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_ Ryerson . quotes

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By NELSON CLARKE
™PrHE growing U.S.. domina-
; tion of .Canada in. these
post war years has posed an
increasing threat to the very
existence of our nation. The
Ynovement of the -Canadian
‘people is rising and broaden-
ing to defend the sovereignty
of our country, to restore con-
trol over our own economy, to
block the dreadful threat. pos-
ed by our military entangle-
ment with the United States.

That struggle to , preserve
our national indentity grows
out of the most urgent immed-
jate needs of the Canadian
people, but jit has its well-
springs deep. in our country’s
past.

To understand the direction
in which the’ Canadian people
are moving today, and to have
confidence “in. the — possibility
of breaking the stranglehold

-of the great.U.S.trusts, it is.
-essential that we know. and

understand: the road by which
we have travelled. It is essen-
tial to. understand. why it
comes about that Canada exists
at all; why, in the face of the
capitalist expansion, which has
characterized the United
States from .the opening -years
of the 19th Century, there
nevertheless came to be form-

' ed on the northern part of this

eontinent a separate state. ~

These are the questions of
history, of the most urgent im-
portance .for today, which are
illuminated. by THE FOUND-
ING OF CANADA — Begin-
mings to 1815, by Stanley. B.
Ryerson.

eae an

The author has previously
made important contributions
to our knowledge of our past
through his. earlier works:
1837 — The Birth of Canadian
Democracy and. French Can-
ada. But THE FOUNDING OF
CANADA: is the first book
ever written which ~deals sys-
tematically with the develop-
ment of our country as a whole
in the. light. of the Marxist
Science of social change.

It is history that shows the
real forces which shaped. our
country from its very begin-
nings; above. all it is a history
of the people of Canada, their
labors and their struggles.

In his. forword, Stanley
Karl Marx
writing in the German Ideol-
ogy: “The. first premise of all
human history is of course the
existence of living human in-
dividuals ..... Men can be dis-
tinquished from animals by
consciousness, by religion or

Champlain,

what you will. They them-

selves. begin to distinguish’

themselves from animals as
soon as they begin to PRO-| Ryerson places the develop-|that had appeared in the

DUCE their means of exist-
CnCe «5. :

Here we read not only the
names we know from our
school text books — Cartier,
Wolfe, Montcalm
—but also of the men who
first built Canada with. their
labor; men like the founders
of Montreal — Nicholas Gode
and his two sons, all three car-

-penters; L. Loisel, a locksmith;

G. Bossier, Jean Mattemasse,
U. Tessier and Gilbert Bar-
bier, workers in timber.

Here too are recalled the
names of the courageous early
fighters for Canadian democ-
racy — names these who write
history for the ruling class of
Canada would like to bury for-
ever. Here in THE FOUND-
ING OF CANADA, we learn
of. Piere Bedard, who joined
with the Irish radical, Thomas
Lee, to found the fighting
paper Le Canadien in 1806; of
Judge Robert Thorpe,.in what
is now Ontario, and of his
friend Joseph. Willcocks, who
founded the The Guardian, in
Niagara, also in the first dec-
ade of the 19th century. We
learn of the struggles -led- in
Nova Scotia by Cotman Tonge,
and by James Glenie in New
Brunswick.

‘ * x k

Stanley Ryerson’s . history
goes back-to the very . begin-

nings — the great upheavals
long ago which shaped the
bedrock of Canada. and

brought into being the nickel
of Sudbury, the copper of
Gaspe, the oil and gas:of Al-
berta and Saskatchewan.

He brings to us a deeper
understanding and apprecia-
tion of the history of the na-
tive peoples of Canada who
fought for their lands- with
such skill and courage. He
shows the profoundly import-
ant role played by the Iroquois
in the preservation of British
North America, a role which
has been repaid down to this
day with nothing but betrayal
and the most callous ingrati-
tude on the part of the British
and Canadian ruling’ classes.
Here the book strikes a strong
blow against racist attitudes of
“white man” superiority which
prevades most history which
has been written in this coun-
try.

Stanley Ryerson traces the
development of the colony of
New France from its begin-
nings to the Conquest of 1759,
showing how its fatal inner
weaknesses of feudal structure
reflected the weaknesses of
feudal France itself, which led
inevitably to the great demo-
cratic revolution of 1789.
Thus, throughout his. book,

istory Major
For Canada

‘which Lenin called

|

ment of Canada within the!
whole context of world history;
in the 17th, 18th and early|
19th centuries.

(There are many fascinating
passages. Every Canadian |
school child knows the story,’
which is probably not true,
about Wolfe reciting Grey’s
Elegy as he crossed the St.
Lawrence to the Plain of

STANLEY RYERSON

Abraham on that fateful Octo-
ber night. But our history
books have not dwelt on the
story, which probably is true,
that Wolfe’s calm was account-
ed for by the fact that he knew
that corrupt French - traitors
had cleared the way for his
army’s final assault).

* * ®

In-a_ penetrating section
Ryerson deals withthe pro-
found impact upon Canada of
the American Revolution ' —
“one of
those. great, truly liberating,
truly revolutionary. wars.” .He
explains why the American
Continental Congress failed in
its efforts to take over Canada
despite the deep sympathy felt
by the Canadian people for the
revolutionary cause. The pro-
pertied classes in the colonies
did not begin by waging. their
war as a revolutionary war.
Benjamin Franklin’s assurance
in Montreal, in May of 1776,
that Nhe religious rights of the
people of . French Canada
would be safeguarded came
too late.

The book describes the. ris-
ing tide of democratic struggle
in the years which followed,
profoundly influenced as they
were by both the American
and French revolutions, and
concludes with an assessment
of the War of 1812 which
breaks new ground in Marxist
historical writing.

® 2 R

It is impossible to over-esti-
mate the importance of the
War of 1812 to all the history
of Canada down to this day.
It -was in the. crucible of this
conflict that our national con-
sciousness began to be forged.

Ryerson says: “Together
with industrial beginnings, the
experience of 1812 profoundly
influence the ferment in the
colonies. Insofar as it was
simply anti-American, the sen-
timent engendered among Can-
adians by the war tended to
buttress British loyalism. But
to the extent that it was an
actual consciousness of nation-
al identity (however rudimen-
tary), the new sentiment once
the war was over, led to a
more vigorous assertion of
democratic Canadianism. Na-
tional consciousness now mersg-
ed with the radical currents

Stanley — Ryerson’s
new —book,- reviewed
on this page by Nel-
son Clarke, editor of
the Canadian Tribune
is now on sale in Van-
couver at the Peoples
Co-operative Book-
Sik 307 W. Pender

Published by Pre-
gress Books, 346 pag-
es, it _will — sell for
$3.00 paper ecever,
$5.00 cloth cover.

d @

1790’s and early 1800’s. It join-
ed with democratic radicalism
in the rising demand for far-
reaching reforms in the colon-4
ial structure — and eventually
for national independence.”
* * »

Throughout THE FOUND-
ING OF CANADA,’ Stanley
Ryerson shows that our his-
tory has been a history of class
struggles — the great truth
from which capitalist histor
ians shrink. He tells, for ex-
ample, the exciting story of
Canada’s first great capitatist
enterprise, the North West
Company, and also of the

history of primitive commune
ism, of slavery, of feudalism,
and of capitalism:

The new history lays the
basis for the encouragement of
lively discussions and debate
about the past of Canada. It
is to be most earnestly hoped
that, Canadian academic his<
torians, many of- whom have
done research of - the - utmost
value, will be prepared. to en-
ter into debate with Marxist
ideas around this new work.

But in addition to that; Stan-:

ley Ryerson would be the first
to say there is much work te
be done by Marxist histerians

strike struggles waged by thej themselves on the early his-

voyageurs against the com-!
pany, which drew its vast -pro-
fits not only from the robbery
of the Indian people in the fur

trade but from the cruel ex- |

ploitation of. its
ployees.

This. new history will give
us all a deeper sense of nation-
al pride, and a -firmer -belef
in our future — in our ability
to defeat the U.S: monopolies
who, like their forbearers of
the last century, regard. the
subordination of Canada as
part of their ‘manifest des-
tiny.”

It will be read, we are sure,
with great interest by young
people who are .studying - his-
tory in our schools, and alt too
often find it presented as_a
meaningless collection of un-
related facts and dates.

It will be a most helpful
book to those many progres-
sive Canadians who came to
this country in adult life, and
have never had the opportun-
ity to familiarize themselves
with the history of their new
homeland.

* s >

There is a growing. interest
in the study of-the theoretical
principles of historical. mater-
ialism. Explanation. of. these
principles is skillfully .woven
into THE FOUNDING OF
CANADA, andthe history will
be an invaluable aid in help-
ing us to better understand ‘the
Marxist classics in terms of
Canadian development.  Cen-
tral to the structure of Ryer-
son’s history is the description
of that development as a suc-
cession of social. systems. He

Own em-

explains the .place-in Canadian

tery of Canada — many ques-
tions to be still argued out.

This reviewer woulé wel-
come a still deeper analysis of
those forces which entered
into the shaping.of an emerge
img sense of Canadian national
consciousness (in Upper Can<
ada- especially). in the course of
the War of 1812.

a * 3

‘It must be said. in conchision-

‘that the style of THE FOUND-
ING OF CANADA is simple
and exciting throughout, and
marked by the authors pas-
sionate patriotism and love for
the working people of Canada.

The text is illustrated. by
Many engravings from the
period, and by very informa-
tive historical maps drawn by
Avrom Yanofsky, refreshingly
free from the clutter of detail
that often overcomplicates
such essential aids to under
standing.

We-recommend THE
FOUNDING OF CANADA —
Beginnings to 1815 most high-
ly to the readers of the Pacifie
Tribune, and we urge them te
take an active interest in ene
couraging its widespread. sale
to workers, farmers. and in-=
teHectuals across our land.

We will all look forward
eagerly. to the publication
planned for next year of the
second part of THE FOUND-
ING OF CANADA whieh will
cover the dramatic period of
the Rebellions of -1837, tha
winning of responsible gevern-
ment and the establishment of
Confederation. It will be ene
titled REVOLUTION. ANE:
CONFEDERATION,

December 16, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page $