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Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in Lower Canada. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy. The Family Compact emerged from the War of 1812 and collapsed in the aftermath of the Rebellions of 1837–1838. Its resistance to the political principle of responsible government contributed to its short life. At the end of its lifespan, the compact would be condemned by Lord Durham, a leading Whig, who summarised its grip on power: Fortified by family connexion, and the common interest felt by all who held, and all who desired, subordinate offices, that party was thus erected into a solid and permanent power, controlled by no responsibility, subject to no serious change, exercising over the whole government of the Province an authority utterly independent of t ... [...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 Toronto, 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 of the United Kingdom, 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 (politician), Peter Russell. The original townsite was a compact ten blocks near the mouth of the Don River (Ontario), Don River and a Fort York, garrison was built at the channel to Toronto Harbour. Government buildings and a law court were established. Yonge Street was built, connecting York to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixed Monarchy
Mixed government (or a mixed constitution) is a form of government that combines elements of democracy, aristocracy and monarchy, ostensibly making impossible their respective degenerations which are conceived as anarchy, oligarchy and tyranny. The idea was popularized during classical antiquity in order to describe the stability, the innovation and the success of the republic as a form of government developed under the Roman constitution. Unlike classical democracy, aristocracy or monarchy, under a mixed government rulers are elected by citizens rather than acquiring their positions by inheritance or sortition (at the Greco-Roman time, sortition was conventionally regarded as the principal characteristic of classical democracy). The concept of a mixed government was studied during the Renaissance and the Age of Reason by Niccolò Machiavelli, Giambattista Vico, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes and others. It was and still is a very important theory among supporters of republicanism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Robertson (Western Quebec And Upper Canada)
William Robertson (ca 1760 – December 3, 1806) was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born at Monymusk, near Aberdeen in Scotland around 1760 and settled in Detroit (then part of Quebec) in 1782. By 1788, he was an important merchant in the fur trade in the area and he was appointed to the district court and land board of the Hesse District of Upper Canada. Robertson resigned from his position as judge because he felt he was not qualified. In July 1792, he was appointed to the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Upper Canada. He resigned both offices in November, possibly because he believed that his business interests kept him too occupied. He had close business ties to Robert Hamilton, who had married his brother Samuel's widow, Catherine Askin, in 1785. He also held a number of contracts to supply garrisons in Upper Canada. Robertson moved to Montreal in 1797. After the death of his first wife in 1800, he returned to Great Britain and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Osgoode
William Osgoode (March 1754 – January 17, 1824) was the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada (now known as Ontario, Canada). Life and career He was born William Osgood in London, England, in 1754 to William Osgood (died 1767). His family was Methodist and John Wesley recounted on Sunday, 13 December 1767 that "I was desired to preach a funeral sermon for William Osgood. He came to London nearly thirty years ago, and from nothing increased more and more, till he was worth several thousands of pounds. He was a good man, and died in peace. Nevertheless, I believe his money was a great clog to him, and kept him in a poor, low state all his days, making no such advance as he might have done, either in holiness or happiness." He attended Christ Church, Oxford and was called to the bar in 1779. On December 31, 1791, he was appointed first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Although he mainly sought the opinions of lawyers from England, Osgoode attempted to adapt the English civil law o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded York, Upper Canada, York, which is now known as Toronto, and was instrumental in introducing institutions such as courts of law, trial by jury, English law, English common law, and fee simple, freehold land tenure, and also in the abolition of slavery in Canada. His long-term goal was the development of Upper Canada (Ontario) as a model community built on aristocratic and conservative principles, designed to demonstrate the superiority of those principles to the republicanism of the United States. His energetic efforts were only partially successful in establishing a local gentry, a thriving Church of England, and an anti-American coalition with select indigenous nations. He is seen by many Canadians as a founding figure in Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 1778, concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America in that time, and again from 1785 to 1795. The title Baron Dorchester was created on 21 August 1786. He commanded British troops in the American War of Independence, first leading the defence of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion, and the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels from the province. In 1782 and 1783, he led as the commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America. In this capacity he was notable for carrying out the Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the British, and he oversaw the evacuation of British forces, Loyalists and more than 3,000 freedmen from New York City in 1783 to transport them to a British colony. Toward this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitutional Act Of 1791
The Clergy Endowments (Canada) Act 1791, commonly known as the Constitutional Act 1791 (), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which passed under George III. The current short title has been in use since 1896. History The act reformed the government of the Province of Quebec (1763-1791) to accommodate, amongst other Loyalists, the 10,000 United Empire Loyalists who had arrived from the United States following the American Revolution. The Province of Quebec, with a population of 145,000 French-speaking Canadians, was divided in two when the act took effect on 26 December 1791. The largely unpopulated western half became Upper Canada (now southern Ontario) and the eastern half became Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). The names Upper and Lower Canada were given according to their location along the St. Lawrence River. Upper Canada received English law and institutions, while Lower Canada retained French civil law and institutions, including feudal land tenure and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative Council Of Upper Canada
The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist of at least seven members. Members were appointed for life but could be dropped for non-attendance. The first nine members of the council were appointed on 12 July 1792. The speaker was usually the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. The Legislative Council was dissolved on 10 February 1841 when Upper and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada. Some members were reappointed to the Legislative Council of the united Province. Unlike the other three provinces that would initially make up the Dominion of Canada, a provincial Legislative Council was not re-established for Ontario when the province entered Confederation in 1867. List of Members of the Legislative Council Notes: # Jacob Mountain was the Anglican Bishop of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Executive Council Of Upper Canada
The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the Legislative Assembly but were usually members of the Legislative Council. Members were appointed, often for life. The first five members were appointed in July 1792. The Council was dissolved on 10 February 1841 when Upper Canada and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada. It was replaced by the Executive Council of the Province of Canada the same year. After the War of 1812, the Executive Council was dominated by members of the Family Compact, an elite clique based in York. List of Members of the Executive Council Notes: # Æneas Shaw was an honorary member after 1803. # The Reverend John Strachan was an honorary member until 25 July 1817. # On 12 March 1836, all members of the council resigned to protest when the new Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines to Port Colborne, it enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment and bypass Niagara Falls. It is the fourth canal connecting these waterways; three smaller predecessors also bore the same name. The Welland Canal passes about 3,000 ships which transport about of cargo a year. It was a major factor in the growth of the city of Toronto, Ontario. The original canal and its successors allowed goods from Great Lakes ports such as Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago, as well as other heavily industrialized areas of the United States and Ontario, to be shipped to the port of Montreal or to Quebec City, where they were usually reloaded onto ocean-going vessels for international shipping. The Welland Canal in use today is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Allan (banker)
William Allan, JP (1770 – July 11, 1853), was a Scottish Canadian banker, businessman and politician. Life and career Allan was born at "the Moss", near Huntly, Scotland. He came to the British province of Quebec around 1787 under the auspices of family friend John Forsyth (of Forsyth, Richardson & Company), and he settled at Niagara a year later. In 1795, he moved to York (now Toronto) as the agent for Forsyth, Richardson & Company. In 1797, he opened a general store with Alexander Wood, later becoming sole owner. In 1800, Allan was named a justice of the peace in the Home District and, in 1801, became the postmaster at York. During the War of 1812, he served as major in the York militia and negotiated the terms of surrender when York was first captured by the American forces. His store was looted during this period. Allan also served as supplier to the British forces. He later served on the commission responsible for reviewing claims for losses during the war, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gentlemanly Capitalism
{{New Imperialism Gentlemanly capitalism is a theory of New Imperialism first put forward by the historians Peter J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins Antony "Tony" Gerald Hopkins, FBA (born 21 February 1938) is a British historian specialising in the economic history of Africa, European colonialism, and globalisation. He is Emeritus Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at the Universi ... in the 1980s and developed in their 1993 work ''British Imperialism''. The theory posits that British imperialism was driven by the business interests of the City of London and landed interests. It encourages a shift of emphasis, away from seeing provincial manufacturers and geopolitical strategy as important influences, and towards seeing the expansion of empire as emanating from London and the financial sector.Shigeru Akita, ed., ''Gentlemanly Capitalism, Imperialism, and Global History'' (2002online/ref> References External links British Imperialism: A review and revision New Imperialis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
