Donald Creighton
Donald Creighton | |
---|---|
Born | Donald Grant Creighton 15 July 1902 |
Died | 19 December 1979 | (aged 77)
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Spouse |
Victoria College, Toronto |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Sub-discipline | Canadian history |
Doctoral students | |
Notable works |
|
Notable ideas | Laurentian thesis |
Donald Grant Creighton
Creighton's later years were preoccupied with criticizing the then ruling Liberal Party of Canada under William Lyon Mackenzie King and his successor Louis St. Laurent. Creighton denounced the Liberal Party for undermining Canada's link with Great Britain and moving towards closer relations with the United States, a policy which he strongly disliked.
Background
Creighton was born on July 15, 1902, in Toronto, to
He then attended
In 1926, Creighton married Luella Bruce.[3] Their daughter, Cynthia Flood, is also a noted Canadian fiction writer.
Creighton died in his sleep on December 18, 1979, from cancer, in Brooklin, Ontario, aged 77.
In 1967, Creighton was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Creighton as an historian
Creighton was heavily influenced by
In The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence, Creighton argued that the economic potential of the St. Lawrence system inspired successive generations of adventurers, explorers and businessmen to try to link the vast
Creighton's two most important works are The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence (1937) and his two-volume biography of
Creighton saw history as a literary art and rejected calls for history to be seen as social science. Creighton was famous for spending as much time crafting his prose as he did in research, and Creighton often claimed that the best historical work should read like a well written novel.[3] Creighton disliked what he called "fat funereal volumes" of unreadable biographies, and argued that well-written books should be the historian's objective.[3] Creighton's major influences were R. G. Collingwood, James Anthony Froude, G. M. Trevelyan, Edward Gibbon, and A. J. P. Taylor.
Creighton's vision of Canadian history was ultimately a deeply pessimistic and tragic one as he felt Canada had the potential to be the world's greatest country if only Canadians would follow the vision of the Fathers of Confederation, especially Macdonald's. In his view, most Canadian leaders had chosen to neglect that vision and had instead allowed Canada's potential to be squandered. The only leaders who merited the description of statesmen, in his view, were Macdonald and
Though Creighton normally tried to maintain a formal and cold pose, he was well known for his outspoken and passionate nature. His eruptions of rage led his publisher John Gray to call him "the terrible-tempered Mr. Bang". Creighton often engaged in feuds with historians whose interpretations he disliked, but he was known to be kind-hearted and munificent towards his students, albeit severe with those who engaged in work that he thought was wrong-headed. He made no effort at objectivity and was openly subjective and partisan in regards to his likes and dislikes. Creighton was fond of contrasting Canada's participation in the First World War and the Second World War. In Creighton's view, Robert Borden was a tough and able leader who, despite initial mistakes and missteps, was able to fully mobilize Canada and ensure that Canada contributed disproportionately to the Allied victory in 1918. Borden took the necessary steps to win the war despite the unpopularity of many of his measures. Creighton saw the rest of Canadian history as one long slide, which he largely blamed on the Liberal Party.[3] In contrast, Creighton saw William Lyon Mackenzie King as a weak and indecisive figure who was more concerned with safeguarding the electoral fortunes of the Liberals than winning the war, and who kept Canadian troops out of combat as long as possible to avoid difficult decisions on conscription. In Creighton's opinion, thanks to Mackenzie King, Canada did not play as large a share as possible in the Allied victory.
Creighton was regarded by many as the foremost historian of his day, and his influence is still strongly felt. His books received wide public attention.[3] Many of Canadian historians studied under Creighton, including Ramsay Cook, H. V. Nelles, and Michael Bliss. Creighton's view of Canadian history is still often studied. He helped initiate the Canadian Centenary Series, a nineteen-volume history of Canada, and served as its advisory editor. His book, The Forked Road: Canada, 1939–1957, was part of the Centenary Series.
Creighton as a nationalist
As the Cold War grew hotter after 1947, historian Harold Innis, a major influence on Creighton, grew increasingly hostile to the United States. Innis warned urgently that Canada was becoming a subservient colony to its much more powerful southern neighbour. "We are indeed fighting for our lives," he warned, pointing especially to the "pernicious influence of American advertising. ...We can only survive by taking persistent action at strategic points against American imperialism in all its attractive guises."[5] This anti-Americanism moved Creighton to a growing conviction that Canada risked being absorbed by the United States culturally, economically and politically.[6]
In later years, Creighton frequently expressed himself through the
Creighton disliked the
Creighton's determination to maintain British traditions, his close association with Diefenbaker, and his dislike of continentalism led him to be accused of anti-Americanism. Later, Creighton cemented his reputation for anti-American views with his only novel, 1978's The Take-Over. As its title implies, the book dealt with an imaginary US take-over of Canada. Creighton saw himself as a lonely crusader not only against what he called the "Authorized Version" of Canadian history (i.e., the Liberal interpretation), but also against what he regarded as the widespread indifference and apathy felt by most Canadians towards their history.[3] In Creighton's view, the so-called "Liberal Interpretation" of Canadian history would ultimately lead to Canada being absorbed into the United States.[3] Creighton frequently proclaimed the aphorism that a people who forget their past are also doomed not to have a future. Throughout his life, Creighton struggled hard to raise the profile of history in Canadian life, and to convince Canadians that they had a grand and glorious history worth celebrating.
Works
- The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence, 1760-1850, 1937.
- Reprinted as The Empire of the St. Lawrence: A Study in Commerce and Politics (University of Toronto Press, 2002)
- Dominion of the North: A History of Canada, 1944.
- John A. Macdonald, 2 volumes, 1952–1955.
- Harold Adams Innis: Portrait of a Scholar, 1957.
- The Story of Canada, 1959, revised ed. 1971.
- The Road to Confederation: The Emergence of Canada, 1863-1867, 1964.
- "Myth of Biculturalism or the Great French Canadian Sales Campaign" pages 35–40 from Saturday Night, September 1966.
- Confederation : Essays, 1967
- Canada's First Century, 1867-1967, 1970.
- Towards the Discovery of Canada: Selected Essays, 1972.
- Canada, the Heroic Beginnings, 1974
- The Forked Road: Canada, 1939-57, 1976.
- The Passionate Observer: Selected Writings, 1980.
References
Footnotes
- ^ Berger, Carl, The Writing of Canadian History, Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1986, 364 p.
- ^ Wright, Donald (Spring 2007). "Reflections on Donald Creighton and the Appeal of Biography" (PDF). Journal of Historical Biography. 1: 15–26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Vance, Jonathan "Creigton, Donald Grant" pages 258-259 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Volume 1, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999 page 259
- ^ Berger, Carl. "The Writing of Canadian History". Toronto University Press, 1986, p.212.
- ISBN 9780742528185.
- ISBN 9781442620308.
- ISBN 9781442620308.
- ^ Creighton, Donald The Passionate Observer: Selected Writings, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980 page 56.
- ^ Creighton, Donald The Passionate Observer: Selected Writings, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980 page 141.
- ^ Creighton, Donald The Passionate Observer: Selected Writings, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980 page 54.
Bibliography
- Berger, Carl The Writing of Canadian History: Aspects of English-Canadian Historical Writings, 1900-1970, (2nd ed. 1986) pp 208–37
- Cook, Ramsay The Craft of History, Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1973.
- Levitt, Joseph A Vision Beyond Reach: A Century of Images of Canadian Destiny, Ottawa: Deneau, 1982.
- Levitt, Joseph "Creighton, Donald Grant" pages 112-114 from Great Historians of the Modern Age edited by Lucian Boia, Westport, C.T: Greenwood Press, 1991 ISBN 0-313-27328-6.
- Moir, John (editor) Character and Circumstance: Essays in Honor of Donald Grant Creighton, Toronto: Macmillan, 1970.
- Vance, Jonathan "Creighton, Donald Grant" pages 258-259 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Volume 1, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999
- Wright, Donald. Donald Creighton: A Life in History. University of Toronto Press (Scholarly Publishing Division), 2015.
- Wright, Donald. "Reflections on Donald Creighton & the Appeal of Biography," Journal of Historical Biography (2007) vol 1 pp15–26 online
- Wright, Donald A. "Review of 'The Empire of the St.Lawrence: A Study in Commerce and Politicsm'" in Canadian Historical Review (2004) 85#3 pp. 555-558
External links
- Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 26 May 2010
- Donald Creighton and Eugene Forsey:Tory Historian Meets Radical Traditionalist Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- Donald Grant Creighton (1902-1979)
- Portrait of the Historian as an Artist
- History lessons
- Donald Creighton entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Donald Creighton fonds (R5269) at Library and Archives Canada