Upper Canada
Province of Upper Canada | |||||||||
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1791–1841 | |||||||||
William IV | |||||||||
• 1837–1841 | Victoria | ||||||||
Constitutional Act of 1791 | 26 December 1791 | ||||||||
10 February 1841 | |||||||||
Area | |||||||||
1836[4] | 258,999 km2 (100,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1823[4] | 150,196 | ||||||||
• 1836[4] | 358,187 | ||||||||
Currency | Halifax pound | ||||||||
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Today part of |
History of Ontario | ||||||||||||
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The Province of Upper Canada (French: province du Haut-Canada) was a
Upper Canada was the primary destination of Loyalist refugees and settlers from the United States after the American Revolution, who often were granted land to settle in Upper Canada. Already populated by Indigenous peoples, land for settlement in Upper Canada was made by treaties between the new British government and the Indigenous, exchanging land for one-time payments or annuities. The new province was characterized by its British way of life, including bicameral parliament and separate civil and criminal law, rather than mixed as in Lower Canada or elsewhere in the British Empire.[5][failed verification] The division was created to ensure the exercise of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in the North American colonies.[6] In 1812, war broke out between Great Britain and the United States, leading to several battles in Upper Canada. The United States attempted to capture Upper Canada, but the war ended with the situation unchanged.
The government of the colony came to be dominated by a small group of persons, known as the "Family Compact", who held most of the top positions in the Legislative Council and appointed officials. In 1837, an unsuccessful rebellion attempted to overthrow the undemocratic system. Representative government would be established in the 1840s. Upper Canada existed from its establishment on 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841, when it was united with adjacent Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada.
Establishment
As part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years' War global conflict and the French and Indian War in North America, Great Britain retained control over the former New France, which had been defeated in the French and Indian War. The British had won control after Fort Niagara had surrendered in 1759 and Montreal capitulated in 1760, and the British under Robert Rogers took formal control of the Great Lakes region in 1760.[7] Fort Michilimackinac was occupied by Roger's forces in 1761.
The territories of contemporary southern Ontario and southern Quebec were initially maintained as the single province of Quebec, as it had been under the French. From 1763 to 1791, the Province of Quebec maintained its French language, cultural behavioural expectations, practices and laws. The British passed the Quebec Act in 1774, which expanded the Quebec colony's authority to include part of the Indian Reserve to the west (i.e., parts of southern Ontario), and other western territories south of the Great Lakes including much of what would become the United States' Northwest Territory, including the modern states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.
After the American War of Independence ended in 1783, Britain retained control of the area north of the Ohio River. The official boundaries remained undefined until 1795 and the Jay Treaty. The British authorities encouraged the movement of people to this area from the United States, offering free land to encourage population growth. For settlers, the head of the family received 100 acres (40 ha) and 50 acres (20 ha) per family member, and soldiers received larger grants.[8] These settlers are known as United Empire Loyalists and were primarily English-speaking Protestants. The first townships (Royal and Cataraqui) along the St. Lawrence and eastern Lake Ontario were laid out in 1784, populated mainly with decommissioned soldiers and their families.[9]
"Upper Canada" became a political entity on 26 December 1791 with the
The 1795 Jay Treaty officially set the borders between British North America and the United States north to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. On 1 February 1796, the capital of Upper Canada was moved from Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) to York (now Toronto), which was judged to be less vulnerable to attack by the US.
The Act of Union 1840, passed 23 July 1840 by the British Parliament and proclaimed by the Crown on 10 February 1841, merged Upper Canada with Lower Canada to form the short-lived
Government
Provincial administration
Upper Canada's constitution was said to be "the very image and transcript" of the British constitution, and based on the principle of "
The Executive arm of government in the colony consisted of a
The Executive Council of Upper Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly. They held a consultative position, however, and did not serve in administrative offices as cabinet ministers do. Members of the Executive Council were not necessarily members of the Legislative Assembly but were usually members of the Legislative Council.[13]
Parliament
The Legislative branch of the government consisted of the
The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Although modelled after the British House of Lords, Upper Canada had no aristocracy. Members of the Legislative council, appointed for life, formed the core of the oligarchic group, the Family Compact, that came to dominate government and economy in the province.
The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada functioned as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lieutenant Governor, Executive Council, and Legislative Council.
Local government
Local government in the province of Upper Canada was based on districts. In 1788, four districts were created:[14]
- Lunenburgh District, later "Eastern"
- Mecklenburg District, later "Midland"
- Nassau District, later "Home"
- Hesse District, later "Western"
The name changes all took place in 1792.
Justices of the Peace were appointed by the Lt. Governor. Any two justices meeting together could form the lowest level of the justice system, the Courts of Request. A
Additional districts were created from the existing districts as the population grew until 1849, when local government mainly based on counties came into effect. At that time, there were 20 districts; legislation to create a new Kent District was never completed. Up until 1841, the district officials were appointed by the lieutenant-governor, although usually with local input.
Politics
Family Compact
The Family Compact is the epithet applied to an oligarchic group of men who exercised most of the political and judicial power in Upper Canada from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy.
-
Bishop Strachan, the acknowledged Anglican leader of the Family Compact
-
John Robinson, acknowledged leader of the Family Compact, member of the Legislative Assembly and later the Legislative Council[18]
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William Henry Boulton, 8th Mayor of Toronto and member of the Legislative Assembly[19]
-
SirAllan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada
-
Henry Sherwood, 13th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Brockville
Reform movement
There were many outstanding individual reform politicians in Upper Canada, including Robert Randal, Peter Perry, Marshall Spring Bidwell, William Ketchum and Dr. William Warren Baldwin; however, organised collective reform activity began with Robert Fleming Gourlay. Gourlay was a well-connected Scottish emigrant who arrived in 1817, hoping to encourage "assisted emigration" of the poor from Britain. He solicited information on the colony through township questionnaires, and soon became a critic of government mismanagement. When the local legislature ignored his call for an inquiry, he called for a petition to the British Parliament. He organised township meetings, and a provincial convention – which the government considered dangerous and seditious. Gourlay was tried in December 1818 under the 1804 Sedition Act and jailed for 8 months. He was banished from the province in August 1819. His expulsion made him a martyr in the reform community.[20]
The next wave of organised Reform activity emerged in the 1830s through the work of
The Upper Canada Central Political Union was organised in 1832–33 by Dr Thomas David Morrison (mayor of Toronto in 1836) while William Lyon Mackenzie was in England. This union collected 19,930 signatures on a petition protesting Mackenzie's unjust expulsion from the House of Assembly by the Family Compact.[21]
This union was reorganised as the Canadian Alliance Society (1835). It shared a large meeting space in the market buildings with the Mechanics Institute and the
The Canadian Alliance Society was reborn as the Constitutional Reform Society (1836), when it was led by the more moderate reformer, Dr William W. Baldwin. After the disastrous 1836 elections, it took the final form as the Toronto Political Union in 1837. It was the Toronto Political Union that called for a Constitutional Convention in July 1837, and began organising local "Vigilance Committees" to elect delegates. This became the organizational structure for the Rebellion of 1837.[23]
Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the Family Compact in December 1837, led by William Lyon Mackenzie. Long term grievances included antagonism between Later Loyalists and British Loyalists, political corruption, the collapse of the international financial system and the resultant economic distress, and a growing republican sentiment. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebellion (in present-day Quebec) that emboldened rebels in Upper Canada to revolt openly soon after. The Upper Canada Rebellion was largely defeated shortly after it began, although resistance lingered until 1838 (and became more violent) – mainly through the support of the Hunters' Lodges, a secret anti-British American militia that emerged in states around the Great Lakes. They launched the Patriot War in 1838–39.[24]
Sydenham and the Union of the Canadas
After the Rebellions, the new governor,
Sydenham introduced a vast expansion of the state apparatus through the introduction of municipal government. Areas not already governed through civic corporations or police boards would be governed through centrally controlled District Councils with authority over roads, schools, and local policing. A strengthened Executive Council would further usurp much of the elected assembly's legislative role, leaving elected politicians to simply review the administration's legislative program and budgets.
Settlement
First Nations dispossession and reserves
The First Nations occupying the territory that was to become Upper Canada were:
- Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly (plural) Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek. The plural form of the word is the Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples.
- The Iroquois, also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse",[27]
Prior to the creation of Upper Canada in 1791, much land had already been ceded by the First Nations to the Crown in accordance with the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The first treaty was between the Seneca and the British in 1764, giving access to lands adjoining the Niagara River.[28] During the American Revolutionary War most of the First Nations supported the British. After the Americans launched a campaign that burned the villages of the Iroquois in New York State in 1779[29] the refugees fled to Fort Niagara and other British posts, and remained permanently in Canada.
Land was granted to these allied Six Nations who had served on the British side during the American Revolution by the Haldimand Proclamation (1784). Haldimand had purchased a tract of land from the Mississaugas. The nature of the grant and the administration of land sales by Upper Canada and Canada is a matter of dispute.
Between 1783 and 1812, fifteen land surrender treaties were concluded in Upper Canada. These involved one-time payments of money or goods to the Indigenous peoples. Some of the treaties spelled out designated reserve lands for the Indigenous peoples.[30]
Following the War of 1812, European settlers came in increasing numbers. The Indian Department focussed on converting the Indigenous peoples to abandon their old way of life and adopt agriculture. The treaties shifted from one-time payments in exchange to annual annuities from the sale of surrendered lands. Between 1825 and 1860, treaties were concluded for nearly all of the land-mass of the future province of Ontario. In 1836, Manitoulin Island was designated as a reserve for dispossessed natives, but much of this was ceded in 1862.[30]
Loyalists and the land grant system
Crown land policy to 1825 was multi-fold in the use of a "free" resource that had value to people who themselves may have little or no money for its purchase and for the price of settling upon it to support themselves and a create a new society. First, the cash-strapped Crown government in Canada could pay and reward the services and loyalty of the "United Empire Loyalists" who, originated outside of Canada, without encumbrance of debt by being awarded with small portions of land (under 200 acres or 80 hectares) with the proviso that it be settled by those to which it was granted; Second, portions would be reserved for the future use of the Crown and the clergy that did not require settlement by which to gain control. Lt. Governor Simcoe saw this as the mechanism by which an aristocracy might be created,[31] and that compact settlement could be avoided with the grants of large tracts of land to those Loyalists not required to settle on it as the means of gaining control.
Assisted immigration
The Calton weavers were a community of handweavers established in the community of
In 1825, 1,878
Talbot settlement
Thomas Talbot emigrated in 1791, where he became personal secretary to John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. Talbot convinced the government to allow him to implement a land settlement scheme of 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) in Elgin County in the townships of Dunwich and Aldborough in 1803.[34] According to his government agreement, he was entitled to 200 acres (80 ha) for every settler who received 50 acres (20 ha); in this way he gained an estate of 20,000 acres (8,000 ha). Talbot's administration was regarded as despotic. He was infamous for registering settlers' names on the local settlement map in pencil and if displeased, erasing their entry. Talbot's abuse of power was a contributing factor in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.[35]
Crown and clergy reserves
The Crown reserves, one seventh of all lands granted, were to provide the provincial executive with an independent source of revenue not under the control of the elected Assembly. The clergy reserves, also one seventh of all lands granted in the province, were created "for the support and maintenance of a Protestant clergy" in lieu of tithes. The revenue from the lease of these lands was claimed by the Rev. John Strachan on behalf of the Church of England. These reserves were directly administered by the Crown; which, in turn, came under increasing political pressure from other Protestant bodies. The Reserve lands were to be a focal point of dissent within the Legislative Assembly.[36]
The Clergy Corporation was incorporated in 1819 to manage the clergy reserves. After the Rev.
The clergy reserves were not the only types of landed endowment for the Anglican Church and clergy. The 1791 Act also provided for
Common school lands
In 1797, lands in twelve townships (six east of York, and six west, totalling about 500,000 acres (200,000 ha), were set aside, from which revenues arising from their sale or lease were dedicated to support the establishment of grammar schools and a university for the Province.[42] They were distributed as follows:
District | Township | Original Royal grant (1797) | Townships set aside as substituted lands[a 1] | Lands alienated | Reinvested in the Crown[a 2] | Lands disposable | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
To individuals | Surveyor's % | To Upper Canada College | University[a 3] | UCC | |||||
Ottawa | Alfred | 25,140 | – | 25,140 | – | – | – | – | – |
Plantagenet | 40,000 | – | 40,000 | – | – | – | – | – | |
Midland | Bedford | 61,220 | – | 2,678 | 2,858 | – | – | – | 55,684 |
Hinchinbroke | 51,100 | – | – | 2,437 | – | 48,663 | – | – | |
Sheffield | 56,688 | – | – | 3,158 | – | – | – | 53,530 | |
Newcastle | Seymour | 47,484 | – | – | 3,515 | 25,000 | – | 18,969 | – |
London | Blandford | 20,400 | – | – | 1,179 | 5,000 | – | – | 14,221 |
Houghton | 19,000 | – | 1,592 | 1,505 | – | – | – | 15,893 | |
Middleton | 35,000 | – | 22,600 | 1,667 | – | – | – | 10,733 | |
Southwold | 40,500 | – | 30,900 | 719 | – | – | – | 8,881 | |
Warwick | – | 600 | – | – | – | – | – | 600 | |
Westminster | 51,143 | – | 40,725 | 1,218 | – | – | – | 9,200 | |
Yarmouth | 20,000 | – | 7,084 | 1,026 | – | – | – | 11,900 | |
Home | Java[a 4] | – | 12,000 | – | – | 12,000 | – | – | – |
Luther | – | 66,000 | – | – | – | 66,000 | – | – | |
Merlin[a 4] | – | 40,000 | – | – | – | 23,281 | 5,031 | 11,688 | |
Osprey | – | 50,000 | – | – | – | 50,000 | – | – | |
Proton | – | 66,000 | – | – | – | – | – | 66,000 | |
Sunnidale | – | 38,000 | – | – | – | 38,000 | – | – | |
Totals | 467,675 | 272,600 | 170,719 | 19,282 | 42,000 | 225,944 | 24,000 | 258,330 |
Land sale system
The land grant policy changed after 1825 as the Upper Canadian administration faced a financial crisis that would otherwise require raising local taxes, thereby making it more dependent on a local elected legislature. The Upper Canadian state ended its policy of granting land to "unofficial" settlers and implemented a broad plan of revenue-generating sales. The Crown replaced its old policy of land grants to ordinary settlers in newly opened districts with land sales by auction. It also passed legislation that allowed the auctioning of previously granted land for payment of back-taxes.[44]
Canada Company
The greater portion of British emigrants, arriving in Canada without funds and the most exalted ideas of the value and productiveness of land, purchase extensively on credit... Everything goes on well for a short time. A log-house is erected with the assistance of old settlers, and the clearing of forest is commenced. Credit is obtained at a neighbouring store ... During this period he has led a life of toil and privation... On the arrival of the fourth harvest, he is reminded by the storekeeper to pay his account with cash, or discharge part of it with his disposable produce, for which he gets a very small price. He is also informed that the purchase money of the land has been accumulating with interest ... he finds himself poorer than when he commenced operation. Disappointment preys on his spirit... the land ultimately reverts to the former proprietor, or a new purchaser is found.
— Patrick Shirreff, 1835
Few chose to lease the Crown reserves as long as free grants of land were still available. The Lieutenant Governor increasingly found himself depending upon the customs duties shared with, but collected in Lower Canada for revenue; after a dispute with the lower province on the relative proportions to be allocated to each, these duties were withheld, forcing the Lieutenant Governor to search for new sources of revenue. The Canada Company was created as a means of generating government revenue that was not under the control of the elected Assembly, thereby granting the Lt. Governor greater independence from local voters.
The plan for the Canada Company was promoted by the province's Attorney General,
According to the Canada Company, "the poorest individual can here procure for himself and family a valuable tract; which, with a little labour, he can soon convert into a comfortable home, such as he could probably never attain in any other country – all his own!" However, recent studies have suggested that a minimum of £100 to £200 plus the cost of land was required to start a new farm in the bush. As a result, few of these poor settlers had any hope of starting their own farm, although many tried.[46]
Huron Tract
The Huron Tract lies in the counties of Huron, Perth, Middlesex and present-day
List of cities and towns of Upper Canada
Incorporated in Upper Canada era (to 1841)
- York (now Toronto), capital of Upper Canada
- Kingston
- Brockville
- Hamilton
- Cornwall
- Prescott
- Port Hope
- Picton
- Cobourg
- London
Incorporated in Canada West (1841-1867)
- Newark, now Niagara-on-the-Lake
- Brantford
- Bytown (now Ottawa)
- Goderich
- Belleville
- Peterborough
- Perth
- Napanee
- Guelph
- Whitby
- Paris, Ontario
- Lindsay, now part of Kawartha Lakes
- Galt, now part of Cambridge, Ontario
- Welland
- Sandwich (now Windsor)
- Stratford, Ontario
Population
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1806 | 70,718 | — |
1811 | 76,000 | +7.5% |
1814 | 95,000 | +25.0% |
1824 | 150,066 | +58.0% |
1825 | 157,923 | +5.2% |
1826 | 166,379 | +5.4% |
1827 | 177,174 | +6.5% |
1828 | 186,488 | +5.3% |
1829 | 197,815 | +6.1% |
1830 | 213,156 | +7.8% |
1831 | 236,702 | +11.0% |
1832 | 263,554 | +11.3% |
1833 | 295,863 | +12.3% |
1834 | 321,145 | +8.5% |
1835 | 347,359 | +8.2% |
1836 | 374,099 | +7.7% |
1837 | 397,489 | +6.3% |
1838 | 399,422 | +0.5% |
1839 | 409,048 | +2.4% |
1840 | 432,159 | +5.6% |
Source: Statistics Canada website Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871. See United Province of Canada for population after 1840. |
Ethnic groups
Although the province is frequently referred to as "English Canada" after the Union of the Canadas,[
First Nations
See above: Land Settlement
- Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples.
- The Longhouse",[27]
Métis
Many British and French-Canadian fur traders married First Nations women from the
Canadiens/French-Canadians
Early settlements in the region include the Mission of
Loyalists/Later Loyalists
After an initial group of about 7,000
Freed slaves
The Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada on 9 July 1793. The 1793 "Act against Slavery" forbade the importation of any additional slaves and freed children. It did not grant freedom to adult slaves—they were finally freed by the British Parliament in 1833. As a consequence, many Canadian slaves fled south to New England and New York, where slavery was no longer legal. Many American slaves who had escaped from the South via the Underground Railroad or fleeing from the Black Codes in the Ohio Valley came north to Ontario, a good portion settling on land lots and began farming.[49] It is estimated that thousands of escaped slaves entered Upper Canada from the United States.[50]
British
The Great Migration from Britain from 1815 to 1850 has been numbered at 800,000. The population of Upper Canada in 1837 is documented at 409,000. Given the lack of detailed census data, it is difficult to assess the relative size of the American and Canadian born "British" and the foreign-born "British." By the time of the first census in 1841, only half of the population of Upper Canada were foreign-born British.[51]
Irish
Scottish
English
Religion
Year | Pop. |
---|---|
Baptists | 16,411 |
Catholics | 65,203 |
Anglican | 107,791 |
Congregational | 4,253 |
Jews | 1,105 |
Lutherans | 4,524 |
Methodists | 82,923 |
Moravians | 1,778 |
Presbyterians | 97,095 |
Quakers | 5,200 |
Others | 19,422 |
Source: Statistics Canada website Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871. See United Province of Canada for population after 1840. |
Church of England
The first Lt. Governor, Sir
The Church was led by the Rev. John Strachan (1778–1867), a pillar of the Family Compact. Strachan was part of the oligarchic ruling class of the province, and besides leading the Church of England, also sat on the Executive Council, the Legislative Council, helped found the Bank of Upper Canada, Upper Canada College, and the University of Toronto.
Catholic Church
Father Alexander Macdonell was a Scottish Catholic priest who formed his evicted clan into The Glengarry Fencibles regiment, of which he was chaplain. He was the first Catholic chaplain in the British Army since the Reformation. When the regiment was disbanded, Rev. Macdonell appealed to the government to grant its members a tract of land in Canada, and, in 1804, 160,000 acres (60,000 ha) were provided in what is now Glengarry County, Canada.
In 1815, he began his service as the first Roman Catholic Bishop at St. Raphael's Church in the Highlands of Ontario.
Macdonell's role on the Legislative Council was one of the tensions with the Toronto congregation, led by Father
Ryerson and the Methodists
The undisputed leader of the highly fractious Methodists in Upper Canada was Egerton Ryerson, editor of their newspaper, The Christian Guardian. Ryerson (1803–1882) was an itinerant minister – or circuit rider – in the Niagara area for the Methodist Episcopal Church – an American branch of Methodism. As British immigration increased, Methodism in Upper Canada was torn between those with ties to the Methodist Episcopal Church and the British Wesleyan Methodists. Ryerson used the Christian Guardian to argue for the rights of Methodists in the province and, later, to help convince rank-and-file Methodists that a merger with British Wesleyans (effected in 1833) was in their best interest.
Presbyterians
The earliest Presbyterian ministers in Upper Canada came from various denominations based in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. The "Presbytery of the Canadas" was formed in 1818 primarily by Scottish
Mennonites, Tunkers, Quakers, and Children of Peace
These groups of later Loyalists were proportionately larger in the early decades of the province's settlement. The Mennonites, Tunkers, Quakers and Children of Peace are the traditional Peace churches. The Mennonites and
Poverty
In the decade ending in 1837, the population of Upper Canada doubled, to 397,489, fed in large part by erratic spurts of displaced paupers, the "surplus population" of the British Isles. Historian Rainer Baehre estimated that between 1831 and 1835 a bare minimum of one-fifth of all emigrants to the province arrived totally destitute, forwarded by their parishes in the United Kingdom.
The roots of Wilmot-Horton's "assisted emigration" policies began in April 1820, in the middle of an
Trade, monetary policy, and financial institutions
Corporations
There were two types of corporate actors at work in the Upper Canadian economy: the legislatively
Currency and banking
Currency
The government of Upper Canada never issued a provincial currency. A variety of coins, mainly of French, Spanish, English and American origin circulated. The government used the Halifax standard, where one pound Halifax equalled four Spanish dollars. One pound sterling equalled £1 2s 2¾d (until 1820), and £1 2s 6½d Halifax pounds after 1820.
Paper currency was issued primarily by the Bank of Upper Canada, although with the diversification of the banking system, each bank would issue its own distinctive notes.[61]
Bank of Upper Canada
The Bank of Upper Canada was "captured" from Kingston merchants by the York elite at the instigation of
Bank wars: the Scottish joint-stock banks
The difference between the chartered banks and the joint-stock banks lay almost entirely on the issue of liability and its implications for the issuance of bank notes. The joint-stock banks lacked limited liability, hence every partner in the bank was responsible for the bank's debts to the full extent of their personal property. The formation of new joint-stock banks blossomed in 1835 in the aftermath of a parliamentary report by Dr Charles Duncombe, which established their legality here. Duncombe's report drew in large part on an increasingly dominant banking orthodoxy in the United Kingdom which challenged the English system of chartered banks. Duncombe's Select Committee on Currency offered a template for the creation of joint-stock banks based on several successful British banks. Within weeks two Devonshire businessmen, Capt. George Truscott and John Cleveland Green, established the "Farmer's Bank" in Toronto. The only other successful bank established under this law was "The Bank of the People" which was set up by Toronto's Reformers. The Bank of the People provided the loan that allowed William Lyon Mackenzie to establish the newspaper The Constitution in 1836 in the lead up to the Rebellion of 1837. Mackenzie wrote at the time: "Archdeacon Strachan's bank (the old one) ... serve the double purpose of keeping the merchants in chains of debt and bonds to the bank manager, and the Farmer's acres under the harrow of the storekeeper. You will be shewn how to break this degraded yoke of mortgages, ejectments, judgments and bonds. Money bound you – money shall loose you".[63] During the financial panic of 1836, the Family Compact sought to protect its interests in the nearly bankrupt Bank of Upper Canada by making joint-stock banks illegal.[64]
Trade
After the Napoleonic Wars, as industrial production in Britain took off, English manufacturers began dumping cheap goods in Montreal; this allowed an increasing number of shopkeepers in York to obtain their goods competitively from Montreal wholesalers. It was during this period that the three largest pre-war merchants who imported directly from Britain retired from business as a result; Quetton St. George in 1815, Alexander Wood in 1821, and William Allan in 1822. Toronto and Kingston then underwent a boom in the number of increasingly specialised shops and wholesalers.[65] The Toronto wholesale firm of Isaac Buchanan and Company were one of the largest of the new wholesalers. Isaac Buchanan was a Scots merchant in Toronto, in partnership with his brother Peter, who remained in Glasgow to manage the British end of the firm. They established their business in Toronto in 1835, having bought out Isaac's previous partners, William Guild and Co., who had established themselves in Toronto in 1832. As a wholesale firm, the Buchanan's had invested more than £10,000 in their business.[66]
Another of those new wholesale businesses was the
Wheat and grains
Upper Canada was in the unenviable position of having few exports with which to pay for all its imported manufactured needs. For the vast majority of those who settled in rural areas, debt could be paid off only through the sale of wheat and flour; yet, throughout much of the 1820s, the price of wheat went through periodic cycles of boom and bust depending upon the British markets that ultimately provided the credit upon which the farmer lived. In the decade 1830–39, exports of wheat averaged less than £1 per person a year (less than £6 per household), and in the 1820s just half that.[68]
Given the small amounts of saleable wheat and flour, and the rarity of cash, some have questioned how market oriented these early farmers were. Instead of depending on the market to meet their needs, many of these farmers depended on networks of shared resources and cooperative marketing. For example, rather than hire labour, they met their labour needs through "work bees." such farmers are said to be 'subsistence oriented' and not to respond to market cues; rather, they engage in a
Timber
The Ottawa River timber trade resulted from Napoleon's 1806
The timber trade was Upper and
Transportation and communications
Canal system
The early nineteenth century was the age of canals. The
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal's purpose was military and hence was paid for by the British and not the local treasury. It was intended to provide a secure supply and communications route between Montreal and the British naval base in Kingston. The objective was to bypass the St. Lawrence River bordering New York; a route which would have left British supply ships vulnerable to an attack. Westward from Montreal, travel would proceed along the Ottawa River to Bytown (now Ottawa), then southwest via the canal to Kingston and out into Lake Ontario. Because the Rideau Canal was easier to navigate than the St. Lawrence River due to the series of rapids between Montreal and Kingston, it became a busy commercial artery from Montreal to the Great Lakes. The construction of the canal was supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers. The work started in 1826, and was completed 6 years later in 1832 at a cost of £822,000.
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal was created to directly link Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, bypassing Niagara Falls and the Erie Canal. It was the idea of
By the time the canal was finished in 1837, it had cost the province £425,000 in loans and stock subscriptions. The company was supposed to have been a private one using private capital; but the province had little private capital available, hence most of the original funds came from New York. To keep the canal in Upper Canadian hands, the province had passed a law barring Americans from the company's directorate. The company was thus controlled by the Family Compact, even though they had few shares. By 1834, it was clear the canal would never make money and that the province would be on the hook for the large loans; the canal and the canal company thus became a political issue, as local farmers argued the huge expense would ultimately only benefit American farmers in the west and the merchants who transported their grain.[76]
Desjardins Canal
The Desjardins Canal, named after its promoter Pierre Desjardins, was built to give
Lake traffic: steamships
There is disagreement as to whether the Canadian-built Frontenac (170 feet; 52 m), launched on 7 September 1816, at Ernestown, Ontario or the US-built Ontario (110 feet; 34 m), launched in the spring of 1817 at Sacketts Harbor, New York, was the first steamboat on the Great Lakes. While Frontenac was launched first, Ontario began active service first.[77] The first steamboat on the upper Great Lakes was the passenger-carrying Walk-In-The-Water, built in 1818 to navigate Lake Erie.
In the years between 1809 and 1837 just over 100 steamboats were launched by Upper and Lower Canadians for the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes trade, of which ten operated on Lake Ontario.[78] The single largest engine foundry in British North America before 1838 was the Eagle Foundry of Montreal, founded by John Dod Ward in the fall of 1819 which manufactured 33 of the steam engines. The largest Upper Canadian engine manufacturer was Sheldon & Dutcher of Toronto, who made three engines in the 1830s before being driven to Bankruptcy by the Bank of Upper Canada in 1837.[79]
The major owner-operators of steamships on Lake Ontario were Donald Bethune, John Hamilton, Hugh Richardson, and Henry Gildersleeve, each of whom would have invested a substantial fortune.[80]
Roads
Besides marine travel, Upper Canada had a few Post roads or footpaths used for transportation by horse or stagecoaches along the key settlements between London to Kingston.
The Governor's Road was built beginning in 1793 from Dundas to Paris and then to the proposed capital of London by 1794. The road was further extended eastward with new capital of York in 1795. his road was eventually known as Dundas Road.
A second route was known as Lakeshore Road or York Road which was built from York to Trent River from 1799 to 1900 and later extended eastwards to Kingston in 1817. This road was later renamed as Kingston Road.
United States relations
War of 1812 (1812–1815)
During the War of 1812 with the United States, Upper Canada was the chief target of the Americans, since it was weakly defended and populated largely by American immigrants. However, division in the United States over the war, a lackluster American militia, the incompetence of American military commanders, and swift and decisive action by the British commander, Sir Isaac Brock, kept Upper Canada part of British North America.
Detroit was captured by the British on 6 August 1812. The Michigan Territory was held under British control until it was abandoned in 1813. The Americans won the decisive Battle of Lake Erie (10 September 1813) and forced the British to retreat from the western areas. On the retreat they were intercepted at the Battle of the Thames (5 October 1813) and destroyed in a major American victory that killed Tecumseh and broke the power of Britain's Indian allies.[81]
Major battles fought on territory in Upper Canada included:
- Battle of Queenston Heights, 13 October 1812
- Burning and Battle of York, 27 April 1813
- Battle of Fort George, 27 May 1813
- Battle of Stoney Creek, 5 June 1813
- Battle of Beaver Dams, 24 June 1813
- Battle of Lake Erie, 10 September 1813
- Battle of the Thames, 5 October 1813
- Battle of Crysler's Farm, 11 November 1813
- Burning of Newark, 10 December 1813
- Battle of Chippawa, 5 July 1814
- Battle of Lundy's Lane, 25 July 1814
Many other battles were fought in American territory bordering Upper Canada, including the Northwest Territory (most in modern-day Michigan), upstate New York and naval battles in the Great Lakes.
The Treaty of Ghent (ratified in 1815) ended the war and restored the status quo ante bellum.
1837 Rebellion and Patriot War
Mackenzie, Duncombe,
On 13 January 1838, under attack by British armaments, the rebels fled. Mackenzie went to the United States where he was arrested and charged under the Neutrality Act.[82] The Neutrality Act of 1794 made it illegal for an American to wage war against any country at peace with the United States. Application of the Neutrality Act during the Patriot War led to the largest use of US government military force against its own citizens since the Whiskey Rebellion.[83]
The extended series of incidents comprising the Patriot War were finally settled by US Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, in the course of their negotiations leading to the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
Education
In 1807 the Grammar School Act allowed the government to take over various grammar schools across the province and incorporating them into a network of eight new, public grammar schools (secondary schools), one for each of the eight districts (Eastern, Johnstown, Midland, Newcastle, Home, Niagara, London, and Western):[84]
- Eastern Grammar School in New Johnstown or current day Cornwall, Ontario – founded as Cornwall Grammar School and later became Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School.
- Johnstown District Grammar School, Maitland, Ontario
- Midland Grammar School – created to replace Kingston Grammar School established in 1792 and later became Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute
- Newcastle District Grammar School, Coburg
- Home District Grammar School in York, Upper Canada, later becoming Royal Grammar School, Toronto High School and finally to the current name Jarvis Collegiate Institute.
- St. Catherine's and District Grammar School (Niagara District)
- London District Grammar School latter became London Central Secondary School
- Western District Grammar School in Sandwich or current day Windsor, Ontario – grammar school is gone and is now the site of General Brock Public School.[85]
Canada West
Canada West was the western portion of the
The area was named the province of Ontario under the British North America Act of 1867.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Early flags". Government of Canada. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "Royal Union Flag". The Flags of Canada. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ Section 38, Constitutional Act, 1791, Revised Statutes of Canada 1985, App. II, No. 3.
- ^ a b Butler (1843), pp. 10, 20
- ^ "Juriglobe".
- ^ "Constitutional Act 1791". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Craig (1963), p. 2
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 5–6
- ^ Craig (1963), p. 6
- ^ "Biography – SIMCOE, JOHN GRAVES". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V. 1801–1820.
- ^ McNairn (2000), pp. 23–62
- ^ Armstrong (1985), pp. 8–12
- ^ Armstrong (1985), p. 39
- ^ Craig (1963), p. 12
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 30–31
- ^ Wallace (1915)
- ^ Mills, David; Panneton, Daniel (20 March 2017) [7 February 2006]. "Family Compact". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "Biography – ROBINSON, Sir JOHN BEVERLEY". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IX. 1861–1870.
- ^ "Biography – BOULTON, WILLIAM HENRY". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X. 1871–1880.
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 93–99
- ^ Wilton (2001), pp. 146–147
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), pp. 181–184
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), pp. 192–199
- .
- ^ Careless (1967), pp. 113–30
- S2CID 162365787.
- ^ a b Haudenosaunee is /hɔːdɛnəˈʃɔːniː/ in English, Akunęhsyę̀niˀ in Tuscarora (Rudes, B., Tuscarora English Dictionary, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), and Rotinonsionni in Mohawk.
- ^ "Upper Canada Land Surrenders". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ Mintz (1999)
- ^ a b "Upper Canada Land Surrenders and the Williams Treaties (1764-1862/1923)". www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ Gates (1968)
- ^ Calton is now within Glasgow itself.
- ^ Campey (2005), p. 52ff
- ^ Humber (1991), p. 193
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 142–144
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 171–179
- ^ Wilson, George A. (1959). The Political and Administrative History of the Upper Canada Clergy Reserves, 1790–1855. Toronto: PhD Thesis, Dept. of History, University of Toronto. pp. 133ff.
- ^ ISBN 0-252-02902-X.
- )
- ^ Attorney-General v Grasett, 5 Gr 412 (C.C.U.C. 12 May 1856).; affirmed on appeal, Attorney-General v Grasett, 6 Gr 200 (C.E.A.U.C. 1857).
- ^ An Act to provide for the sale of the Rectory Lands in this Province, S.Prov.C. 1866, c. 16 , as amended by c. 17
- ^ The Origin, History and Management of the University of King's College. Toronto: George Brown. 1844. p. 9.
- ^ Hodgins, J. George (1894). "V: Educational Provisions of the Upper Canada Legislature in 1832, 1833". Documentary History of Education in Upper Canada. Vol. II (1831-1836). Toronto: Warwick Bros. & Rutter. pp. 102–105.
- JSTOR 20798984.
- ^ Lee (2004), pp. 98–148
- ^ Ankli, Robert E.; Duncan, Kenneth (1984). "Farm Making Costs in Early Ontario". Canadian Papers in Rural History. 4: 33–49.
- ^ "What was the Huron Tract?". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
- ^ "Complete History of the Canadian Metis Culturework=Metis nation of the North West". Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ^ Cooper, Afua, "Acts of Resistance: Black Men and Women Engage Slavery in Upper Canada, 1793–1803," Ontario History, Spring 2007, Vol. 99 Issue 1, pp 5–17
- ^ "Underground Railroad". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Wilton (2001), p. 9
- ^ "The Parish of St. Raphael Glengarry Emigration of 1786 Bishop Alexander Macdonell 1762–1840". ontarioplaques.com. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
- ^ "Multiculturalism". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "Why is Canada the most tolerant country in the world? Luck".
- ^ "Bishop Alexander MacDonell". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
- ^ Reaman (1957), pp. 40–124
- ^ Baehre, Rainer (1981). "Pauper Emigration to Upper Canada in the 1830s". Historie Sociale/Social History. XIV (28): 340.
- ^ Johnston (1972), pp. 51–54
- ^ Cameron & Maude (2000)
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), p. 21
- ^ McCalla (1993), pp. 245247
- ^ Schrauwers (2010), pp. 22–26
- S2CID 154484234.
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), pp. 151–174
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), p. 107
- ^ McCalla (1979), p. 28
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), pp. 102–106
- ^ McCalla (1993), p. 75
- ^ Schrauwers (2009), pp. 41–50
- ^ Woods (1980), p. 89
- ^ Greening (1961), pp. 111
- ^ Greening (1961), p. 111
- ^ Bond (1984), p. 43
- ^ (Mika 1982, p. 121)
- ^ Craig (1963), pp. 153–160
- S2CID 153540099.
- ^ The debate is addressed by Barlow Cumberland in Chapter 2 of A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River. Retrieved 26 March 2011
- ^ McCalla (1993), p. 119
- ^ Lewis, Walter (1997). "The First Generation of Marine Engines in Central Canadian Steamers, 1809–1837". The Northern Mariner. VII (2): II.
- ^ McCalla (1993), p. 120
- ^ Young, Bennett Henderson, The Battle of the Thames: In Which Kentuckians Defeated the British, French and Indians, 5 October 1813. Louisville, Ky.: Morton, 1903.
- ^ Armstrong, Frederick H.; Stagg, Ronald J. (1976). "McKenzie, William Lyon". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IX (1861–1870) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- S2CID 142863197.
- ^ "Education in Upper Canada From 1783 To 1844". canada.yodelout.com.
- ^ "Western District Grammar School – Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive". swoda.uwindsor.ca.
- Careless, J.M.S.; Foot, Richard (4 March 2015) [7 February 2006]. "Province of Canada, 1841–67". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
References
- Armstrong, Frederick Henry (1985). Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology (revised ed.). Dundurn. ISBN 978-0-919670-92-1.
- Bond, Courtney C.J. (1984). Where Rivers Meet: An Illustrated History of Ottawa. Windsor Publications.
- Butler, Samuel (1843). The Emigrant's Handbook of Facts Concerning Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Cape of Good Hope, &c. Glasgow: W.R. M'Phun. ISBN 9780665952821.
- Cameron, Wendy; Maude, Mary McDougall (2000). Assisting Emigration to Upper Canada: The Petworth Project, 1832–1837. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 9780773520349.
- Campey, Lucille H. (2005). The Scottish pioneers of Upper Canada, 1784–1855: Glengarry and beyond. Dundurn Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-897045-01-5.
- ISBN 9780771019128.
- Craig, Gerald M. (1963). Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784-1841, republished 2013. McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 978-0-19-900904-6.
- Gates, Lillian (1968). Land Policies of Upper Canada. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press.
- Greening, W.E. (1961). The Ottawa. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
- Humber, Charles J. (1991). Allegiance: the Ontario Story. Mississauga, Ontario: Heirloom Publishing.
- Johnston, H.J.M. (1972). British Emigration Policy 1815–1830: 'Shovelling Out the Paupers. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Lee, Robert C. (2004). The Canada Company and the Huron Tract, 1826–1853: Personalities, Profits and Politics. Toronto: Natural Heritage Books. ISBN 9781896219943.
- McCalla, Douglas (1979). The Upper Canada Trade 1834–1872: A Study of the Buchanan's Business. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- McCalla, Douglas (1993). Planting the Province: The Economic History of Upper Canada 1784–1870. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- McNairn, Jeffrey L. (2000). The Capacity To Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada,1791-1854. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-3916-4.
- Mika, Nick & Helma (1982). Bytown: The Early Days of Ottawa. Belleville, Ont.: Mika Publishing Company.
- Mintz, Max M. (1999). Seeds of Empire: The American Revolutionary Conquest of the Iroquois. New York University Press.
- Reaman, G. Elmore (1957). The Trail of the Black Walnut. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
- Schrauwers, Albert (2009). Union is Strength: W.L. Mackenzie, the Children of Peace and the Emergence of Joint Stock Democracy in Upper Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-9927-3.
- Wallace, W. Stewart (1915). The Family Compact: A Chronicle of the Rebellion in Upper Canada. Glasgow, Brook.
- Wilton, Carol (2001). Popular Politics and Political Culture in Upper Canada, 1800-1850. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2054-7.
- Woods, Shirley E. Jr (1980). Ottawa: The Capital of Canada. Toronto: Doubleday Canada.
Statutes
- Stewart Derbishire and George Desbarats, printers (1859). The consolidated statutes for Upper Canada. Toronto: Toronto : Printed by S. Derbishire and G. Desbarats, law printer to the Queen.
- James Nickalls Jr (1831). The Statutes of the Province of Upper Canada: Together with Such British Statutes, Ordinances of Quebec, and Proclamationsas relate to the said province. Kingston: Printed by F.M. Hill.
Further reading
- Clarke, John. Land Power and Economics on the Frontier of Upper Canada McGill-Queen's University Press (2001) 747pp. (ISBN 0-7735-2062-7)
- Di Mascio, Anthony. The Idea of Popular Schooling in Upper Canada: Print Culture, Public Discourse, and the Demand for Education (McGill-Queen's University Press; 2012) 248 pages; building a common system of schooling in the late-18th and early 19th centuries.
- Dieterman, Frank. Government on fire: the history and archaeology of Upper Canada's first Parliament Buildings Eastendbooks, 2001.
- Dunham, Eileen. Political unrest in Upper Canada 1815–1836 McClelland and Stewart, 1963.
- Errington, Jane. The lion, the eagle, and Upper Canada: a developing colonial ideology McGill-Queen's University Press, 1987.
- Grabb, Edward; Duncan, Jeff; Baer, Douglas (2000). "Defining Moments and Recurring Myths: Comparing Canadians and Americans after the American Revolution". The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. 37.
- Johnston, James Keith. Historical essays on Upper Canada McClelland and Stewart, 1975.
- Kilbourn, William. The Firebrand: William Lyon Mackenzie and the Rebellion in Upper Canada (1956)
- Lewis, Frank, and M. C. Urquhart. Growth and standard of living in a pioneer economy: Upper Canada 1826–1851 Kingston, Ont. : Institute for Economic Research, Queen's University, 1997.
- Rea, J. Edgar. "Rebellion in Upper Canada, 1837" Manitoba Historical Society Transactions Series 3, Number 22, 1965–66 online, historiography
- Saul, John Ralston. Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin (2010) online
- Winearls, Joan. Mapping Upper Canada 1780–1867: an annotated bibliography of manuscript and printed maps. University of Toronto Press, 1991.erdvrv
- Moving Here, Staying Here: The Canadian Immigrant Experience Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine at Library and Archives Canada