Indian Wars

THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH

We hold that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the inherent rights of every man! (?)

It takes a minute to make out what is happening in this drawing, but the guns are obvious. This is a political cartoon depicting the Indian Wars in the United States (think Dances with Wolves).

Clearly many Canadians held to a sense of moral superiority that we would be better than the Americans in our treatment of First Nations people. The Americans were killing, and we were negotiating in the British tradition. Of course, by negotiating dishonestly and creating conditions that led to starvation one could argue that Canadians had no right to claim the moral high ground. But I guess that is part of our National identity in Canada: "at least we are better than the Americans!"

It is ironic that the United States claims to be defenders of freedom and the rights of man when you look at events in their short history such as slavery and "Indian Wars". (perhaps some more current events as well?)

The cartoon also gives the opportunity to highlight the different slogans of our two countries as well.

The United States: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"

Canada: "Peace, Order, and Good Government"

This always leads to a good discussion about the difference between our two countries, and what defines us as Canadians. 

Many of the cartoons that I use in class were taken from this book by Charles Hou (former Socials 10 teacher in BC):

Great Canadian political cartoons, 1820 to 1914