Ontario Teachers' Manuals: HistoryOntario. Department of Education
History
Ontario Teachers' Manuals: History
Ontario. Department of Education
History -- Study and teaching
_T._--We can tell better a little later which one was actually
chosen. Here is a thing that I want you to think about. Why should
they build the railway just to the St. Lawrence? Were there many
people living in Upper Canada fifty years ago?
_P._--Yes, as many people as there were in Quebec province.
_T._--Really there were about 250,000 more here than in Quebec. How
would the people here ship their goods in the winter? How do we
send our goods to Europe now in winter?
(Several suggestions were made. Finally it was stated that we could
ship by water in summer, and by rail in winter.)
_T._--You know that there are some rapids on the St. Lawrence
before we reach Montreal. How do we manage about them?
_P._--By using the canals.
_T._--How can we ship by rail?
_P._--By using the Grand Trunk or the Canadian Pacific Railway.
_T._--Now, I shall have to tell you something about the canals and
the first railway from Upper Canada. There were several canals
already built on the St. Lawrence: the Lachine, Welland, and
others. In fact, we had spent about $1,500,000 on canals before
Confederation. The Grand Trunk Railway was running from Sarnia to
Quebec city by 1856, just eleven years before Confederation. (Have
a pupil trace the line from Sarnia to Quebec, so that the class may
see how much of Upper Canada was served by the Grand Trunk.) Can
you tell me now what place on the St. Lawrence would be taken as
the western terminus of the new railway?
_P._--Yes, Quebec would be the one.
_T._--Why?
_P._--Because the people of Upper Canada had ways already for
sending their goods as far as Quebec city.
_T._--The next point to think about is--How had Canada been
shipping her goods across the sea in winter before this?
(Several suggestions were made. "We would have to keep everything
till the next summer." "We would have to use ice-boats." Objections
were raised to these methods to show that they were impossible.
Finally one pupil thought that we could send our freight through
the United States.)
_T._--Well, why did the people not continue doing that, instead of
wanting to build a railway of their own?
_P._--The United States would likely make them pay for doing it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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