lof

funny... when i read your posts, that was exactly what i stumbled over - your tone which suggests that you are superior.

history is the written account of things that happened - and since it is written down by humans it always has a distinctive note which is linked to the circumstances in which the writer (and/or his employer) lived. up to the 19th century the educated people where either monks or rich enough to have the pleasure of wisdom. so the views of people out of the common crowd didn't really make it into the big history books (there have been people in the lower classes of society who made their contribution to the literature of the 18th century though - at least where i come from - but they did depend on rich mentors to do so...) these accounts of small villain farmers or soldiers or ... might change the picture of what you call history.

i wonder how canadian history books would look like if some of those courrier de bois who opened the west for the hbc in the 18th century or the chinese underlings who built (and in many cases lost their life for) the cpr as the backbone of modern days canada had been able to let the world know about their experiences. probably your glorious history of "we outstanding brits built canada" would be a bit less bright... and did you know that the spanish were an economic force here at the west coast quite a while before captain cook set his foot ashore at friendly cove on nootka island?


there is a saying that there is only one truth but it has billions of faces. the face i see is obviously different from yours. you can despise it as a non-british one as long as you want - it will not change or stop to exist just because you don't like it.

enjoy the beautiful city at the south tip of my chosen home (named vancouver island)...

gordonhead

Just saw this and was reminded of this place...

Pierre Berton:

"The Chinese are interesting because people say, `Well, the CPR was built by the Chinese. As a matter of fact, that's totally untrue. The CPR was not built by Chinese. The British Columbia section, which was a government section, which the CPR had nothing to do with, which was started before the CPR company was formed, was built by the Government contractor, Andrew Onderdonk who brought in the Chinese. But they did not work on the CPR line. The

CPR took over the Government section once it was finished. When the last spike was driven, it was the Onderdonk section that was joined to the rest of the CPR's western line.

The other misinformation about the Chinese is that they were brought in as serfs or slaves. That's not true. They were paid, but not as well as the whites. White labourers-who did a different kind of work, however-got a dollar and a half a day; the Chinese got a dollar a day. Nor were they indentured. They were brought first up from California, where they had been building the Central Pacific and Union Pacific -about 8,000 people-and then they were brought over in about ten shiploads from Canton; which is why all the Chinese food in this country for so many years before World War II, was Cantonese food.

They paid a percentage-I think it was 2-1 /2 per cent-to the Benevolent Chinese Society that looked after them...."

Sjt53

Dead right , Um need a carpenter ???

gordonhead

Do my own thanks, but there's still plenty going on around here, as opposed to the rest of the continent.