Coniar, although I agree with your general sentiment that Canadian schools do not go far enough in teaching Canadian history, I wish to point out a couple of things:
- French crop rotation 700 years ago is actually probably crucial stuff to know. It is a basic progression of agricultural techniques, which revolutionized productivity. In a more refined form, it continues today, and the end result is you have food on your table. It may not be the sort of "practical" knowledge you will need to apply in your everyday life, it nevertheless will expand the character of your wisdom to understand a little of basic farming back then, and your knowledge of how it‘s done now. If you should ever find yourself a general one day, commanding an army in some far away place, it is entirely possible that your troops may have to educate a fractured populace in basic farming principles, if for no other reason than to feed your troops. But, I digress...
- Much of what Canadian history I learned in school, I have since learned is probably a result of some revisionism, or at least, ignorance of other issues (perhaps for political reasons?). For example, I had always heard in school that Louis Riel was a pretty important guy, along with his co-conspirator, Gabriel Dumont. If I were Metis, I‘d surely agree that yes, these folks did a lot for my people. Perhaps, if I were even from the Praries, I‘d even say they were significant folks. But, the historical truth is closer to this: They were rebellious criminals who led an uprising and were eventually exiled/arrested, but that eventually the government gave in to some of their demands in order to avoid a wider uprising. The same could be said for the Republican agitator, William Lyon McKenzie, who led the Upper Canada Rebellion, such as it was, and would eventually become Mayor of Toronto, bringing disrespect to that position, in my opinion. But never mind, Toronto‘s present Mayor does a fine job of continuing the tradition of bringing disrespect to that title.
- I never learned in school that, in fact, it was British regulars and Loyalist irregulars who fended off the impetuous attacks from south of the border during the War of 1812. All I knew was that a fellow named Brock was killed by an American sniper, and that eventually Canada won the war. Not entirely accurate, the latter, but I got the gist. Thanks to self-study, and a course in Ontario Frontier history at the university level, I now know that the defence of Upper Canada would probably have been impossible if not for chance, and a few hundred Indians following Tecumseh‘s leadership. Britain‘s pressure on America‘s navies certainly helped, and most of all, when Britain concluded it‘s war with France and had thousands of veteran troops suddenly available for a new campaign, this could have persuaded the Americans to agree to a settlement as well.
Embarassingly enough, you are certainly right about more modern Canadian history. I am ashamed to repeat that, when the movie "Dieppe" was being filmed in my old neighbourhood, I had believed that we Canadian‘s had kicked *** . Lo, I was brought back to reality! School never taught me!
For me, history is almost a passion now. I read till my eyes are blurry, in particular about the Royal Navy in the Med and West Indies during the Napoleonic period, as I can trace ancestors to that time and place. History with a connection hold my interest much better than history taught in school ever did.
