Our final humanities project for grade 8 was titled New Beginnings. The driving question was “What did the establishment of New France mean for all people involved?” In this project, we made two images that showed pros and cons of a certain part of the creation of Canada (New France). I decided to create my images about the seigneurial system which was a way for land owners to rent their land.

The goal of this project was to learn the role of colonization of North America. We also learned about some of the groups involved and how they impacted the development of North America. We learned about all of the sides of the story that is Canada’s history. We also wanted to make sure that we were using evidence to prove that our information was valid.

When we started the project we participated in an entry event in which we created an ad for our school, Seycove, in groups. This is the ad I created with Magnus and Seth:

We then watched a documentary about the beginning of Canada and took notes. We then did an activity were we learned a little bit about some of the groups involved in New France. After, we chose our topic for our final images and wrote a research paper that included evidence of where we got our information from. With our research in mind, we went outside, took photos and edited them to show a part of our topic. We then did an activity where we acted as different groups involved in the fur trade. At the end of the project, we finished our images. Here are my images (try using the slider) and an explanation of what they represent:

In my first image the seigneur is shaking hands with one of his habitants, welcoming him to the land. The seigneur is treating the habitant as his equal, when in reality that is far from the truth. There is a house in the background in which the seigneur lives. In the second image the seigneur is richer looking and is standing next to money, while the habitants do labour. This shows how the seigneurs would be able to take anything from the habitants. The second image is darker because it shows the darker side of the seigneurial system.

I am happy with my final product. I think that it tells a lot about the seigneurial system of New France. In this project I showed strength with my ability to create the images based on my research. I think that in the future I can work on my ability to grasp some of the more complex concepts behind the project. To answer the driving question, the establishment of New France meant perks like new trade opportunities and workplaces. It also meant lots of negative things such as conflict and disease.