The whole point of reexamining the story then is to show that the reduction of the narrative undervalues significant contributions and struggles and is an injustice to the memory of the people who built the canal. Can you imagine the labourers hearing the story as it is traditionally told and rightly crying out ‘what about us!? We dug the darn thing!” Or Merritt himself admitting “woah, woah, it was not that easy.” The simplified version risks undervaluing the accomplishments they all spent their lives (literally and figuratively) working for.
How the Story Goes: Reexamining the Story of the First Welland Canal Part 3
There is no such thing as an easy infrastructure project. But when it comes to the First Welland Canal, it seems the project was plagued with bad luck.
How the Story Goes: Reexamining the Story of the First Welland Canal Part 2
Requesting a private company charter was the smartest move Merritt made in his entire career and pushed his competition out of the way, but it didn’t make him popular and it didn’t make the project easy.
How the Story Goes: Reexamining the Story of the First Welland Canal Part 1
The story of the First Welland Canal has been told over and over again by historians and canal buffs so that the story has shifted and changed over time. Facts, of course, mostly have remained the same, but the way the narrative is harnessed for others, and the way the story is constructed and relayed has changed. In my study of the historiography and the public’s perception of the narrative, I have discovered a few challenges with the telling of the history of the First Welland Canal.