Richter Scale

The Great Depression: The great depression was a 10 year period from 1929 to 1939 with an extreme economic hardship. Most people in Canada suffered through the great depression and did not have enough money to properly get by. Deflation was high and the stock markets plummeted. Which meant anyone with stocks got essentially nothing compared to what they put in. There were also many problems with people earning money because to earn money you had to get a job but there were no jobs to get because the prices of things were so low. The depression also lasted for ten years which is 2.5 times longer than WW1. The great depression was the longest and the most severe depression ever seen in both Canada and the rest of the western world. I am rating the great depression a 10 on the Richter scale because of the amount of people that it effected and the enormous effect it had on the economy. I am rating the Great Depression as the top item on the Richter scale because of the immense effect it had on western society and the duration it lasted. The great depression lasted 10 years and affected millions of people and I think it deserves the top stop because of how it is still the biggest depression in history today. Furthermore, it is the top spot because while the other events were severe none of them had a duration close to 10 years and affected so many people at the time.

The Discovery of Insulin: Insulin is a hormone that Canadian's learned about that helped millions of people for more than 100 years. 422 million people worldwide have diabetes and the discovery of insulin was able to help them. The discovery of insulin is extremely important because it is the main anabolic hormone of the body and helps the body keep normal glucose levels which keeps glucose levels in check for people with diabetes. This lets people with diabetes live much more normal lives and keeps them alive. I am rating the discovery of insulin a 9 on the Richter scale because of how many people it has helped and the effect that it has had both in Canada and globally,

Spanish Flu: The Spanish flu was a Flu that was spread worldwide and killed people usually between the ages of 20 and 40. It was very prominent in Canada coming from returning soldiers and worldwide there were more than 500 million people infected. The number of deaths is not known but it is often said that the number of deaths was between 25 and 50 million. Out of those 25 to 50 million an estimated 50 to 55 thousand were Canadians. This is also right after the death of 60 thousand Canadians in the Great War. This amount of deaths was a huge toll on the country for both a mental aspect and an economic aspect because of the 50 thousand out of 8 million Canadians that died just from the flu. I am rating the Spanish flu a 9 on the Richter scale because of the immense effect it had on Canada's population with the amount of deaths it caused.

Residential schools: Residential schools were terrible institutions that kept Indigenous children and took away their identity and assimilated them into western and British culture. These schools took kids away from their parents and they were not allowed to go back to see them oftentimes. In the residential schools the children were abused both physically and mentally. I rated residential schools an 8 because of how many indigenous children it affected and because of how detrimental it was to Indigenous societies and the long term effects and pain it caused.

Famous 5: The famous 5 were a group of 5 Canadian women that advocated for women's rights and for women to be considered peoples in the courtroom. The famous 5 fought for women’s rights and got more rights for women in the court and went to the Privy council and made it official that women were considered persons. This was a huge step for women’s equality in Canada and helped paved the road for more advocacy of female rights. I am rating the famous 5 an 8 on the Richter scale because of the immense effect they had on empowering women and fighting for equal rights between men and women.

Winnipeg strike: The Winnipeg general strike was meant to empower Canadian workers and get them proper rights. It was the biggest strike in Canadian history and the strike resulted in multiple injuries, arrests, and even the death of 2 protesters. 30 000 people in Winnipeg protested for proper working conditions for the working class and when protesting brought the production of one of the biggest cities in Canada to a standstill. While the strike did not immediately work it helped the working class of Canada come together and showed that better working conditions were needed. I am rating the Winnipeg strike a 7 on the Richter scale because of how it showed the issues workers faced and because it was the biggest strike in Canadian history.

Black Tuesday: Black Tuesday was the day that started the great depression which lasted 10 years and was a huge economic slump. Black Tuesday was the day that everyone started panic selling their stocks because of the decrease in real estate and the dip in the market. This dip caused many people to panic sell their stocks which drove down the market and caused it to be the lowest it had ever been in history. This caused anyone that held stocks to lose most of their money and anyone that was leveraged in stocks lost all their money and owed people money as well. I am rating Black Tuesday a 7 on the Richter scale because of the effect that it had it had causing the Great Depression and because it was the day that the stocks crashed.

Regina Riot and on-to-Ottawa trek: The Regina Riot and on-to -Ottawa Trek were all the people that went on strike against the federal Unemployment Relief Camps in British Columbia. The workers started protesting in B.C. but when the protest was not going anywhere they went to Ottawa. They started with 1000 people but when they were going to Ottawa they had over 2000 people. When they got to Regina they were stopped and the leaders were arrested which led to the Regina Riot. The Regina Riot caused thousands of dollars of damage and injured many people with 2 people dying. This riot led to the decrease of popularity and overall decline for prime minister Bennet. Furthermore, the protest showed the desperate times of the Great Depression to the people that did not understand the struggles many had to go through. I am rating the Regina Riot and on-to-Ottawa Trek a 6 on the Richter scale because of the amount of people that were fighting for basic pay and rights for workers in unemployment camps during the great depression.

Statue of Westminster: The Statue of Westminster was a big step for Canada and its independence. This is because it made both Canada and Britain equal in status and Canada had much more legal freedom in the places that they wanted. This was partially because of WW1 and because of how well Canada did in the war. I am rating the Statue of Westminster a 6 on the Richter scale because of how it showed Canada’s growing independence, but Canada is still very much tied to Britain and is not fully independent.

League of Indians: The League of Indians was an association that advocated for proper treatment of Indigenous people. The League of Indians also brought together many different parts of the Indigenous community to fight for a common cause. It also was fighting for the government to uphold the promise they made for land distribution to WW1 veterans. The organization as a whole did not work at the time because of how everyone was separated both geographically and linguistically, but it was the first time Indigenous people came together to fight for proper rights and advocate the issues they were facing. I am rating the League of Indians a 5 on the Richter scale because it was the first time that Indigenous people's came together against the government and even though it did not work out it still paved the road for future advocation for Indigenous people.

Al Capone: Al Capone was a gangster in the 1920’s during prohibition and made his money getting alcohol illegal into the U.S. He got the alcohol from Canada and bootlegging then made his money selling it illegally. Overtime he grew more violent with rival gangs and this made his public image worse. He was then sent to jail because the government found him guilty of 22 counts of tax evasion. I am rating Al Capone a 5 on the Richter scale because he did provide a large amount of illegal alcohol but also got caught after 7 years because of tax fraud and went to jail then died soon after.

5 cent speech: The 5 cent speech by Mackenzie King was known for being a political mistake and a speech that shows how disconnected the government can be from the people. The speech was about how the government would not give the people of Canada even a single 5 cent piece because of unemployment and that the unemployment rate was simply seasonal. This was used against them in political opposition and King lost control partially because of the speech. I am rating this speech a 4 on the Richter scale because of how it affected the prime minister of Canada and how it shows the disconnect between the government and the people.

Flappers: Flappers were women that advocated for other women being allowed to dress however they liked and tried to abolish the standards they had to face. Flappers would dress in shorter dresses, with hair in bobs, and other things that were not considered "acceptable" by men. This helped women express themselves more and actually be able to dress and act more like how they wanted to. I am rating it a 3 on the Richter scale because while flappers did advocate for women to be able to dress how they liked they did not have as much of a contribution as something else such as the famous 5.

Group of 7: The group of 7 is a group of 7 Canadian artists. These artists went all across the country to document the beautiful and picturesque places in Canada to show Canadians the amazing country they live in. Their art was noted for being simple and still dynamic and beautiful with bright colors. Their art still lives on today and has influenced many modern day abstract and non abstract painters today. I am rating the group of 7 a 2 on the Richter scale because they showed Canada what their country looks like and made beautiful artwork but did not majorly affect much.

RCMP forming: The RCMP is a group that enforces law for the federal government. the RCMP is still around today there was not a drastic change. The RCMP was formed so that federal law could be established more effectively over all of the provinces and territories. The RCMP was also formed for national security to protect, enforce law, and investigate in Canada. I am rating the forming of the RCMP a 1 because while it is still around today there are still other forms of law enforcement.