Residential schools were created by the Canadian government in an attempt to assimilate Indigenous children into the language and culture of Canadian society. These schools were run by churches and were created in 1880 and lasted until 1996, when the last residential school was closed. Through the process of assisting Indigenous youth to integrate into Canadian society, residential schools have introduced many problems into Indigenous communities and caused long-term, irreversible problems. These problems would never have occurred if past Canadian leaders had not introduced residential schools into Canadian society. Previous Canadian leaders should be held accountable for the crimes against humanity and long-term problems that developed from residential schools as they were directly responsible for the assimilation of Indigenous culture through the use of the residential school system. Crimes against humanity committed in residential schools include cultural genocide, child labor and many forms of abuse, all of which have developed into long-term, irreversible problems in indigenous communities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During the 19th century, Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed in residential schools to assimilate them into Canadian society. The ultimate goal was to remove all aspects of Aboriginal culture from these children at a young age so that they could not pass on their language and culture to future generations, thus ending the Indigenous way of life. In his article, John A. Macdonald was the true architect of residential schools, Sean Carleton states that “Macdonald laid out the purpose of schools in the House of Commons. He argued: “When the school is on the reservation, the child lives with his parents, who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and although he can learn to read and write, his habits, his training, and his way of thinking are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write. Indian children should be removed as much as possible from the influence of their parents, and the only way to do this would be to place them in central industrial training schools where they will acquire the habits and ways of thinking of white men." This quote from John A. Macdonald demonstrates the goal of residential schools, which was to take Indigenous children from their homes and place them in residential schools where they would be forced to forget their language and culture as they integrated into Canadian culture, which would be passed on to the next generation, ending the “Indian problem.” Furthermore, in her article, The Residential School System, Erin Hanson explains that “Because the intent of the government and churches” was to eradicate all aspects of Aboriginal culture in these young people and stop its transmission from one generation to the next , the residential school system is commonly considered a form of cultural genocide.” This further explains that since Aboriginal culture would be removed from these children, Aboriginal culture could not be passed down from generation to generation, resulting in cultural genocide of the indigenous culture. Please note: This is just an example Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The fact that cultural genocide was the goal of former Canadian leaders, such as John A. Macdonald, when they introduced the residential school system explains why former Canadian leaders should be indicted for crimes against humanity committed in residential schools, in..