Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Weaponized History: The Underground Railroad’s Mythologized Legacy in Canada

Weaponized History: The Underground Railroad’s Mythologized Legacy in Canada The Underground Railroad remains a popular feature in Canadian narratives. However, public discourse on the subject does not often reach much further than presenting a story of weary enslaved persons finding their way to freedom and happiness in Canada. The communities that they built and who these enslaved persons were outside of their enslaved status is rarely discussed. This uncomplicated telling of history allows Canadians to hold their country up as a historical champion of human rights and use Underground Railroad communities to prove a track record of equality in Canada that misrepresents the historical record. This article discusses the nature of Canadians’ fixation on the Underground Railroad narrative and Canada’s historical uses for this romanticized mythology. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Review of Canadian Studies Taylor & Francis

Weaponized History: The Underground Railroad’s Mythologized Legacy in Canada

Download PDF
14 pages

Weaponized History: The Underground Railroad’s Mythologized Legacy in Canada

Abstract

The Underground Railroad remains a popular feature in Canadian narratives. However, public discourse on the subject does not often reach much further than presenting a story of weary enslaved persons finding their way to freedom and happiness in Canada. The communities that they built and who these enslaved persons were outside of their enslaved status is rarely discussed. This uncomplicated telling of history allows Canadians to hold their country up as a historical champion of human rights...
Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/weaponized-history-the-underground-railroad-s-mythologized-legacy-in-0F0YBpWTP6
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2023 ACSUS
ISSN
1943-9954
eISSN
0272-2011
DOI
10.1080/02722011.2023.2172886
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The Underground Railroad remains a popular feature in Canadian narratives. However, public discourse on the subject does not often reach much further than presenting a story of weary enslaved persons finding their way to freedom and happiness in Canada. The communities that they built and who these enslaved persons were outside of their enslaved status is rarely discussed. This uncomplicated telling of history allows Canadians to hold their country up as a historical champion of human rights and use Underground Railroad communities to prove a track record of equality in Canada that misrepresents the historical record. This article discusses the nature of Canadians’ fixation on the Underground Railroad narrative and Canada’s historical uses for this romanticized mythology.

Journal

The American Review of Canadian Studies – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 2, 2023

Keywords: Underground Railroad; Black Canadians; Josiah Henson; Uncle Tom’s Cabin

References

  • N-Word Complaint Raises Questions About Teaching of Black History in Schools
  • Southwestern Ontario Council Renames Uncle Tom’s Road Over Links to Anti-Black Racism
  • For Improving Their Condition in the United States; for Purchasing Lands; and for the Establishment of a Settlement in Upper Canada, Also
  • Uncle Tom
  • Blake; or the Huts of America: A Tale of the Mississippi Valley, the Southern United States and Cuba
  • Peter Gallego to Thomas Rolph
  • ‘Thank God for Canada’: Harriet Tubman on the US$20 Bill is a Triumph for the Great White North
  • The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West: The Report to the Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission 1864
  • Jim Crow Lives in Dresden
  • The Idea of Maori Privilege
  • The Tom Caricature
  • The Reverend Josiah Henson “Uncle Tom,” in Scotland: Report of Farwell Meeting and Presentation in the City Hall, Glasgow Friday April 20, 1877
  • Episode 1036: Reactions to Meghan and Harry’s Wide-Ranging Interview
  • Standing Strong Taskforce Final Report
  • Uncle Tom
  • New Name for Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site to Reclaim Legacy of Josiah Henson
  • ‘Uncle Tom’ Names to Change in Dresden