Chapter 7: Industrial City 1850-1896
1)Starting in 1825, I helped ships avoid the Lachine Rapids. Factories were built along my shores in the industrial era. What am I?
A.The Rideau Canal B.The St. Lawrence Seaway C.The Lachine Canal D.None of the above
Comment: The idea of digging a canal to facilitate navigation by avoiding the Lachine Rapids dates back as far as the 17th century. However, it only became essential for the country’s commercial development in the 19th century. Sporting eight locks, the Lachine Canal was inaugurated in 1825. By the 1920s, 15,000 ships entered its locks annually. However, it would be replaced as the main maritime route to the interior of the continent by the St. Lawrence Seaway, which was inaugurated in 1959. Navigation on the Lachine Canal ceased on November 4, 1970, but was once again opened to pleasure boats in 2002 after major renovations. Sources: Centre d’histoire de Montréal, Montréal Clic, no 6, ville.montreal.qc.ca/chm (page consultée le 27 janvier 2007). Centre d’histoire de Montréal, Press clipping on Lachine Canal.
Sources: Centre d’histoire de Montréal, Montréal Clic, no 6, ville.montreal.qc.ca/chm (page consultée le 27 janvier 2007). Centre d’histoire de Montréal, Press clipping on Lachine Canal.
2)With my two storeys and flat roof, I was a typical example of working-class architecture after 1850. What am I?
A.The bungalow B.The terrace house C.The duplex D.None of the above
Comment: The duplex appeared at the end of the 1850s and became immensely popular in the decade that followed. Typical of working-class neighbourhoods, the duplex was ideal for this population, essentially made up of tenants. With one flat per floor, the duplex gradually evolved into the triplex as the population increased. Often sporting exterior staircases, the duplex and the triplex are now typical of Montréal architecture.
Sources: Paul-André Linteau, Brève histoire de Montréal , Boréal, 1992.
3)Which railway crossed Canada from coast to coast?
A.Canadian National B.Canadian Pacific C.The Grand Trunk Railway D.None of the above
Comment: The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was incorporated on February 15, 1881. It built the first transcontinental railway between 1881 and 1885, thus encouraging the colonization of the West. Its head office, now in Calgary, Alberta, was initially in Montréal’s prestigious Windsor Station building, which was inaugurated in 1889. While cargo transport is now Canadian Pacific’s principal vocation, for a long time it was the only efficient means of coast-to-coast passenger travel.
Sources: Paul-André Linteau, Brève histoire de Montréal , Boréal, 1992. Official site of the CP, www.cpr.ca (site visité le 26 janvier 2007).
4)Which community settled in Montréal in the 1880s?
A.The Irish B.The Italians C.The Jews D.The Portuguese
Comment: Under the French regime, Jews were forbidden to immigrate to New France because they were not Catholic. The first Jews came to Canada after the British Conquest, settling mostly in Montréal and marking their presence by founding the country’s first synagogue in 1768. A much larger wave of Jewish immigration washed over the country starting in 1880. Some, wealthy businessmen fleeing persecution and looking for a better life, built huge fortunes in Canada. Others were simple workers or shopkeepers who settled along the Main, now Boulevard Saint-Laurent.
Sources: Barry Lazar et Douglas Tamsin, Guide du Montréal ethnique. XYZ, 1994. Encyclopédie canadienne, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com (page consultée le 20 janvier 2007).
