1920s: The Role of

Women & The Not

So Roaring 20s

Women in the
1920s

The Role of Women in the 1920s

A

new era for women!

There

was hope for better womens and

childrens working conditions and for reforms
in health care and education

But

in reality these hopes were too high

Election of 1921

Only 5 women ran for election

Agnes MacPhail won her seat

Only woman until 1935

Legislatures and Parliament remained male dominated

Women were wives and mothers, obv..

Married women were to stay home and raise a family

Unmarried women had very few options: nursing and

teaching

Poor pay

Secretaries, telephone operators, sales clerks

Women are Persons YAY!

Emily Murphy suffragist
Alberta
Appointed magistrate
Challenged because women were not considered persons under the law
Supreme Court of Alberta ruled that Murphy could be judge
1928 the Supreme Court of Canada decided women were not persons based on
the Constitution
Famous Five appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain
Result:
The Exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbaric than
ours To those who ask why the word person should include females the obvious
answer is why should it not (Textbook, pg 60)
Women are persons!

Emily
Murphy &
The Famous
5

The Not So
Roaring 20s

The not so Roaring 20s: Aboriginal

People of Canada

Aboriginal people served in WWI

But their contribution did little to help their situation at

home

Like women they were not classified as persons

under the law

The question of whether they should accept a British

Style of living split Aboriginal peoples

Conditions on reserves were bad

The potlatch was banned

The government took Aboriginal land when they

deemed it fit to do so

Allied Tribes
Formed

in 1916
Aimed to protect Aboriginal land
Protested decisions made by the
government
Sought resolutions between
provincial and federal governments
Made illegal in 1927

The Not So Roaring 20s: African

Canadians

Were discouraged from immigrating to Canada

Never blocked

Racial segregation was openenly practiced and

supported by courts in some provinces (Nova Scotia:
Separate schools for Blacks and Europeans)

1921: Segregation in movie theatres in Quebec

1929: Toronto, blacks denied hotel rooms

There was SOME tolerance

Example:

- Edmonton, 1924
- City council refused to support an
attempt to ban African-Canadians
from parks and swimming pools
- 1919
- Brotherhood of Railway Workers
accepted black porters

The Not So Roaring 20s: Other

Immigrants to Canada
Immigrants

from Russia or Eastern Europe were

accused of being communist revolutionaries

Immigration

restrictions: preference to Britain and

US
Some

people welcomed immigration for cheaper

labour (Farmers)

Labour

groups saw this as unfair competition

1925 immigration became more relaxed

because Canada wanted more people, most of
them ended up in urban slums

Asian Immigration

Asian immigrant restrictions

were harsh

- 1923-1947 federal
government law excluded
Chinese immigrants
- 1922 restrictions on Japanese
immigration (150 servants and
labourers/year)

The End of the Roaring 20s

The

prosperity that had filled the latter half of

the 1920s came crashing down

1927

price of wheat was dropping

World

market started to show weakness

People

believed things could get better post

war mentality

The End of the Roaring 20s: THE

CRASH

Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929

Stocks plummeted, Canadian factories began to close

People were told to sell, sell, sell

Europe was broke and had no money to buy Canadian goods

23 million + shares exchanged hands

US raised tariffs to protect themselves

This marked the transition from the prosperity of the 1920s to the
depression of the 1930s

= Great Depression

The End