Alimony: An allowance paid under a
court order by one spouse to another, as a result of separation—and
later—divorce.
Anent: Concerning
At-Homes: Before computers, Sony PlayStations, TVs, and
telephones were invented, people had to entertain themselves in other
ways. For women, one of these ways was to have an “AT-Home.” Women
would go to each other’s homes to drink tea and talk about things
going on in their towns or the world. These “AT-Home” parties took place once a month or on weekends. Some women went to
three or four
“AT-Homes” in a single afternoon.
British North America Act: The governing body of legal
principles in Canada from 1867 to 1982.
Caveat: A formal notice requesting the court or officer to
refrain from taking some specified action without giving prior notice
to the person lodging the caveat.
Citizens: A citizen is an individual allowed to become an
official member of a country. This is like joining a club, a very big
club! If you are born in Canada, you are a Canadian citizen. If you are
coming to live in Canada from another country, you have to pass a test
to become a Canadian citizen.
Comity of Interests: Mutual civility; Friendly recognition
of the rights and interest of the other
Eugenics: Literally means "good birth" in Greek. A movement
prevalent in Western Canada and elsewhere during the early 20th
century to prevent the reproduction of children by persons deemed to
have mental deficiencies.
Famous 5: Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise
McKinney, Irene Parlby and Nellie McClung got the Canadian government
to see women as “persons” under the law in 1929. They also worked in
their own ways to better women’s lives in Alberta, across Canada and
the world. Together, these Alberta women became known as the Famous 5.
Feminism: Feminism is the idea that women are equals with men
and deserve the same rights. Feminists are people (male or female)
that support this idea. As a movement it caused major changes in society during the
late 1800s and early 1900s. In the past, most people thought women were
not supposed to work outside the home. Instead, they were supposed to cook,
clean and look after children. Feminism changed all that. Now women
can, and do, work in almost all the same jobs as men.
Homestead: A Homestead is a farmhouse, all the other
buildings on the land, and the land itself. The person who lives there
and owns it is called a homesteader.
Ideology: A body of ideas that reflects the beliefs and
interests of a group, society, nation, political system, etc., and
underlies political action.
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council: Based in Britain,
the court of final appeal for Canada from 1844 to 1931 for criminal
case rulings and to 1949 for appeals in civil cases.
Juvenile Delinquent: A child or young person guilty of some
offence, act of vandalism, or antisocial behaviour or whose conduct is
beyond parental control and who may be brought before a juvenile
court.
Persons Case: In 1927, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards,
Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby and Nellie McClung (known together as
the Famous 5) persuaded Prime Minister MacKenzie King to ask the
Canadian Supreme Court to clearly define the word “persons” under the
British North America Act of 1867. At this time women were not
considered to be “persons” under the constitution. When the Canadian
court rejected their argument on April 24, 1928, the Famous
5 asked the Government of Canada to appeal to the Judicial Committee
of the British Privy Council. The Famous 5 won, and on October
18, 1929, Canadian women were legally declared “persons.” Their fight
to gain this recognition for women became known as the ‘Persons’ Case.
Prohibition: When you are told that you
can’t do something, you are being prohibited. Prohibition is the
banning of making, moving, selling and drinking alcoholic beverages.
On July 1, 1916, the drinking of alcohol for beverage purposes was
outlawed in the province of Alberta. Prohibition in Alberta finally
ended in 1923 when the United Farmers of Alberta government took over
control of the sale of alcohol.
Quarter section: If you have driven through Alberta you
would have noticed that all the farmland is divided up into sections.
These are called quarter sections. Sometimes pieces of land are
smaller or larger, but the quarter section is the most popular unit of
area for farmland. A Quarter section measures 160 acres.
Social Gospel: ‘Social Gospel’ was a
set of ideas that existed in Canada from the 1890s to the 1930s.
People believed that God was at work changing society and creating
order. The idea was that if we used the lessons God taught us in the
Bible, that all the problems of society would be fixed. The
prohibition and female suffrage campaigns were based on this
philosophy.
Sterilization: Any medical procedure that disables a
person's ability to reproduce.
Suffrage: The right for a group of people, such as adult
female citizens, to vote in public elections. Before 1916, only
British male subjects who owned land could vote. Alberta became the
second Canadian province, after Manitoba, to give women the vote in
provincial elections.
Temperance: Temperance is related but different from
Prohibition, which means legally you can’t drink alcohol. Temperance
involves the personal decision to drink alcohol in moderation (once in
a while a little bit is ok), if at all, and to not do any other drugs
that alter the mind and body. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union
was a group in Alberta that tried to educate the public about what
they regarded as the
evils of drinking and drug taking.
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