Nov 1st, 2018
Research Statement: As Canada grew closer to confederation in 1867, Infrastructure grew and changed with it. The infrastructure built in this period was crucial to the formation of Canada because without it no one would have adequate shelter and safe transportation.

Introduction: Introduction of what infrastructure is and why it is so important.

I: Brief Timeline of infrastructure changes, Starting with early European settler structures and thoroughfares to ending with where infrastructure got to in 1867. The Quebec Act will be used here to identify where infrastructure is headed after 1774. Roads, Cart Tracks, and Bridle Paths will give insight into the lifetime of thoroughfares in pre-1867 Canada. Architectural History: 1759-1867 will help do the same for housing and service buildings.

II: Developments in Housing; the evolution of housing in Pre-Confederation Canada. The Quebec Act will help here in identifying where the evolution of housing is headed to. Architectural History: 1759-1867 will give knowledge into the types of homes that were built and by who they were built. Pre-Confederation Houses in Norfolk County, Ontario will give insight into houses that were built in certain areas and the variety that may come with it.

III: Developments and evolution in Roadways and Thoroughfares.The Quebec Act will help here in identifying where the evolution of roadways is headed to. Roads, Cart Tracks, and Bridle Paths will give information into the types and characteristics of thoroughfares built in Pre-1867 Canada. Movement, Power and Place: The Biography of a Wagon Road in a Contested First Nations Landscape will give insight into the roadways used by Aboriginals in Pre-Confederation Canada.

IV: Developments in Service Buildings; churches, governmental buildings and etc.The Quebec Act will help here in identifying where the evolution of service buildings is headed to. Architectural History: 1759-1867 will give knowledge into the types of service buildings that were built and by who they were built.

Conclusion: Reflection on the evolution that Pre-confederation had.

Bibliography

Primary: “The Quebec Act.” Quebec Act, August 2017, 1. https://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=21212529&site=eds-live.

Gibson, Erin. “Movement, Power and Place: The Biography of a Wagon Road in a Contested First Nations Landscape.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 25, no. 2 (May 2015): 417. https://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=102228894&site=eds-live.

MacKinnon, Robert. “Roads, Cart Tracks, and Bridle Paths: Land Transportation and the Domestic Economy of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Eastern British North America.” Canadian Historical Review 84, no. 2 (June 2003): 177. https://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=10148636&site=eds-live.

Whebell, C. F. J. “Pre-Confederation Houses in Norfolk County, Ontario.” Ontario History 58, no. 4 (December 1966): 225–35. https://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ahl&AN=45769775&site=eds-live.

Grignon, Marc, “Architectural History: 1759-1867”. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published September 15, 2006; last modified August 29, 2017. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/architectural-history-1759-1867

Process Statements

1. How did you choose your topic? Please explain in as much detail as possible.
-I choose my topic from my thirst to further my knowledge in the types houses and buildings that make up our Canada. I have always been interested in where and how houses are made up. Researching the first types of housing on this land will give me a great foundation for further explanation into the topic.

2. How did you choose your sources? Please explain your thinking that led you to choose the evidence you will use to interpret the topic.
-Sources were quite difficult to find for my topic since there isn’t much in information about old infrastructure unless it has survived the last several hundred years or so. So once something that mentioned anything about buildings or roadways popped up, i would quickly skim them hoping for an abundance of Info. Happily the sources i found came up rather quickly and were very comprehensive.

3. What assumptions did you bring to your research? For example, what preconceived notions about the topic did you have before you began your research? Did your sources cause you to reconsider those ideas? Please explain in as much detail as possible.
-I think that the houses that people had to live in Pre-confederation would of had to been very minimalist and i want to see if that assumption holds true.. Homes must be completely made out of wood and roadways must be completely made out of found rock/stone. I also think that the farther you go west in Canada the more advanced the architecture would be because of the time it took to venture out there. The more i read though the more i found that houses are actually less advanced because the farther west you go the harder it is to scavenge resources due to factors like terrain.

4. How has your view of the past changed as a result of the research that you have done? What unanswered questions about this topic do you still have?
-I have found that housing has not actually evolved a lot, most houses still use a great amount of wood. The only real advancement is concrete and asphalt but they are still relatively similar to brick and stone.

5. What will you do differently next time?
-Next time i will take more of an approach towards who lived where and why people lived in certain places rather then what exactly they lived in. Look at more of anthropocentric view rather then infrastructure centered view. I would do this because people bring homes to live and without people homes are just buildings.