Women In Canada During The Twentieth Century

On January 18, 1904 Sir Wilfrid Laurier said, “The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that Canada will fill the twentieth century." This prediction was correct. Before the twentieth century and in the early years of the nineteen hundreds Great Britain had complete control of Canada. However, during the twentieth century Canada gained most, if not all, of its independence through the Treaty of Versailles, Canada’s war efforts, like Vimy Ridge, and many other events. If it was not for the twentieth century Canada would not be the wealthy and independent country it is today. By investigating economic, social, and political factors, it is evident that the twentieth century was in fact Canada’s century …show more content…
One of the largest and most important political issue during the twentieth century is the Person’s Case and the rights gained by women. The purpose of the Persons Case was to allow women to be able to run for Senate or any other figure for the government. It took a couple of tries but the five Canadian women, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, got women the right to be apart of the government. These women had a large amount of faith for women in Canada and across the world. Emily Murphy once said, “I believe that never was a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a great country.” The Persons Case greatly helped women’s rights evolve and get to where it is today. The events for women that happened in the twentieth century are very important and Canadian women are lucky to have the rights they do. In the twentieth century Canada began taking its first steps away from Great Britain. The first act that made other countries see Canada as its own country and not just apart of the British Empire was the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This battle was fought and won solely by Canadians without needing aid from other powerful countries. The Treaty of Versailles also helped Canada get further away from Britain. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden fought hard to get Canada to be able to sign the treaty themselves and to be able to voice their opinions without Britain. Borden got what he wanted for the country and gave Canada a voice. Author from the Canadian Encyclopedia, Norman Hillmer said, “This [signing of the Treaty] increased Canada's prestige and the opportunities for making its views known.” Canada ended up signing the Treaty themselves and became the first legal document signed without the British. Canada also received a seat in the