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The Friendly Fifties and the Sinister Sixties (1850-1863)

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Struggle for a Border: Canada's Relations with the United States

1968 58 min
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This installment of a documentary series from the late 1960s takes us from the 1850s to 1863. We see several historical episodes from this period interwoven in a unique fashion. The film reveals the complex relationship between Great Britain, Canada, the North and the South—before, during, and after the American Civil War.

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The Friendly Fifties and the Sinister Sixties (1850-1863)

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Why are there just two nations occupying that enormous expanse of the North American continent north of the Rio Grande? Why not just one unlimited American empire? Or why not several nations? This unique work gives clear and vivid form to the immense and complex forces--economic, political, military, diplomatic, social, and geographic--that created and confirmed the U.S.-Canada border. The largest single work ever undertaken by the National Film Board of Canada, Stuggle for a Border is the result of painstaking scholarship and research, and imaginative filmmaking. Each of the nine one-hour films is entirely self-contained, though part of a larger continuity. There are no interviews, but an on-screen narrator provides commentary and perspective. The films are so constructed that, if need be, they may be shown in half-hour, or shorter, segments.

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