Assassin

 This is a print of the original, Fathers of Confederation, by Robert Harris, done in 1885. The original is long gone, destroyed during the fire that brought down Centre Block in 1916. 

Hard work made Confederation a reality. The country was established.

For a number of years after the American Civil War, Irish American veterans of the Union engaged in the Fenian Raids. The Fenian Brotherhood had been founded in 1858, and their objective was to hold Canada for ransom to force the British to given Ireland independence. The ceremonial sword in this case was presented to Lt. Col. Brown Chamberlin for his role during the Raids.

Thomas D'Arcy McGee was a politician, journalist, and lawyer who had once been a Fenian in his native Ireland, but whose world view had changed to see the value of Parliamentary democracy, particularly in the context of Canada with British bonds. The Fenians deemed him a traitor. In 1868, coming home to his Ottawa boarding house from Parliament, he was shot in the back of the head by a Fenian assassin.

He had turned out to be the most eloquent of the Fathers of Confederation, and his loss was deeply felt, particularly by Prime Minister John A Macdonald and his wife, who were his close friends. 

This is the original plaque that marked the assassination spot.

At the time, it was common to do a death mask in plaster. This was not possible due to the damage to his head. A cast of his hand was made instead- a fitting tribute to a writer.

I finish today with a Union flag. This one has particular historical significance. It was flown from the  original Centre Block on the night of the terrible fire of 1916 that saw its destruction.

Legacies Of The War

 To this day, the Civil War remains the pivotal moment in American history, endlessly debated and studied.

A display case here is filled with books and other items from the Friends of the Canadian War Museum. They operate a used book store in the building, and I've picked up books from them on occasion. The variety speaks for itself.

The Civil War had been fought between North and South, with the South attempting to make a new nation for itself, ultimately failing. Yet a new nation did rise as a direct consequence of the Civil War. Canadian leaders banded together during that period, saw the need for unity and a different way of creating a system of government, and created the country that we have since become. Commentary by some of the scholars we've seen along the way rounds out the exhibit, talking about the long term influence of the Civil War on Canada, and how Canadians responded to that cataclysm south of the border.

One more look at that display case.

And then I departed out from the gallery. This was a fitting final image for this tour.

The Years To Come

I realized yesterday that I had not put a summer header in, and here we are starting to stare down the last weeks of summer. This is taken last year, from a visit to Kiweki Point overlooking the Ottawa River. I have to get back up there sometime soon. 

This part of the exhibit evokes a Blackfoot tipi, with a buffalo hide at its heart.

The Blackfoot tribe had a tradition called the Winter Count, noting the most important event of the year.

In 1874, Canadian and American surveyors marked what is now the border across the West. The Blackfoot homeland became separated on both sides.

These are powwow regalia for boys and girls from the Blackfoot people.

The timeline that started the exhibit winds its way towards its end. In 1872, President Grant was elected to his second term.

The following year saw economic collapse, and its impact on Reconstruction.

Soldiers under George Armstrong Custer found gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874. It was predictable that speculators would rush in. The Hills were sacred to the Lakota.

Two years later, Custer would lead the 7th Cavalry to a quick death by attacking a force of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho at the Little Bighorn. The arrogant, reckless, and frankly stupid officer had it coming to him.

With Grant's two terms ending, a new president, Rutherford Hayes, was elected, but only through compromise- it was at the expense of Reconstruction. Federal troops withdrew from occupation positions in the South, Reconstruction was brought to an end, and black people in the South would find themselves subjected to the so called Jim Crow laws in the years to come.

The Civil War had been the defining chapter of American history, and with its aftermath, the country still feels its effects to this day, a century and a half later.

Roar Of The Rifles

 Louis Riel was one of the leaders of the Metis people in the aftermath of the American Civil War. For years, his relationship with the Canadian government was contentious, and indeed he was hung for treason. Today he has been deemed a Father of Confederation for his role in the development of Manitoba.

Closer to home, the post-Civil War years saw a period of raids by Irish-American veterans of the Union. They were called the Fenian Raids, and they involved insertions into Canada. The objective was to hold the country hostage to force the British to give Ireland its independence. Canadian soldiers and militia drove them back each time. Among the casualties of Fenian activists was the Canadian politician Thomas D'Arcy McGee, the most eloquent of the Fathers of Confederation, who had once been a Fenian in his youth before coming to Canada, but was now deemed a traitor by his former comrades for changing his world view and seeing the value of Westminster style Parliamentary democracy.

Both Canadian and American governments put their efforts into expanding west into the territories nominally under their names in the years following the Civil War. The speed in which they did so would lead to other conflicts- with the indigenous peoples already out there.

In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant was elected president. The hero of the Civil War settled into political life. His two terms would be riddled by scandal, generally because of those around him.

The Fifteenth Amendment granted the right to vote to black men.

In 1871, the Treaty of Washington between the United States and Great Britain settled many of the issues from the Civil War. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald represented Canadian interests, and ended up getting pretty much everything he wanted out of the treaty.

A border was now being established in the West, even with people already out there. The Blackfoot tribe would find themselves on both sides of that border.

Linda Manyguns is a contemporary Blackfoot. I listened to her commentary about the period.