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Social Autonomy In Canada In The 1900's

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Between 1900 and 1929, Canada became significantly more autonomous socially, politically, and economically from Britain and the United States; however, there were still times where Canada’s autonomy had decreased due to Canada’s dependence on Britain and the United States. Canada had gained political autonomy from Britain when it was officially and internationally recognized as an independent nation. Economically, Canada was very reliant on British and American investment. However, Canada’s social autonomy had increased because of the first world war and entertainment, like art and literature.

Politically, Canada’s autonomy had increased greatly from 1900 to 1929. In the early 1900’s, the Alaska Boundary Dispute proved Canada’s dependence …show more content…

However, when the boom died down post war, Canada was left in a state of depression as Britain did not need as many resources. It was evident that Canada was very economically dependent on Britain. Canada also became economically dependent on the United States as they had become Canada’s biggest trading partner and largest investor post war. Although Canada's economy was enriched because of American investment, many industries and Canadian businesses were being overtaken by the United States. For example, Canada's auto industry was dominated by the "Big Three" American auto companies. American companies also owned a large proportion of Canada’s oil businesses, chemical industries, rubber and electrical companies. Canada began to exploit its raw materials to ship to the United States with no regards of long term effects; Canada’s economy was hit particularly hard when the stock market crashed in 1929 because of its dependency on the U.S. …show more content…

As young men gathered and worked together at Valcartier for wartime training, they began to develop a sense of Canadian identity. During the war, Canadian soldiers gained social autonomy from Britain as Canada’s expeditionary force maintained independent from British units. For the first time, Canadian troops were chosen to lead an assault in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. They had captured more land, guns, and prisoners than any other British troop. Following this triumph, a Canadian, Arthur Currie, was selected to command Canada’s troops in the Battle of Passchendaele. The success of Canadian soldiers had given them sense of national pride and identity. In the soaring 1920's, all types of entertainment and leisure were developed, the two major forms of entertainment being film and radio. American radio companies diminished Canada’s sense of social autonomy because they were far too big for Canadian radio stations to compete with. As a result, many Canadians tuned into American stations for entertainment and their news. Furthermore, the film industry was also dominated by the Americans and Canadian-made films could not compete with productions from the big studios in the United States. However, Canadians developed a sense of national identity in the form of art and literature. A Canadian art movement swept across Canada and artists like the Group of Seven gained fame. In Canadian literature, authors

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