Week 1
Due: Monday, February 9th
Family History Project (Multiple Perspectives)
One of the strengths of Canada is that we are connected to almost every part
of the world through our population. Every person in Canada, including First
Nations, came to Canada from somewhere else. The purpose of this
assignment is for you to explore your personal connection with other parts of
the world.
*Task:
Choose one of your ancestors and trace the story of their journey to Canada. It
will be understood that in some cases not all of the information listed below
will be available but please make an honest effort to find out as much as
possible!
Please make sure to include the following information in your paper. You may
use headings in your paper with your information written in paragraph
format following your headings!
*This is not meant to be a 5+ page paper. Gather the information that you can
find and record it!
Week 1
Due: Monday, February 9th
Profile of your Ancestor: Try to find out as much as possible:
Name of Ancestor and Description of their Family ( 5 Marks)
Country of Origin (15 Marks): Research the country of origin for the period that your ancestor
came to Canada. What were the conditions like in the country of origin at the time your ancestor left?
Emphasize the part of this section that was the most important factor in your ancestor leaving the
country of origin. These are sometimes referred to as push factors.
Economic- provide a general description of the economy. Was there any serious economic problem
at the time, eg. -Potato famine in Ireland, post WWII Eastern Europe unemployment, the great
depression in the 1930’s, mercantilism, overseas colonies in the 1600’s, unemployment in the
1970’s?
Political – What type of government did the country have at this time? If possible explain who was
the political leader was at the time. Describe the amount of political freedom. Were basic human
rights protected? Were there elections?
Daily Life – Describe what the daily life was like for your ancestor in their country of origin. If you
ancestor came to Canada more recently, this information may be in the living memory of your family
and you can get this information from an interview. If the ancestor lived in, for example, France in
the 1680’s then you will have to do some research. Find out the socio-economic class of the family.
Were they peasants, bourgeoisies/middle class, farmer etc.
Conditions in Canada at the time of your ancestors arrival (15 Marks) – Research the conditions
in Canada at the time your ancestor arrived. These are sometimes pull factors.
Economic – What were the main economic activities at the time?
Political Conditions –What type of government did Canada have at the time? Who was the Prime
Minister?
Daily Life – Describe the situation or your ancestor in Canada. You may be able to get this
information from an interview with a family member or you may have to research a historical period
in history.
Reflection on Personal Perspective (15 Marks): How has your family history and identity been
shaped by globalization? This should be a thoughtful conclusion to the assignment.
Week 1
Due: Monday, February 9th
Evaluation:
Each section will be marked based on the following criteria:
*Has an honest attempt been made to complete all sections of the assignmet? If partys are
incomplete is there a brief explanation of why they are incomplete?
*Have you been able to clearly communicate the story of your ancestor with suffiecient
detail so that it can be understood by the reader. Papers that have more detail will receive a
better mark – at the same time it is understood that some details for ancestors long past
may be difficult to come by.
*Sources – Bibliography (APA Format) – For those sections requiring some research –
students have listed the sources in a Work Cited at the end of their paper.
www.citationmachine.net – This cite is very useful and will let you fill in the blanks and will
create the citation for you! (A lot less work for you!)