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Robert Baldwin
Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. "Responsible Government" marked the province's democratic self-government, without a revolution, although not without violence. This achievement also included the introduction of municipal government, the introduction of a modern legal system and the Canadian jury system, and the abolishing of imprisonment for debt. Baldwin is also noted for feuding with the Orange Order and other fraternal societies. The Lafontaine-Baldwin government enacted the Rebellion Losses Bill to compensate Lower Canadians for damages suffered during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. The passage of the Bill outraged Anglo-Canadian Tories in Montreal, resulting in the burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal in 1849. Family Robert Baldwin's grandf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
York, Upper Canada
York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of Upper Canada, while he made plans to build a capital near today's London, Ontario. Simcoe renamed the location York after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, George III's second son. Simcoe gave up his plan to build a capital at London, and York became the permanent capital of Upper Canada on February 1, 1796. That year Simcoe returned to Britain and was temporarily replaced by Peter Russell. The original townsite was a compact ten blocks near the mouth of the Don River and a garrison was built at the channel to Toronto Harbour. Government buildings and a law court were established. Yonge Street was built, connecting York to the Holland River to the north. To the east, Kingston Road was built to the mouth of the Trent Riv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Warren Baldwin
William Warren Baldwin (April 25, 1775 – January 8, 1844) was a doctor, businessman, lawyer, judge, architect and reform politician in Upper Canada. He, and his son Robert Baldwin, are recognized for having introduced the concept of "responsible government", the principle of cabinet rule on which Canadian democracy is based. Early life William Warren Baldwin was born in County Cork, Ireland in 1775 of Robert Baldwin Sr. William graduated from the medical school at the University of Edinburgh in 1797. Faced with the prospect of the uprising of the Society of United Irishmen in 1798, he came to Upper Canada with his father and family, arriving in July 1799. The family moved to Durham County, where he became a lieutenant-colonel in the Durham militia and a justice of the peace in 1800. William found few patients in Durham, so he moved to the town of York (Toronto) and took up other occupations. In 1803, he was admitted to the bar and, in 1809, he became a district court judg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burning Of The Parliament Buildings In Montreal
The burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal was an important event in pre-Confederation Canadian history and occurred on the night of April 25, 1849, in Montreal, the then-capital of the Province of Canada. It is considered a crucial moment in the development of the Canadian democratic tradition, largely as a consequence of how the matter was dealt with by then co-prime ministers of the united Province of Canada, Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin. The St. Anne's Market building lodging the Legislative Council and Assembly of Canada was burned down by Tory rioters as a protest against the Rebellion Losses Bill while the members of the Legislative Assembly were sitting in session. There were protests right across British North America. The episode is characterized by divisions in pre-Confederation Canadian society concerning whether Canada was the North American appendage of the British Empire or a nascent sovereign nation. In 1837 and 1838 Canada was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion (french: rébellion du Bas-Canada), commonly referred to as the Patriots' War () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together with the simultaneous rebellion in the neighbouring colony of Upper Canada (now southern Ontario), it formed the Rebellions of 1837–38 (). As a result of the rebellions, the Province of Canada was created from the former Lower Canada and Upper Canada. History The rebellion had been preceded by nearly three decades of efforts at political reform in Lower Canada, led from the early 1800s by James Stuart and Louis-Joseph Papineau, who formed the Parti patriote and sought accountability from the elected general assembly and the appointed governor of the colony. After the Constitutional Act 1791, Lower Canada could elect a House of Assembly, which led to the rise of two parties: the English Party and the Canadia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebellion Losses Bill
The Rebellion Losses Bill (full name: ''An Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838'') was a controversial law enacted by the legislature of the Province of Canada in 1849. Its passage and subsequent royal assent by the Governor General, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin makes the bill a landmark piece of legislation in Canadian political history. The bill was enacted to compensate Lower Canadians who lost property during the Rebellions of 1837 with measures similar to those providing compensation in Upper Canada. Two factors made this measure controversial. Even though participants in the Rebellion could not be compensated with taxpayer's money, sympathy for the Rebellion was more widespread in Lower Canada so that compensation in Lower Canada was seen as "giving money to the rebels". Secondly, the damage done by the army far exceeded the damage done by the rebels, so that ena ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
