English-Speaking Countries' Society and Culture: October 2008

Text Version of English-Speaking Countries’ Society and Culture Class

LECTURE ONE: BRITISH ROYALTY
1. The Magna Carta (1215)
a. The Magna Carta limited the King’s power.
b. Nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta because he managed the country poorly.
c. As the first constitution, it was the legal foundation to protect individual rights in Western countries.
d. The Magna Carta’s restrictions included:
i. King could not ask for money from his nobles without their consent.
ii. Merchants gained more access to trade.
iii. Nobles could rebel if the King ruled terribly.
iv. King had to respect the legal rights of freed men (called “due process of law”).
2. Foundations of Parliament
a. The Great Council was an unofficial group of advisors to the king from the nobility and clergy.
b. Evolved into “Parliament” during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) when the nobles rebelled in 1265 and asked for regular meetings.
c. At first, nobles and citizens from each town met in the same room, but later, this separated into two chambers:
i. House of Commons: citizens
ii. House of Lords: nobles and clergy
d. Conflicts between King and Parliament formed the system of the British Monarchy over hundreds of years.
3. Henry VIII and the English Reformation
a. Rise of the House of Tudor (1485-1603) after the War of Roses (1455-1485) between rival houses.
b. Wanted to divorce his first wife because she did not give him a male heir.
c. Broke away from the Catholic Church to have a divorce, and established the Church of England.
d. Destroyed monasteries and seized church property.
e. Remarried five more times, he executed two of his six wives.
4. Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
a. Daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
b. Executed and jailed her rivals in order to ascend the throne.
c. Patron of the Arts during the English Renaissance.
d. Defeated the Spanish Armada, Rise of British Sea Power and end of Spanish domination in 1588.
e. Supported British expansion into the Americas and Asia through trading companies.
5. House of Stuart (1603-1714)
a. Parliament picked James VI of Scotland to be King of England so England and Scotland became one country.
b. Continued colonial expansion into the Americas.
c. Strengthened the Church of England against the Pilgrims (another Protestant sect) who established a colony in present-day Boston.
d. Oversaw the translation and editing of the King James Version of the Bible, the most popular book in the world to this day.
6. The Civil War (1642-1651)
a. Charles I wanted absolute power, so abolished Parliament when it refused to cooperate with him. Parliament had power of taxation and Charles I had no money.
b. Charles I lost a war with Scotland because he had no money for his army.
c. Parliament seized many of the king’s powers. People loyal to the King then try to arrest members of Parliament. This led to the English Civil War.
d. Oliver Cromwell won the war for Parliament in 1646. He executed the king and took control over the country by abolishing the Parliament.
e. After he died, Parliament formed again and chose Chars II, son of Charles I, as king.
f. Because Parliament put Charles II in power, it could expand its powers once more.
7. The Glorious Revolution (1688)
a. Charles II died but his brother James, next in line, was Catholic.
b. Parliament wanted a Protestant so they invite Mary, James’ daughter from first wife, to become queen. She and her husband William had ruled Holland.
c. James left the throne without any bloodshed.
d. William and Mary signed the Parliament’s Bill of Rights, which limited the monarchy’s power in favor of the Parliament.
e. England became a Constitutional Monarchy.
f. Queen Anne combined England and Scotland as Kingdom of Great Britain in the Act of Union (1707).
8. The House of Hanover (1714-1901)
a. Queen Anne had no heir. George I from House of Hanover in Germany became king.
b. The Americans had wanted to participate in the Parliament, but George III rejected them. The Americans revolted and the king lost his wealthy colonies.
c. People began to view the Hanover kings as buffoons because they squandered the American colonies and spoke German all the time.
d. George III was also crazy the last 18 years of his life. The Hanovers lost face in the public eye. People now saw the kings as more human figures.
e. Hanovers did not spend time in England, so the head of Parliament took control. This post evolved into the Prime Minister.
9. Victoria I (1837-1901)
a. Queen Victoria was a model for the rising middle class who adopted her morals and ethics.
b. Britain needed raw materials and resources to fuel its growing industrial economy. Its empire expanded into New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, and Africa.
c. Parliament passed laws to protect the lifestyle of citizens, including advancing education, providing holidays and pensions for retired people.
10. House of Windsor (1917-??)
a. Queen Victoria’s son became king, beginning the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, from Germany. The name was changed to Windsor during World War I.
b. Elizabeth II ruled from 1952, but no longer exercises her monarchial powers. She still receives a stipend from the government and holds vast estates.
c. In theory, her powers are great, but she acts as a figurehead by meeting with the Prime Minister once a week and staying connected with international affairs and politics.
d. Princess Diana tried to make the monarch a more public figure by leading crusades against land mines and AIDS.
11. Monarchy in Popular Culture
a. The British Monarchy is still well-loved by the people, but acts as a figurehead.
b. Tabloids and magazines often feature Princes William and Harry.
c. Pop culture often disrespects the monarchy, for example:
d. Lyrics to “God Save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols (1977)
“God save the Queen, her fascist regime.
It made you a moron, a potential H-bomb !
God save the Queen,
She ain’t no human being.
There is no future in England’s dreaming.”

LECTURE TWO: BRITISH IMPERIALISM
1. Imperialism
a. Expansionism: to gain physical territory and economic advantages in foreign regions.
b. Imperialism: to extend the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries as colonies, and to exploit local population and raw materials.
c. 1921, the British Empire ruled over 458 million people, or one-quarter of the world's population.
d. It covered about 36.7 million km², or about one-quarter of the Earth’s land.
e. Two waves:
i. First British Empire: six Canadian, thirteen American colonies, Australia, New Zealand, India, the West Indies.
ii. Second British Empire: India, parts of Asia and Africa.
2. The Age of Discovery
a. Inventions in navigation led to the European exploration of the world in the 16th c.
b. Shortage of gold and silver drove sailors to find new trade routes for precious metals and spices.
c. Columbus discovered the Americas (1492).
d. Magellan, Vespucci, Cabot, Drake followed him.
e. Cortez and Pizarro conquered the Aztecs and Inca civilizations after much bloodshed.
3. Rise of the English Navy
a. The English Navy defeated the Spanish Armada under Francis Drake (1588).
b. England rose as the dominant naval power.
c. Trading Companies expanded into new territories without competition from other countries.
4. Chartered Companies
a. Companies granted with certain special rights by the monarchy, such as monopoly on trade in a particular region or in certain goods.
b. These lucrative companies were owned by monarchs in Britain, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany.
c. For example: the British East India Company monopolized oriental trade, signed treaties with foreign governments and trading colonies, and ran its own military.
d. Companies were the front line for British expansion and aggression in faraway places (page 95).
5. The American Colonies (1607-1783)
a. Royal colonies: directly controlled by king
b. Chartered colonies: set up by company or group who signed contracts with the king
i. Massachusetts Bay Colony
ii. Virginia Company
c. Proprietary colonies: given by king as private land to a friend.
d. Exports: cotton, indigo, tobacco, rice.
e. The Americans revolted in 1776 and gained independence seven years later (pages 273-283).
6. Canada (1670-1867)
a. John Cabot discovered Canada in 1497.
b. Hudson Bay Company competed with the French fur trade beginning in 1670.
c. England gained complete control in 1763, but let French stay in Quebec.
d. Exports: timber and fur.
e. After rebellions, Canada became a federation in 1867.
7. Australia and New Zealand (1770-1907)
a. Captain Cook re-discovered these regions in 1769-70.
b. Australia established as a penal colony, where criminals were sentenced to forced labor. It became an official colony in 1850.
c. Exports: wool and gold.
d. British clashed with native peoples, like the Maori of New Zealand (page 135).
8. The Industrial Revolution
a. Mercantilism: economic policy where a country’s power was based on how much gold and silver it had; encouraged the development of exports and industry.
b. Industrial Revolution caused production and export industry to soar, switch to laissez faire capitalism.
c. England won the Seven Years’ War against France and gained global domination in trade.
d. Raw materials needed for exports, so Britain expanded and exploited its colonies further under laissez faire (pages 118-120).
9. India (1617-1947)
a. East India Company first established trading posts in 1599.
b. After Seven Years’ War, Britain gained complete control of country.
c. Exported opium, cotton, and indigo dye.
d. Major colonies were Madras, Bombay, Calcutta.
e. Sepoy Mutiny (1857) resulted in a brutal punishment of local population and tighter control over the region (pages 135-136).
10. China (1839-1997)
a. Britain traded its silver for Chinese tea, then replaced silver with opium from India.
b. Opium trade became illegal in China. Britain protested, resulting in the Opium Wars (1839-1860).
c. Treaty of Nanjing (1842) forced China to open ports for British trade and missionaries.
d. Parts of China fell under British “sphere of influence” and ceded Hong Kong.
e. Britain also occupied Burma, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Mayala (page 136-137).
11. Africa (1875-1945)
a. Britain gained control of the Suez Canal and occupied all of Egypt by 1882.
b. Started “The Scramble for Africa” where the continent was carved up by European powers.
c. Fashoda Incident (1898)
d. Britain colonized the Gold Coast, Niger, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.
e. After gold and diamonds were discovered, Britain conquered South Africa in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) (pages 137-138).

LECTURE THREE: DARWIN AND SPENCER
1. Thought in the Victorian Age
a. Rise of the Middle Class: people had more wealth and leisure to pursue thinking about the fate of man in a scientific rather than religious sense.
b. After the Industrial Revolution: people excited about progress and modernization; placed confidence in human ability rather than in God’s control.
c. Philosophical Societies: clubs founded in cities such as Manchester and Cambridge to discuss ideas in their free time.
2. The Birth of “Sociology”
a. Sociology: a term that became popular in 1838.
b. Society was becoming more advanced and complicated, progressing and changing rapidly, which demanded its own research field.
c. Thinkers viewed “Sociology” as a field similar to natural science, using the scientific method and empiricism.
3. Theories before Evolution
a. Thomas Malthus’ “Essays on Population” (1798): population reproduced much faster than food, so its growth would cause organisms to compete for resources.
b. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s “Philosophie Zoologique” (1809): organisms can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its young, such as giraffes.
4. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
a. Traveled on the HMS Beagle to chart the coastline of South America as a naturalist.
b. Darwin’s voyage took five years instead of the predicted two, and he collected new specimens to science, geology, fossils, living organisms.
c. At Galápagos, he observed birds, and noted that finches differed depending on which island they came from.
d. In Australia, he could not make sense of the unusual marsupial rat-kangaroo and the platypus.
5. “On the Origin of Species” (1859)
a. Darwin argued that the struggle for survival drives changes in species; chance adaptations that help an individual organism live in an environment are passed on to their young.
b. “As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive ... there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence ... any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself ... will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. [Therefore] any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.”
c. Later, Darwin explained features with no obvious use except beauty, such as flowers. He was in an orchid garden and noticed that the colorful flowers attracted bees for pollination.
6. “The Descent of Man” (1871)
a. Argued that human beings evolved from primates.
b. Wrote that the human mind and cultures were developed by natural and sexual selection.
c. Concluded that despite all of humankind’s “noble qualities” and “exalted powers”, “Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.”
7. Darwin’s Critics
a. The Church of England scientific establishment reacted against the book, because it contradicted the prevailing theories of the day.
b. A younger generation of professional naturalists admired his work.
c. “The Origin of Species” was translated into many languages and went through numerous reprints, becoming a staple scientific text popular with a newly curious middle and working class.
8. Darwin’s Legacy
a. Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, applied evolution concepts to society, arguing that people should seek mates to biologically improve the human race, called “eugenics.”
b. Later, eugenics movements gained popularity in countries like Nazi Germany aiming for “genetic purity,” and advocated reproduction control programs and compulsory sterilization laws.
c. Political debate in the United States about Darwinism versus Creationism reoccurs because some Americans still believe in Biblical myths or intelligent design.
9. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
a. Never received formal education and studied with his father and uncle who were both strongly anti-government, joined the Derby Philosophical Society (founded by Darwin’s grandfather).
b. Began as an engineer, then an editor at an economic journal that argued for free trade and no government interference, before turning to social theory.
c. As he grew famous, he became a member of influential social clubs in London where he met and shared ideas with other important thinkers of the time.
10. Spencer’s Work
a. “Social Statistics” (1851): humans will soon reach a point where they no longer need government.
b. “Principles of Psychology” (1855): human thought also behaves according to natural laws; can be explained through large patterns.
c. “Progress: It’s Law and Cause” (1857): Societies become different over time; people pursue happiness, and therefore society improves.
d. “System of Synthetic Philosophy” (1858-1903): applies evolution to biology, psychology, and sociology.
11. Social Darwinism
a. Spencer applied Darwin’s idea of “speciation” to different groups of humans living in different parts of the world; environmental conditions in a certain place influences their development.
b. Man evolved in the same way as animals did – different societies based on conditions in society; government, beliefs, environment developed the way that they are today.
c. Laissez-Faire Capitalism: governments should not interfere in social or economic spheres because through survival of the fittest, members of society would naturally separate from the weaker groups.
d. Justification for Imperialism: if one society is more developed or advanced, it can take over other countries; led to the ideas of “White Man’s Burden” and “Euro-centrism.”
12. Spencer’s Critics
a. Spencer’s work fell in between science and philosophy.
b. Towards the end of his career, Spencer became more opinionated and often disagreed with his earlier statements.
c. G.E. Moore’s “naturalistic fallacy” (1903): a philosopher who attempts to define “good” in terms of natural properties.
13. Spencer’s Legacy
a. Most famous philosopher of his time.
b. Sold over a million copies of his books during his life.
c. Discounted by ‘naturalistic fallacy” – in the end his belief that social change was essentially good and counted as progress was optimistic and not scientific enough.
d. After his death, his popularity declined; thirty years later, a prominent sociologist wrote, “Who now reads Spencer?”
e. Also remembered for his eccentric behavior; he wanted to express his personality, and he was famous enough during his lifetime that people accepted his strangeness; for example at night he soaked his entire head in saltwater and wrapped it around twice with headgear.

LECTURE FOUR: BRITISH LITERATURE
1. Old English
a. Old English spoken by Saxons and other Germanic tribes that settled in the isles after the Romans withdrew, from the fifth century.
b. Old English literature was composed orally, and passed from speaker to speaker as narrative chronicles or epic poetry.
c. Beowulf (c. 700-1000 A.D.)
i. “Hwæt! Wē Gār‐Dena in geār‐dagum þēod‐cyninga þrym gefrūnon, hū þā æðelingas ellen fremedon.”
d. Later, people learned the Latin alphabet from Roman missionaries and recorded poems.
e. The educated classes read Latin manuscripts.
2. Middle English
a. After 1066, the Normans invaded England and introduced literary trends from Continental Europe like various songs.
b. Geoffrey Chaucer imported iambic pentameter and other rhyme schemes from Italy.
c. The Canterbury Tales (c.1400), based from Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353), a narrative by each member of traveling group escaping plague.
i. “Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote /The droghte of March hath perced to the roote / And bathed every veyne in swich licour”
d. Religious literature, such as the biographies of saints, was popular.
e. Arthurian Legend in British Literature emerged.
f. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (c. 1350)
g. Le Morte d'Arthur (1470) by Thomas Malory
3. The Renaissance
a. Elaborate language and allusion to Greek and Roman myths characterize this period.
b. English drama reached its apex during the Elizabethan era.
c. Christopher Marlowe invented the five-act structure and blank verse.
i. The Jew of Malta (1589)
ii. Dr. Faustus (1604)
d. William Shakespeare developed Marlowe’s structure and wrote 35 plays of tragedy, comedy, and history.
i. Romeo and Juliet (1597)
ii. Hamlet (1601)
iii. Macbeth (1607)
4. Jacobean Literature
a. King James ordered an English translation of the Bible (1611).
b. The excessive violence of Jacobean plays leads to the closing down the theatres, so other genres developed.
c. Metaphysical poetry addressed big questions of love, death, and religious faith.
d. John Donne tried to wrest meaning from experience, wrote short devotional verse.
i. “Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” (c. 1630)
e. Epic poetry also reflected the dour religious atmosphere of the times.
f. John Milton, who was Cromwell's secretary, wrote Paradise Lost (1667), told from the Devil’s perspective.
5. The First English Novel
a. Satire arose in the early eighteenth century as a means of literary expression.
b. Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift
c. Elegant poetry represented neo-classical style.
i. “Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard” (1719) by Thomas Gray: “the paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
d. The first English novel: Pamela (1740), by Samuel Richardson– a series of letters about a virtuous housemaid resists the advances of her rich employer.
e. Other early novels, characterized by their humor and loose structure, include:
i. Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) by Daniel Defoe
ii. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)
iii. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emma (1815) by Jane Austen
6. Romanticism
a. French Revolution causes shift in literature across Europe.
b. Industrial Revolution turned writers towards nature, such as the “Lake Poets.”
c. Romanticism marked by:
i. Focus on the individual, common man;
ii. Emotional and introspective writing style
iii. Interest in remote history and exotic places
iv. Attempts to make language beautiful.
v. Revolt against established views and criticism of the government.
d. Major figures: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Robert Burns, and Lord Byron.
e. Wordsworth and Coleridge’s joint book Lyrical Ballads (1798) launched the movement.
7. The Victorian Novel
a. People had more leisure time and newspapers encouraged literacy rates.
b. Newspapers also encouraged a dominant and standardized English dialect. It reached people of all class backgrounds.
c. Charles Dickens’ works were published over time in newspapers. He commented on newly developing class issues.
d. Novel became major form of literature with the rise of middle class of readers.
e. Major figures: William Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy.
8. The Celtic Revival
a. At the end of the 19th century, Britain experienced a Celtic Revival.
b. Irish writers became increasingly famous in all genres: drama (Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw), literature (James Joyce), and poetry (William Butler Yeats).
c. Created an interest towards traditional Irish literature.
d. Emphasized that Irish culture was different from English culture.
e. Similar revival occurred in Wales and Scotland where writers used native languages.
9. Modernist Literature
a. People start to write for an intellectual class in the 20th century.
b. Stream of Consciousness style:
i. Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce
ii. Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf
c. Free Verse Poetry:
i. “The Cantos” (1922-1968) by Ezra Pound
ii. “The Wasteland” (1922) by T. S. Eliot: “APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain.”
d. Absurdist, Existentialist Drama:
i. Waiting for Godot (1953) by Samuel Beckett
ii. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1966) by Tom Stoppard
10. English Literature Today
a. Remains a dominant force today with three Nobel Prizes this century:
i. V. S. Naipaul (2001): an Indian born in Trinidad, who lives in England; writes about former colonies of England dealing with their recent past.
ii. Harold Pinter (2005): a famous leftist political activist, writes plays characterized by extreme dramatic complexity.
iii. Doris Lessing (2007): born in Iran and raised in Zimbabwe; writes novels that combines disparate themes like feminism, Marxism, and Sufism.

LECTURE FIVE: BRITISH MUSIC
1. The British Invasions
a. British Invasion: the influx of British music popular in the U.S. from 1964 onwards; rock and roll bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who.
b. Second British Invasion: the second influx of British music from 1974 onwards; punk and new wave bands like the Clash, the Cure, and the Smiths.
2. The Beatles—Early Work
a. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr formed the group in Liverpool, 1960.
b. Early music inspired by American 1950s rock and roll like Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys.
c. Simple arrangements of guitar, bass, and drums, with light lyrics.
d. Led the British Invasion in 1964.
e. “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)
3. The Beatles—Later Work
a. Symbolized the social and cultural revolutions of 1960s by connecting to disaffected American youth.
b. Songs became more complicated and innovative with use of tape loops, string quartets, and traditional Indian instruments—“Within You Without You” (1967).
c. Lyrics became more introspective and whimsical, under influence of psychedelic drugs—“I Am the Walrus” (1967).
4. Classic Rock
a. Drew inspiration from American Rhythm and Blues (R&B) and competed with the Beatles in the 1960s and 70s.
b. Noted for heavy electric guitar and drums, with complicated melodies on guitar and shrill screaming.
c. Released concept albums, with no particular hit singles, which helped popularize FM Radio.
d. Most people who listen to classic rock are white.
i. Rolling Stones, "Satisfaction" (1965)
ii. David Bowie, "Space Oddity" (1969)
iii. Led Zeppelin, "Stairway to Heaven" (1971)
iv. The Who, "Baba O'Riley" (1971)
5. Punk Music
a. From 1974, some underground bands rejected the culture of mainstream rock.
b. Defined as fast, hard-edged music, with stripped-down composition.
c. Political and anti-establishment lyrics.
d. Represented by mohawks, leather, plaid, piercings, and tattoos.
i. The Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
ii. The Clash, “Rock the Casbah” (1982)
6. Post-Punk
a. Evolved from punk music in the late 1970s.
b. Lyrics dealt with the self, music became more complex and experimental.
c. Influenced by synthesizers, Jamaican reggae, and American funk.
i. Joy Division, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980)
ii. The Smiths, “The Queen is Dead” (1985)
7. New Wave
a. Similar to Post-Punk, but appealed to more mainstream tastes in the 1980s.
b. Used synthesizers and electronics extensively.
i. New Order (formerly Joy Division), “Bizarre Love Triangle” (1986)
ii. The Cure, “Lovesong” (1989)
8. Alternative Rock
a. Grew out of the punk movement, but covered all rock music in the 1990s onwards.
b. Bands like U2, Radiohead, and Oasis sang in a more melodic in style and more relaxed in tempo compared to punk music—Radiohead, “Karma Police” (1997).
c. Stars like Bono from U2 used his fame for political activism such as campaigning for AIDS awareness and peace in Northern Ireland—U2, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (1983).
9. Music Today
a. Electronic music acts of the 90s and 2000s such as Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Aphex Twin, and Chemical Brothers helped popularize electronic dance music.
b. British Pop also adopts a number of different international influences from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the U. S. as well as punk, electronic, and reggae from within the United Kingdom—MIA, “Paper Planes” (2007).

LECTURE SIX: CANADA
1. Why Study Canada?
a. Liberals from America idealize Canada because they have many of the things that Americans wish they had.
b. These include universal health care, environmental protection, and same-sex marriage.
c. Today, we will discuss how and why Canada is so different from its neighbor to the south, the United States.
2. Why is Canada so liberal?
a. Canada was settled by middle-class folk from Europe. This included fringe elements who left the old continent mainly because it was not liberal. As a result, Canada did not have to overcome the foundation of a conservative feudal society.
b. Canadians have a better school system. Greater access to education means that citizens tend to become more liberal.
c. Canadians invest their money in social welfare systems instead of the military and defense systems (like the US).
3. What are Canada’s environmental issues?
a. Much of Canada is still unpopulated wilderness. There are bears, moose, elk, deer, rabbits, lynx, seals, buffalo, and of course beavers.
b. Beavers had an original population of 60-400 million. Settlement in Canada resulted from the fur trade. Europeans used beaver pelts and glands for clothes and cosmetics in the 17th century. Beavers were overhunted and neared extinction in the 19th century. Canadians rebuilt their population and now they are once again plentiful.
c. Polar bears live in Canada, the U.S., Russia, and Greenland, but their habitat is threatened by melting polar ice caused by global warming.
4. How was Canada founded?
a. Canada was inhabited by aboriginal peoples for thousands of years and was visited by Vikings in the 10th century.
b. John Cabot rediscovered Canada in 1497. The French first settled in Acadia and established posts for the fur trade. The British founded the Hudson Bay Company in 1670 to compete with the French.
c. After many colonial battles, the British gained control of Canada in 1763 in the Seven Years’ War. They still let the French settlers stay in Quebec, expecting that they would adopt British culture. They didn’t.
d. Canada developed more slowly than the United States during the 19th century. Due to the colonial system, all of its policies were formed in London.
5. How did Canada become independent?
a. In 1837, Canadians rebelled against Britain because they wanted to participate more in their government. The British responded by unifying the seven colonies of Canada as one.
b. In 1867, the British Parliament declared Canada a confederation, and gave it more autonomy. Later, Canada became a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
c. Canada further asserted its independence during the World Wars by sending its own military force.
d. Canada established “the welfare state” during the economic prosperity of the 1950s. Many people wanted to safeguard against the disasters of the Great Depression. The government therefore created a national health program, universal pension program, unemployment assistance, etc.
6. How is Quebec different from the rest of Canada?
a. In the 1960s, French-speaking separatist in Quebec carried out social and economic reforms to protect regional culture. This was known as the Quiet Revolution.
b. Quebec separatists called for the independence of the province from Canada. Extremists forced English speakers to leave the province and kidnapped political leaders in the 1970s.
c. Separatists tried to gain independence through general elections (or referendums). In 1995, a second Quebec referendum on sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%.
d. Two years later, the Canadian Supreme Court forbid any province from ceding unilaterally. Separatism in Quebec has since then died down.
7. How does Canada maintain bilingualism?
a. French and English are both official languages of Canada. Most French speakers live in Quebec Province.
b. The government recognizes and respects the minority French-speaking population and culture.
c. The federal government uses both French and English in official business.
d. The law mandates that private businesses provide services and goods in both French and English.
e. The government also provides money to the language minorities to support their culture and build infrastructure (e.g. English speakers in Quebec, French speakers in other provinces).
8. Why can gay people get married in Canada?
a. The federal government and every region in Canada has a very liberal human rights act that forbids discrimination and harassment on several grounds (race, sex, religion) in employment, housing, and public service.
b. Human rights acts are like constitutional laws that override ordinary laws. They are typically enforced by human rights commissions and tribunals through a complaint investigation, conciliation and arbitration process that is slow, but free.
c. Thus Canada is one of the few countries in the world to guarantee the right of marriage to homosexuals. Only a few states in the U.S. protect this right.
9. How does universal healthcare work?
a. In 1576. Martin Frobisher, while trying to find the Northwest Passage, first came into contact with the Inuit on Baffin Island. The meeting was hostile. Other explorers like Henry Hudson soon followed.
b. For the next few hundred years, the Inuit were neglected and abused by government agencies. More recently, during the Cold War, the government relocated Inuit from Quebec to the Arctic in order to assert Canadian rule against the Soviet Union. Many Inuit faced starvation and terrible living conditions.
c. In the 1960s, Inuit leaders appealed to federal courts to claim Arctic land. Finally in 1999, Canada recognized Inuit self-government with the creation of the territory Nunavut.
10. What is Nunavut?
a. Under the terms of the Canada Health Act (1984), all "insured persons" (legal residents of Canada, including permanent residents) have the right to receive medical service by hospitals and doctors without co-pays.
b. Approximately 70% of health spending come from public sources, 30% from private insurance and out-of-pocket payments. 99% of physician services, and 90% of hospital care, are paid by the government through taxes. Almost all dental care is paid for privately.
c. In comparison, private health insurance and drugs remain very expensive in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people there cannot afford to pay medical bills and are deep in debt.

LECTURE SEVEN: AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
1. Establishment of Australia
a. Inhabited by native Australians for more than 42,000 years, who arrived there by crossing a land bridge or hopping islands.
b. First sighted by Dutch explorers in 1606.
c. Claimed by Britain in 1770 by James Cook.
d. Became a penal colony in 1788, known as New South Wales.
e. Native population originally estimated at 350,000 but devastated by disease and forced resettlement.
2. History of Australia
a. Five other colonies established throughout the 19th century.
b. Formed a federation in 1901.
c. Statute of Westminster (1931) formally ended governmental links between Australia and Britain.
d. Today it is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy.
3. Australian “History Wars”
a. Dispute regarding different perspectives on Australian history, between Eurocentric and Native-centric views.
b. Began in 1968 when a history professor stated that Australia’s historical records were incomplete and that they painted settlers in an overly positive way.
c. A new branch of Australian history developed that studied the past of indigenous population.
d. Debate becomes politicized with different political parties in Australia advocating different positions on the issue.
e. Government apologizes to indigenous Australians: “The nation is demanding of its political leadership to take us forward. Decency, human decency, universal human decency, demands that the nation now steps forward to right a historical wrong.” – Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister (February 2008)
4. Climate Change Down Under
a. World’s top Greenhouse gas emitter per capita because of high coal consumption.
b. Australia is very susceptible to climate change because it is already very dry with too much demand for water.
c. Tourism, one of Australia’s main industries, will likely diminish because of human damage to the Great Barrier Reef and other natural preserves.
d. Australia’s population concentrated along the coasts so rising water levels could threaten many cities.
5. Wildlife in Australia
a. Australia famous for its unique animals, including the kangaroo, emu, koala, wombat, and platypus.
b. Attributed to Australia’s long geographic isolation.
c. Australia suffers from the invasive Cane Toad, which was introduced from South America in 1935 to eat pests.
d. Cane Toads are highly poisonous, killing pets and animals that eat them, and they don’t have any natural predators in Australia.
6. Australia and China
a. In 1901-1973,”White Australia” government policy limited Chinese immigration.
b. Immigration Restriction Act (1901): Chinese and English are not equal.
c. Racial Discrimination Act (1975): ends “White Australia” policy.
d. Now, Chinese population about 3.4% of population, mostly from Pearl River Delta.
e. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, majored in Chinese Language and History in college.
7. History of New Zealand
a. Dutch first reached New Zealand in 1642.
b. British explorer James Cook returned in 1769. Originally a trading stop for sailors in the South Pacific.
c. British Government claimed sovereignty in 1840 with the Treaty of Waitangi signed with the Maori. The treaty represented the nation’s founding and gave certain rights to Maori.
d. Also granted status of a nation with Australia in the Statute of Westminster (1931).
e. Today it is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy.
8. Maori History
a. Migrated from Polynesia (islands east of New Zealand) before 1300.
b. Europeans in New Zealand after 1840 seriously disturbed Maori tribes by spreading disease, giving them weapons that created internal strife, and treating them like second-class citizens.
c. In 1840, Maori chiefs signed a bilingual treaty with English; differences in the translations of the treaty have led to two conflicting interpretations.
d. In 1840, there were 2,000 Europeans and 100,000 Maoris in NZ, fifty years later, there were 700,000 Europeans and 42,000 Maori.
9. Maori Revival
a. Combination of adopting Western culture (medicine, education) and promoting their own culture.
b. About 633,000 Maori living in New Zealand now; Maori is a self-identified term; people can choose or not choose to identify as such.
c. Language is preserved through schools that teach solely in Maori, a Maori-language television show, and equal status under the law as English.
d. Maori population still lag behind the rest of the population in education, unemployment, health issues and life expectancy. Higher rates of imprisonment and suicide than non-Maori.
10. Nuclear-Free Zone
a. Law signed in 1984 to ban nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships from entering New Zealand sea, land, and airspace.
b. Does not explicitly ban nuclear reactors or power plants, but not many in New Zealand support nuclear power as is.
c. Led to tension with US government who pulled out of a military treaty with Australia and New Zealand afterwards.
d. Strong part of national and cultural identity because New Zealand is close to former international test sites of nuclear weapons.
11. Renewable Energy in New Zealand
a. Currently, 70% of New Zealand’s energy comes from renewable sources (hydro- and geothermal).
b. Committed to 90% renewable energy by 2025, mostly from developing wind energy sources as well as tide and wave power.
12. Sir Edmund Hilary (1919-2008)
a. One of New Zealand’s most famous, who was the first man to climb Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay of Nepal in 1954.
b. Hilary’s climb was apart of a broader push by Western mountaineers to summit Asian peaks in the early 1950s.
c. Mount Everest has been climbed by 2,436 people to date.
13. New Zealand and China
a. New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement signed 7 April 2008; first pact for China with a developed country.
b. New Zealand’s main primary export to China is dairy products.
c. Also covers services: insurance, banking, education, labor supply, etc.
d. 1,800 Chinese to enter NZ every year to work in areas like traditional Chinese medicine, language teaching, and food service.
e. Yet to be ratified by NZ Parliament.
f. Chinese is one of the largest ethnic groups in New Zealand, with about 150,000 people of 4.3 million total, who are mostly students.
g. One city, Dunedin, has a mayor of Chinese descent (Peter Chin).
14. Rugby
a. Popular sport in both New Zealand and Australia.
b. Sport similar in rules to American and Australian football.
c. Rugby national teams are important national symbols in both New Zealand (the All-Blacks, the Kiwis) and in Australia (the Kangaroos, the Wallabies) and there is a fierce rivalry between both teams.