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- Title
A Matter of National Dignity: Protection of Slaves and Southern Refugees in Canada, 1844-1869.
- Authors
SEVGUR, SERPERI; TASTSOGLOU, EVANGELIA; KWON, EUGENA
- Abstract
Canada's humanitarian tradition has been a pole of attraction to new immigrants and refugees and a source of pride for Canadians. As part of an ongoing research project on changing representations of refugees and immigrants in Canadian mainstream newspapers, this research note focuses on two groups of refugees1 who came to Canada around the time of the American Civil War. We discovered the two historical extradition court cases of refugees who were wanted by the US over allegations of criminality, by thematically analyzing Globe and Mail articles between the years of 1844-1869. Our analysis shows that the dominant ideological and thematic frame of refugee newspaper reporting at the time revolved around what Canada stood for, in terms of values, and who the Canadians were. Even though these two groups of refugees were represented differently, the issue of "the right to asylum" was never questioned and always deemed to be a manifestation of a putative, pre-confederation "Canadian" identity -- which itself, in the newspaper discourse, rested on freedom, humanitarianism and the rule of law. We conclude this research note with contemporary reflections on our findings.
- Subjects
ENSLAVED persons; REFUGEES; IMMIGRANTS; AMERICAN Civil War, 1861-1865; NEWSPAPER &; periodical libraries
- Publication
Canadian Ethnic Studies, 2024, Vol 56, Issue 1, p123
- ISSN
0008-3496
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1353/ces.2024.a921083