George R. Burton Sentenced to Death

Essay Requirements
Your task is to write a 10–12 page essay (2500–3000 words) in which you examine one
case of an individuals sentenced to death in Canada between 1867 and 1967.
You must use at least 10 primary sources and 5 secondary sources.
There are no tutorials the day your essay is due—Friday March 11, 4:00 p.m. All
students must submit their essays to the Turnitin assignment link in eClass for plagiarism
checking. Your TA will let you know whether they want you to submit a paper copy of your
essay for grading, too, or whether he will grade your essay electronically using Turnitin
Feedback Studio or some other method.
Research Steps
Seventy people were sentenced to death in Canada between 1867 and 1976. Twentynine were executed, and many of the remainder received prison terms. At the end of
these instructions is a list of people who were sentenced to death because of crimes they
committed in the Toronto region. I have chosen only Toronto cases because they are
most likely to have been covered in the historical newspapers that are most accessible to
us (i.e., the Toronto Star and Globe & Mail). I’ve posted on eClass the complete list of all
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people sentenced to death in Canada in the document titled, Persons Sentenced to Death
in Canada, 1867–1976.
For each Toronto case on the list below, I have noted the year in which the person either
committed a capital offence and/or was tried, their ethnic identity (if specifically noted in
the record), and their sentence. If they were hanged, I have placed beside their name an
(H). In almost all cases, the individuals were charged with murder.
You are to pick one individual sentenced to death and write an essay about the crime,
the subsequent trial and any appeals, any significant legal issues involved, and the
historical context (especially how context shaped reactions to the case). A focus on the
historical context of the murder and trial should be a significant part of your essay.
Pick a Case
First, select your case from the list at the end of these instructions, then find basic
details about the case in the document (posted on eClass) titled, Persons Sentenced to
Death in Canada, 1867–1976. You should search the document for the name of your
convicted person. This document will provide you with a few more details about the case,
such as what the person was convicted of, who the victim was, some basic details about
the trial, and the ultimate result. (The document is a guide to the case files in the National
Archives in Ottawa. In each capital case, after any final appeals, the federal Cabinet
reviewed their files and either confirmed the death sentence or commuted it.
Unfortunately, we can’t access the archival records, so you’ll need to rely on newspaper
sources.)
You may also pick a non-Toronto case from the Persons Sentenced to Death document.
However, be warned—unless the case was a particularly high-profile one and from
Ontario (such as Steven Truscott’s trial), you’re not as likely to find newspaper sources
that cover it in enough detail. I would advise sticking to Toronto-area cases.
Research the Case (Primary Sources)
Second, search for newspaper accounts of the crime, trial, and aftermath. We have
online access to two Toronto newspapers that will likely cover all the listed cases. You
must use at least ten primary sources in writing your essay. You will likely find more on
your case than the required minimum of ten. You should try to find the best newspaper
articles, ones that will be the most helpful to you in writing your essay.
You should certainly use the newspaper sources to learn the facts of the case. You should
also pay attention to how the newspapers cover the case. Consider such factors as how
they portray the crime, the accused, and the victim; what context they place the crime in
(e.g., ongoing concern about rising crime, etc.); what sources the reporters rely on, etc.
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Newspapers
The Globe and Mail: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Covering 1844-2019, this resource is a full-page searchable archive of the Globe & Mail.
http://www.library.yorku.ca/eresolver/?id=60618
Toronto Star: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Covering 1894-2018, this resource is a full-page searchable archive of the Toronto Star.
http://www.library.yorku.ca/eresolver/?id=58233
On the Advanced Search page, start by typing in the name of the person, change the
search parameters to “Anywhere” in the dropdown menu to the right of the search field,
then in the Publication Date field choose “Specific date range” and enter a range of years
that includes (at least) the year of the crime and any results.
To search both newspapers at the same time, click on the three parallel lines on the
upper right of the screen, then “Change databases,” then scroll down to “ProQuest
Historical Newspapers” and select both papers, then click on the select button at the
bottom.
For useful issues and questions to consider when analyzing newspaper sources, see:
Newspaper Article Analysis Guiding Questions: https://primarysourcenexus.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/12/Newspaper_Article_Guiding_Analysis_Questions.pdf
or
Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Newspapers:
https://primarysourcenexus.org/2014/12/analyzing-primary-sources-learningnewspapers/.)
Other Canadian Periodicals and Magazines
Libris Canadiana
Provides word, title, author and subject access to material published in a number of
Canadian periodicals of historical significance, including Maclean’s Magazine, The
Financial Post, The Monetary Times of Canada, Massey’s Magazine, The Canadian
Bookman, The Canadian Magazine, Saturday Night and The University Magazine.
Coverage includes the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
http://www.library.yorku.ca/eresolver/?id=78287
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Research the Context (Secondary Sources)
Third, find secondary sources relevant to your case. The secondary sources are
important because your essay should not simply be a narrative of what happened. Rather
it should be an analysis of the events of the crime, trial, and public reaction to them within
the context of the time. Consider how the case can serve as a window into some aspect
of the history Toronto (and/or Ontario and Canada), the criminal justice system, and
media and/or public perceptions of crime.
You must use at least five secondary sources. These might include sources that cover
your specific case (if you’re lucky!), significant background issues that were important to
the case, or important legal issues raised by the case. When looking for secondary
sources, try to think about the main themes present in the crime and trial that you are
examining. What is your case about? For example, if it is a rape about rape, then you will
want to find secondary sources that examine the history of sexual assault (and laws
concerning rape) in Canada. Does your case deal with ideas about gender, race, ethnicity,
class, and/or sexuality? How does the crime relate to larger issues within the Toronto
area and/or the Canadian legal system at the time? Which sources you use will depend
on what your case is about.
For instance, if you were writing an essay on the case of Alice and Arthur Davis, the
couple sentenced to death in 1875 for performing an abortion, you might examine (as Ian
Radforth does in the book we read last term) what the trial reveals about the nature of
working-class women’s lives in Toronto the 1870s, how Canadians of that time viewed
abortion, or how the legal system dealt with abortion cases. (Since we covered this case
extensively last term, I did not include it on your list of cases you can choose from.)
To take other examples that are on the list, if you choose to examine the case of Frank
McCullough who, in 1919, murdered a policeman, you would examine the context of the
killing to explore what the murder and trial say about Toronto in 1919. In this instance,
you might focus on crime in Toronto at the time or the public and media outcry and
concern following the killing. In the cases of Ronald Turpin or Arthur Lucas, for example,
you might examine issues related to the debate over ending capital punishment or, in
Lucas’s case, race and criminal justice. Other cases may involve questions of
competence or insanity or attitudes toward woman, immigrants, the working-class, and
the like.
Make sure that your secondary sources are authoritative and reliable. Do not use
general internet websites, and do not use Wikipedia, encyclopedias, or book
reviews as sources to write your paper. You’ll find the most reliable sources in the
library’s catalogue of books and journal articles. When in doubt, ask your TA (or me)!