Meneseteung | Historical Context

Meneseteung Historical Context

In "Meneseteung," Almeda Roth's family moves to "the wilds of Canada West (as it then was)" in 1854, as Roth notes in the preface to her poetry book. This simple statement is anything but simple when looked at in a historical context. In fact, the Roth family move is representative of a greater population shift that was taking place in Canada. As in the United States, this immigration was due in part to the establishment of railways and roads, which provided mass transportation into desolate areas. Yet, while Americans' version of moving west generally meant California and other states in the far West, moving westward for Canadians often meant moving to Canada West. The designation of this area, which is today known as Ontario, as "west" may appear to the modern reader to be somewhat of a misnomer, since it is located north of the American Midwest, not even half...
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