned that " Even tough life was hard in New France, it was way better than what they would expect in France". I also learned exactly why there is a lot of immigrants in Canada from the following site, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html




href="http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/history&people/aboriginals.html">http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/history&people/aboriginals.html

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html

Assignment #4-Linking Back to Peers

While reading some of my classmates blog about what they think will happen in the future, I thought they were fascinating and interesting. They all had unique ideas about what they think the future would be like. I personally enjoyed Helena's blog because while other people wrote about the different types of technology, Helena went further. She wrote about racism which is a huge problem right now in 2009. She wrote"First of all, I think that there would be less racism, even though there is not too much now, and all the governments, or at least most, would be successful and would know how to take care of their country. I think this because since Obama is black, and his plans are brilliant, and he will be running the #1 trade country in the world, presidents (and prime-ministers) of other countries will look up to him, not care that he's black, and follow his foot-steps, and so, racism will be less, and countries will be better at fixing their problems."I also think that her blog was straight forward and easy to read. Visit Helena's blog.

The second blog I enjoyed the most was Sarah's because like Helena she also had some unique ideas. She wrote about the fashion of the past and the future and what she thinks would be next in fashion in the future. Her blog was also unique because she added pictures which can help most people understand the text. She also wrote about school which was prettty cool, she wrote "I think Schools will teach differently because the things we have to learn in school has changed from pioneers times( they only learned reading, writing and arithmetic) and it has also changed from when my parents went to school.One night I asked my parents if they got a math question i had trouble with and they couldn't help me because the way the teachers though students was different than now a days, so that concludes way i think the ways of learning could change in the next 100 years. " Check out Sarah's blog.

There are other blogs about the future that are high quality like Sarah's and Helena's visit: Allyson's blog, Shukria's blog, and Sandra's blog.

History of 2109

A lot of interesting and exciting events has happened in Canada as centuries went by, some of which that were almost unpredictable in their time. For instance, no one would have ever predicted that one day we would reach moon. As I looked back to some of these accomplishments I began to think of what we might achieve in the future that would not only impact us but also the environment, population, and politics.


I predict that in 2109, our environment will be destroyed due to all our carelessness, pollution and littering. I also think that the types of animals that live here in Canada will be extinct in the future because of Global warming caused by pollutions from factories, carbon dioxide from rotting trees, the burning of coals, and water vapour. The most harmful is natural gasses and fossil fuel from any transportation vehicle travelling into the atmosphere because both natural gas and fossil fuel leads to methane. Due to all the affects global warming is causing us most scientists are trying to find ways to prevent it. Some of which might be vehicles that don't need gas or oil, or they will invent flying cars that won't need gas instead they use rechargeable battery.


I think that there will be an increase in population in Canada because scientists have found a cure for some diseases and cancers and in the future they might find cures to almost all of them. This will prevent most people from dying from diseases and cancer. Maybe the population will grow so much they will have to put a limit to the amount of kids each couple should have. Since the scientists discovered that we might even be able to live on mars because of its similarity to Earth. If the population increases, we might have to live on mars.


I think that in the future politics could change immensely. First of all, maybe a 14 year old or even younger can become the prime minister because we won't have to use our brains we just have to rely on technology to do the job. Second of all, if there is an election, both citizens and immigrants can vote. Third of all, kids can vote.


Since we have a lot of technologies right now in 2009, I think that we might have ten times more technology which would make human life easier. We might even be able to make babies using only the DNA of the parents, houses under water, robots as pets, and maybe even electonic houses containing all the safety you need.



Check out Christopher Moore's Blog on Canada's past.

Welcome to Froher's history Blog

Welcome to my blog, I am a grade 8 student in a 7/8 class in Ottawa. In history class we are learning and writing about Canadian history online. I am really excited because I have never done something like this before. I hope that you enjoy and learn something from my blogs and feel free to comment or respond to my blog.


You have to check Mrs. Pollocks Blog...it is totally cool- historypollock.blogspot