Why Canadian History isn’t All About

Wars and Battles

By Rayton Lin

1.a) The thesis of the article is “Patriotism encompasses much more than war”. This can be expanded
upon to mean that Canada’s history is based on patriotism, but there is a lot more to our history than
just the battles we fought.

b) He talked about how Canada’s history is known for immigration with unmatched grit and
perseverance. It was also known for compassion through health care. Innovation is also encompassed
through a railway connecting different parts of Canada, as well as a national broadcasting network.
These points have created a country which is known for technology and peace, which is more indicative
of our nation and history, compared to war.

c) I agree with it. I have my own opinions on history which are similar to how it is portrayed in the
article. I think it is more important to focus on the compassion displayed in history instead of wars and
battles, because we more often help each other and innovate through cooperation rather than violence.

2. The darker side of Canadian History refers to how there are racist, homophobic roots where we
treated minorities differently in ways that would never be acceptable today. We also engaged in wars
that killed millions. These reasons show why we are not perfect and our history should be remembered.

3. It bent towards justice because we have had many cases of individual and collective efforts of shared
prosperity. We have sought to be a decent country. Many accomplishments of Canadians like the Group
of Seven and stories of Canadians like Margaret Atwood showed that we are headed in the right
direction by fighting for democracy and justice.

4. The author means that Canada had done some terrible things in its history, but rather than
pretending it didn’t happen, Canada became a beautiful and multicultural country through remembering
it. Canada’s sense of identity is seen through the good and the bad parts of its history, and it doesn’t
make much sense to pretend everything was perfect. Rather, Canada should instead use all our
knowledge of the history of our nation to unite and have a sense of identity, ad remembering it allows
us to move forward to a brighter future filled with innovation and freedom.