Sir John A. MacDonald: The Colourful Politician

Matthew's mini report on John A MacDonald ....

MacDonald stood up to speak to the House of Commons but seemed pale and started to choke.  He then threw up on his desk!  In response to the grumblings that he had been drinking too much, he retorted that his opponent was making him sick!  This is only one of the many incidents during Sir John A MacDonald’s life which made him one of Canada’s most colourful politicians.

Sir John A MacDonald had a quick-witted sense of humour and he wasn’t afraid to make fun of himself. For instance, George Brown’s newspaper accused him of having few lucid moments because he drank too much.  In his speech the next day Sir John made fun of himself and said “In one of my lucid moments, I am going to tell you that …..”

Sometimes, however, Sir John was a little bit too colourful! For instance, Hugh Allan wanted the job of building the railway so he was paying MacDonald huge amounts of money for the election.  In return for these payments he was given the job of building the Pacific Railway. After that MacDonald had to resign and disappeared for six months.  Even his wife didn’t know where he was. And then he returned and was re-elected!

From the beginning of his life right up to the very end, Sir John A MacDonald was a lively man. For instance, when he was seventy years old he and his wife rode on the very, very front of a train’s engine. What a man!

Sir John A MacDonald: The Persevering Politician

Bekah's report on Sir John A MacDonald...... 

 

Sir John bent over feeling nauseous, the effects of last night’s drinking starting to take their revenge on him. Everything started to whirl around him; he groaned; and then, threw up. Everyone stared! Sir John groaned for the second time. What was he, the Prime Minister, and the first (and probably only) man to throw up in the House of Commons, going to say to the reporters?

          Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, was a skilled lawyer and politician, but even more importantly, a persevering man. Unfortunately for him, however, he is also remembered for his drinking problem. Even though it was his many business, political and personal challenges that contributed to this problem.  Despite these significant obstacles, however, MacDonald persevered. He played a key role in bringing together Canada as a nation while serving as the country’s first prime minister.

Macdonald was a well-regarded politician, however, his political life had complications. In 1873, six years after becoming Canada’s first prime minister, he had to resign because of the Pacific Scandal.  He had accepted money for his electoral campaign from the company he awarded the much sought-after Pacific Railway contract. He was very upset and disappeared for six months. Not even his wife knew where he was. Upon his return, Macdonald’s party insisted that he stay their leader and he won the next election.  So, despite significant challenges, Macdonald’s stubbornness helped him succeed.

Macdonald also had business problems. Growing up, his family had always had money troubles but, as a successful lawyer and politician, he had managed to turn that around. Unfortunately however, while he was out of the country with his sick wife, his law partner, A.J. McDonnell, was not making sound business decisions.  When McDonnell died, he left Macdonald with over one million dollars in today’s money of business debts. However in his typical tireless fashion, Sir John rose to the occasion, assuming full responsibility for all of the debt.

As if his business and political trials were not enough, MacDonald also had a heartrending and difficult personal life.  His wife, Isabella Clarke, struggled with a psychosomatic disorder and alcohol addiction. In fact, she was so sick that they had to move to Georgia, USA.  Happily, Isabella started to improve there but after a few months John had to return to Canada to work, leaving her alone to recover. Sir John was extremely lonely without her and visited her whenever he could get away from his law practice and Parliament. During this same time, their first son also died in infancy.  This blow weakened Isabella even more and she died shortly after at the age of 48. John was grief stricken and sadly turned to drinking away his troubles. Throughout all of these hardships, however, Macdonald persisted and continued to advance his political career. 

Sir John Alexander Macdonald is now remembered for his great triumphs as Canada’s first prime minister. While leading Canada he was also overcoming all of his family issues, political messes, and business challenges. Now THIS was a persevering politician! 

Bibliography

Brown, Jacqueline. Sir John A. MacDonald: The Rascal Who Built Canada. Toronto: JackFruit Press, 2005.

Waite, P.B. The Canadians: John A. MacDonald. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2000.

 .... Please note that we know there should be hanging indentation here but blogger was having some technical issues and wouldn't allow us to format correctly.....

 

 

Laura Secord

This is Bekah's delightful mini report on Laura Secord, a Canadian heroine during the War of 1812.

                            

Laura Secord: Heroine of the War of 1812

 

Laura tripped again for probably the fifty-second time that night. Her skirt was torn, her feet hurt, her arms hung limp and her hair was a tangled disaster.  All around her wolves wailed and ravens rasped unwelcomingly.  Exhausted from running and stumbling through foul swamps and desolate forest all night, fearing every second for her life, she wanted to collapse on the ground. But no! She couldn’t. She must persevere! If she didn’t keep going the small community of Beaver Dams, along with James FitzGibbon’s “Green Tigers”, would fall to the Americans!

There were many Canadian heroes and heroines during The War of 1812, one of which was Laura Ingersoll Secord.  In 1775, when things started to get rough in America, Laura’s father moved his family of six children and her stepmother, Sally, to Canada. Laura then went on to marry a shop keeper, James Secord, in 1797 and together they raised a happy family. Times were not going to stay good, however - war was coming!  

The Americans declared war on Britain in June of 1812.  Three main factors contributed to this decision.  Firstly, Britain was at war with France and British soldiers were searching through American ships, looking for British deserters and cargo going to France.  Secondly, the Americans were trying to expand settlement to the north-west where the First Nations people lived.  The Americans believed the people in Upper Canada were encouraging the First Nations to fight the Americans.  Lastly, the Americans wanted to remind the world, Britain especially, that they were now a free country, no longer a British colony.

Laura Secord’s family left America when she was a child for a better life in Canada.  As a result, Laura now felt compelled to do whatever she could to help stop the Americans from taking over her beloved new country. Knowing the Canadians needed the information that the Americans were coming sooner than anticipated and determined not to give up, Laura finally arrived at a Native ally’s camp after her treacherous, seventeen hour trek. Here she convinced the First Nations leaders to take her to Lieutenant FitzGibbon.

Laura remembered how just the night before she and her husband had stood, ears pressed against the door that led  from the kitchen to the dining room, listening as the Americans planned a surprise attack on the Canadians. The American soldiers, led by the vile, British born traitor, Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, had recently taken over the Secord’s home and that evening, Dr. Chapin was outlining his plan to attack FitzGibbon and his “Green Tigers” at nearby Beaver Dams.  Already considered a hero by many Canadians, Lieutenant FitzGibbon’s skill and bravery had enabled his troops to win numerous battles in the War.  Outnumbered by the Americans, however, a surprise attack would devastate FitzGibbon and his men.  He had to be warned! James, Laura’s husband, couldn’t go because he was still suffering with a wound from an earlier battle. Laura, intent that the message get through to FitzGibbon before anything else could, insisted she would go on the 30 km trek. 

Thanks to Mrs. Secord’s bravery, FitzGibbon and his “Green Tigers” successfully defeated the Americans in the Battle of Beaver Dams.  This was only one of many battles during the War of 1812 - the war that united the peoples of Canada.

Bekah wrote this as part of her coursework for Bravewriter's online course "Mini Reports".  Here is her instructor's feedback on her final draft:

Fabulous work! You have been working hard and it shines through in this fine narrative. I really appreciate your willingness to adapt your format in the beginning of our class and then see the revision phase through to the very end. You made some important changes to your piece during that phase.

I especially like the following aspects you've incorporated in your report:

• An attention-grabbing opening hook: not only does it take the reader into the "heart of the action," but it also contains adventure, intrigue and suspense. That's a sure-fire way to compel the reader to "keep reading." ;)
• You do a fine job explaining this dramatic event. You're good at choosing vivid words to illustrate your meaning: arms hung limp, tangled disaster, wolves wailed, ravens rasped (alliteration too!), foul swamps.
• Crisp clean formatting that complements the structure of your final piece: taking the time to finalize your word choices, to choose an illustration, and to find an appropriate title and neaten up grammar/punctuation helps your final piece shine.

Canadian History Timeline: From Vikings to Confederation

We wrapped up our unit study of Canadian History (using Donna Ward's "Courage & Conquest") by making a very long timeline. 

What a great way to review our unit.