Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Robert Borden
The last half of the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth century was a time of great change. Canada needed leaders who would stand up and make the difficult decisions. One such man was Robert Borden.
Robert Laird Borden was born in Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, in 1854. Robert's father was a farmer, and his mother, a woman of strong character, was determined to see him do well.
Young Robert Borden did so well in school that he was assistant schoolmaster by age 14. Five years later he was a teacher in Matawan, New Jersey. Two years of being a schoolmaster was enough to show him that he needed another job.
Robert did not have enough money to attend a university to study law. Instead, he became an article clerk with a Halifax law firm for four years. At that time he passed the bar exam. Later on in 1882, he became a partner at a prestigious law firm. By the time he was thirty-five, Robert Borden became senior partner of the firm, and then he got married. It was not long before he became one of Halifax's richest and most prominent citizens.
In 1896, Borden took his first step into politics and became a member of Parliament. Five years later he became the leader of the Conservative Party.
