Chapter 3 Lesson 8 Inquiry
Completion requirements
Inquiry
What was the Great Migration?
A Few Pages From Uncle John's Diary
Scotland, 1810 - July 9
The Lords, or King's Men, own all the land in the district. They are turning many of the fields into sheep pastures and do not need all the workmen. Many of us have nowhere to go and so have been allowed to build little houses by the roadside. We grow gardens and little patches of wheat and barley. A few chickens and a cow keep us going but it is a poor life for us. The land owners want our small farms by the roadside. They are bringing more sheep to the hills every day. If the sheep eat our garden and wheat and Lord Thomas takes our land, where shall we go? What can we do?
July 11, 1810
Cousin David has been put off his land! Lord Thomas came at noon and ordered him and his family out. His men piled their furniture on the road and set fire to the house. The tiny strip of land beside the road won't feed many sheep. Aye, it's a sorry time when sheep are more important than a man, his wife, and wee bairns.
May 25, 1811
We have been put off our land and our house burned. We moved to a small cottage at a woolen mill and are working until we can move across the ocean.
September 1811
We have been on the ship for one month and Cousin David is ill. His skin is pale with dark spots on it; his gums are swollen and sore and some of his teeth seem to be getting loose. Each day he feels weaker and doesn't want to eat. The captain says he has scurvy which can be cured by drinking a special tea, once we reach land.
(Tales of the Red River: Pupil's Resource Unit, Alberta Education https://archive.org/stream/talesofredriver)
Ireland, September 10, 1845
The potato is our only source of food. I do not know what we are going to do because we have not been able to grow the potatoes we need for food.
May 8, 1846
The potato blight has taken all of the crops this year. There is no food. We have laid my mother and father to rest. They starved trying to feed us. Now there are only three of us and I am responsible for the younger ones.
The government is taxing the rich to pay for workhouses in which we will have to live. The rich do not want to pay taxes. It is cheaper to load us on ships and send us to the New World. They say 100,000 ships are sailing for the New World from Ireland.
May 17, 1847
After one month of sea travel, our ship, the Syria, arrives at Grosse Isle, Quebec. The sailing ships are crowded. We have poor access to food and water, and as little living space as possible. We are unable to eat or clean ourselves properly on these long cónra, coffin ships. Sharks follow the coffin ships because so many bodies are thrown overboard. 30% of the passengers die. On our ship, 430 of us have ship's fever. Behind us are 8 other ships. They also have the disease called typhus.
All my siblings and I have the disease. I have a stomach-ache, back pain, cramps, a head-ache, and my head is spinning. I am vomiting. They say the disease is caused by flea bites and lice bites from ship rats.
A week later, 17 more ships arrive with typhus.
I am in a tent, on shore with 695 other people. The doctors do not know what to do. They give us willow bark tea and liquids. They let the fever run its course. In one month, over 10,000 Irish immigrants arrive and 40 ships are lined up with sick new immigrants. 1100 infected passengers are laid out in tents and sheds.
Some passengers are transferred to Montreal where 22 fever sheds are full of the sick. Troops guard the area so no one can escape and spread the disease to others. Still, there is an epidemic in Montreal. Up to 6,000 Irish immigrants will die in Montreal, 200 in Ottawa (Bytown), 1400 in Kingston, 863 in Toronto, 2115 in New Brunswick. More than 20,000 people die in total.
The Grey Nuns carry women and children in their arms from ships to the ambulances. 30 of the 40 nuns who help become ill. 7 die. Other nuns take over, but once the surviving Grey Nuns recover, they return to help. A mob threatens to throw the fever sheds into the river, but Montreal mayor, John Easton Mills, stops the riot by taking care of the sick — giving patients water and changing bedding. He dies in November and does not even serve one year in office.
I survive to write about the epidemic.
The potato is our only source of food. I do not know what we are going to do because we have not been able to grow the potatoes we need for food.
May 8, 1846
The potato blight has taken all of the crops this year. There is no food. We have laid my mother and father to rest. They starved trying to feed us. Now there are only three of us and I am responsible for the younger ones.
The government is taxing the rich to pay for workhouses in which we will have to live. The rich do not want to pay taxes. It is cheaper to load us on ships and send us to the New World. They say 100,000 ships are sailing for the New World from Ireland.
May 17, 1847
After one month of sea travel, our ship, the Syria, arrives at Grosse Isle, Quebec. The sailing ships are crowded. We have poor access to food and water, and as little living space as possible. We are unable to eat or clean ourselves properly on these long cónra, coffin ships. Sharks follow the coffin ships because so many bodies are thrown overboard. 30% of the passengers die. On our ship, 430 of us have ship's fever. Behind us are 8 other ships. They also have the disease called typhus.
All my siblings and I have the disease. I have a stomach-ache, back pain, cramps, a head-ache, and my head is spinning. I am vomiting. They say the disease is caused by flea bites and lice bites from ship rats.
A week later, 17 more ships arrive with typhus.
I am in a tent, on shore with 695 other people. The doctors do not know what to do. They give us willow bark tea and liquids. They let the fever run its course. In one month, over 10,000 Irish immigrants arrive and 40 ships are lined up with sick new immigrants. 1100 infected passengers are laid out in tents and sheds.
Some passengers are transferred to Montreal where 22 fever sheds are full of the sick. Troops guard the area so no one can escape and spread the disease to others. Still, there is an epidemic in Montreal. Up to 6,000 Irish immigrants will die in Montreal, 200 in Ottawa (Bytown), 1400 in Kingston, 863 in Toronto, 2115 in New Brunswick. More than 20,000 people die in total.
The Grey Nuns carry women and children in their arms from ships to the ambulances. 30 of the 40 nuns who help become ill. 7 die. Other nuns take over, but once the surviving Grey Nuns recover, they return to help. A mob threatens to throw the fever sheds into the river, but Montreal mayor, John Easton Mills, stops the riot by taking care of the sick — giving patients water and changing bedding. He dies in November and does not even serve one year in office.
I survive to write about the epidemic.
Resources for Inquiry
- Textbook
-
Read pages 85 - 87.
- Library Book
- Early Settlers, pages 50 - 52.
- Websites
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The Great Migration page on the Calgary Board of Education site
Why did people leave their homelands? For what were they hoping? How did this change Canada? - Heritage Minute: Orphans
- A province of Ontario poster displayed in Great Britain to encourage people to come to Canada
-
Pickering’s Emigrant’s Guide to Canada (A guide published in 1832 describing what emigrating to Canada would be like
- Videos
On a coffin ship, told by a cat.
Notebook
Digging Deeper
Susanna Moodie and her sister, Catharine Parr, came to Canada during the Great Migration. They are considered to be among Canada’s great writers of their day. View the following websites to learn more.
- Academic Kids: Susanna Moodie
- Pioneer Canadian Mother: Catherine Parr Traill
-
A Part of Our Heritage: The View of Two Sisters Catherine Parr Traill and Susanna Moodie:
- Read excerpts from: Roughing It in the Bush
When you feel confident about the information you explored in this inquiry, complete the Lesson 8 Self-Check on the following page.