A province is an administrative division within a country or state . The term derives from the ancient Roman provincia , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy . The term province has since been adopted by many countries. In some countries with no actual provinces, "the provinces" is a metaphorical term meaning "outside the capital city ".
153-688: The Province of Upper Canada (French: province du Haut-Canada ) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain , to govern the central third of the lands in British North America , formerly part of the Province of Quebec since 1763. Upper Canada included all of modern-day Southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the Pays d'en Haut which had formed part of New France , essentially
306-632: A constitution . Those that are not specifically identified are called "residual powers". In a decentralized federal system (such as the United States and Australia ) these residual powers lie at the provincial or state level, whereas in a centralized federal system (such as Canada ) they are retained at the federal level. Some of the enumerated powers can be quite important. For example, Canadian provinces are sovereign in regard to such important matters as property , civil rights , education , social welfare and medical services . The growth of
459-600: A county in the United Kingdom . In China, a province is a sub-national region within a unitary state; this means that a province can be created or abolished by the national people's congress. In some nations, a province (or its equivalent) is a first-level administrative unit of sub-national government—as in the Netherlands —and a large constituent autonomous area, as in Argentina , Canada , South Africa , and
612-471: A federal state and not a confederation , in practice it is among the world's more decentralized federations. Canadian Confederation and the Constitution Act, 1867 conferred considerable power on the provincial governments which they often use to pursue their own goals independently of the federal government. In Canada, local governments have been called "creatures of the province" because
765-647: A region (which is the first-order administrative sub-division of the nation). Italian provinces are mainly named after their principal town and comprise several administrative sub-divisions called comuni (communes). In Chile, they are referred to as comunas . Chile has 15 regions , subdivided into 53 provinces, of which each is run by a governor appointed by the president. Italy has 20 regions , subdivided into 14 metropolitan cities and 96 provinces . Peru has 25 regions , subdivided into 194 provinces. Spain has 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, subdivided into 50 provinces . The island of Ireland
918-608: A standardized system for surveying the land into saleable lots, although Ohio was partially surveyed several times using different methods, resulting in a patchwork of land surveys in Ohio. Some older French communities' property claims based on earlier systems of long, narrow lots also were retained. The rest of the Northwest Territory was divided into roughly uniform square townships and sections, which facilitated land sales and development. The ordinance also stipulated that
1071-454: A "province" would be a territory or function that a Roman magistrate held control of on behalf of his government. In fact, the word province is an ancient term from public law, which means: "office belonging to a magistrate". This agrees with the Latin term's earlier usage as a generic term for a jurisdiction under Roman law . In France , the expression en province still means "outside
1224-563: A US army by Native Americans in history. About 623 American soldiers were killed in action, and about 50 Native Americans were killed. Although an investigation exonerated him, St. Clair resigned his army commission in March 1792 at the request of President Washington, but continued to serve as Governor of the Northwest Territory. After St. Clair's defeat, In June 1792, President Washington tapped revolutionary war hero Major General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to avenge St. Clair and assert sovereignty over
1377-413: A growing interest in paradiplomacy , be it performed under a legal framework or as a trend informally admitted as legitimate by the central authorities. In unitary states such as France and China , provinces are subordinate to the national, central government. In theory, the central government can create or abolish provinces within its jurisdiction. On the other hand, although Canada is now considered
1530-592: A half times as large as France —640,679 km (247,368 sq mi). Six provinces, including five of the oldest Canadian provinces— Alberta , Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island —have "counties" as administrative sub-divisions. The actual local government form can vary widely. In New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and in 9 of the 18 counties of Nova Scotia, county government has been abolished and has been superseded by another form of local government. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island also have parishes within counties. Since
1683-704: A large Native American state that would cover most of the Old Northwest. It would be independent of the United States and allied with the British, who would use it to block American westward expansion and to build up their control of the North American fur trade headquartered in Montreal. A new colony, named Charlotina , was proposed for establishment in the southern Great Lakes region before
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#17327647828011836-462: A major general. He led a punitive expedition involving two Regular Army regiments and some militia. In October 1791 as an advance post for his campaign, Fort Jefferson (Ohio) , was built under his direction. Located in present-day Darke County in far western Ohio, the fort was built of wood and intended primarily as a supply depot; accordingly, it was originally named Fort Deposit. One month later, near modern-day Fort Recovery , his force advanced to
1989-600: A part of Indiana Territory starting in 1800) began in 1801, through the Cincinnati land office. After the Revolutionary War ended, Rufus Putnam (the "Father of Ohio") and Manasseh Cutler were instrumental in creating the Northwest Ordinance , which opened up the Northwest Territory for settlement. This land was used to serve as compensation for what was owed to Revolutionary War veterans. It
2142-553: A population, excluding Native Americans, of over 45,000, and Indiana Territory, a population of about 5,600. By the time of Ohio statehood, there were as many as 50 named towns in Northwest and Indiana Territories, a few, like Vincennes, with thousands of settlers, and dozens of unnamed settlements below the Treaty Line in Ohio. Following settlement of the frontier, the great wave of colonial immigration flowed westward, founding
2295-479: A proclamation 16 July 1792 divided these districts into the nineteen original counties of Ontario: Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, Leeds, Frontenac, Ontario, Addington, Lennox, Prince Edward, Hastings, Northumberland, Durham, York, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent. By 1800, the four districts of Eastern, Midland, Home and Western had been increased to eight, the new ones being Johnston, Niagara, London and Newcastle. Additional districts were created from
2448-633: 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. The next wave of organised Reform activity emerged in the 1830s through the work of William Lyon Mackenzie , James Lesslie , John Rolph , William John O'Grady and Dr Thomas Morrison , all of Toronto. They were critical to introducing
2601-467: A referendum), while the province of Alberta still does not impose a provincial sales tax. The evolution of federations has created an inevitable tug-of-war between concepts of federal supremacy versus states' and provinces' rights. The historic division of responsibility in federal constitutions is inevitably subject to multiple overlaps. For example, when central governments, responsible for foreign policy , enter into international agreements in areas where
2754-730: 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. The Legislative branch of the government consisted of
2907-408: A wedge-shaped area of present-day Indiana in the southeast known as "the gore". It, along with everything east of the new territory, remained part of the Northwest Territory. This legislation was signed into law by President John Adams on May 7, 1800, and became effective on July 4. On April 30, 1802, Congress passed an enabling act for Ohio that authorized the residents of the eastern portion of
3060-419: Is administratively divided into four provinces, which are: It also has two autonomous territories: The term "province" is sometimes used to refer to the historic governorates ( guberniyas ) of Russia . This terms also refers to the provinces ( провинции ), which were introduced as the subdivisions of the governorates in 1719 and existed until 1775. In modern parlance, the term is commonly used to refer to
3213-492: Is also divided into counties, albeit they are officially classified as "municipal districts" by the province, though in regular everyday parlance these entities are referred to as a "county". The province of Alberta has some unique local governance schemes formed in response to local conditions. For instance, Sherwood Park is an unincorporated "urban service area" of 72,017 within Strathcona County , which has most of
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#17327647828013366-550: Is divided into four historic provinces (see Provinces of Ireland ), each of which is sub-divided into counties . These provinces are Connacht (in the west), Leinster (in the east), Munster (in the south) and, Ulster (in the north). Nowadays these provinces have little or no administrative function, though they do have sporting significance. From the 19th century, the Portuguese colonies were considered overseas provinces of Portugal . Similarly, some overseas parts of
3519-430: Is not a pair of twin cities on opposite sides of a border, but is actually incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administration. The residents objected to the federal government splitting the city in two when it created the two provinces, so the two provinces reunified it by declaring it to be a single city in two provinces, thereby bypassing the limitations of federal boundaries. Pakistan
3672-605: 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. The uniting factors amongst the Compact were its loyalist tradition, hierarchical class structure and adherence to the established Anglican Church. Leaders such as John Beverley Robinson and John Strachan proclaimed it an ideal government, especially as contrasted with
3825-516: The Grands Gouvernements , generally former medieval feudal principalities, or agglomerations of such. Today the expression en province is regularly replaced in the media by the more politically correct en région , région now being the term officially used for the secondary level of government. In Italy , in provincia generally means "outside the biggest regional capitals" (like Rome , Milan , Naples , etc.). For
3978-648: 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
4131-710: The American Revolutionary War , provisions in the Articles of Confederation , and various treaties preceding the Northwest Indian War including Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) and Treaty of Fort McIntosh (1785). The treaty process extended well beyond the War and existence of the Territory as a political entity. European exploration of the region began with French-Canadian voyageurs in
4284-721: The American Revolutionary War . Congress passed the Proclamation of 1783 , which recognized Native American rights to the land. A council held in 1785 at Fort Detroit declared that the confederacy would deal jointly with the United States, forbade individual tribes from dealing directly with the United States, and declared the Ohio River as the boundary between their lands and those of the American settlers. The Northwest Territory's first governor, Arthur St. Clair , sought to end Native American claims to Ohio land and thus clear
4437-753: 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. These settlers are known as United Empire Loyalists and were primarily English-speaking Protestants. The first townships (Royal and Cataraqui) along
4590-441: The Articles of Confederation so long as these states were allowed to keep their western territory, fearing that those states could continue to grow and tip the balance of power in their favor under the proposed system of federal government. As a concession to obtain ratification, these states ceded their claims on the territory to the federal government: New York in 1780, Virginia in 1784, and Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1785. So
4743-661: The British Empire bore the colonial title of "province" (in a more Roman sense), such as the Province of Canada and the Province of South Australia (the latter, to distinguish it from the penal "colonies" elsewhere in Australia ). Likewise, prior to the American Revolution , most of the original Thirteen Colonies in British America were provinces as well, such as the Province of Georgia and
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4896-470: The British Empire . The division was created to ensure the exercise of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in the North American colonies. 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
5049-640: The Canadian Constitution assigns local government to provincial jurisdiction, the various provinces can create, dissolve, and reorganize local governments freely and they have been described as "creatures of the province". The Western provinces have more varied types of administrative sub-divisions than the Eastern provinces . The province of British Columbia has "regional districts" which function as county-equivalents. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are divided into rural municipalities. Alberta
5202-811: The Chartist movement in England. 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
5355-601: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . It can also be a constituent element of a federation , confederation , or republic . For example, in the United States , no state may secede from the federal Union without the permission of the federal government . In other nations—such as Belgium , Chile , Italy , Peru , the Philippines , and Spain —a province is a second-level administrative sub-division of
5508-611: The Mauryas , the Gupta Empire gave local areas a great deal of independence and divided the empire into 26 large provinces, styled as Bhukti, Pradesha and Bhoga. In many federations and confederations , the province or state is not clearly subordinate to the national or central government. Rather, it is considered to be sovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions. The central- and provincial-government functions, or areas of jurisdiction, are identified in
5661-411: The Northwest Ordinance . A bicameral legislature consisted of a House of Representatives and a Council. The first House had 22 representatives , apportioned by population of each county. The House then nominated 10 citizens to be Council members. The nominations were sent to the U.S. Congress, which appointed five of them as the council. This assembly became the legislature of the Territory, although
5814-571: The Paris region". Equivalent expressions are used in Peru ( en provincias , "outside the city of Lima "), Mexico ( la provincia , "lands outside Mexico City "), Romania ( în provincie , "outside the Bucharest region"), Poland ( prowincjonalny , "provincial"), Bulgaria ( в провинцията , v provincijata , "in the provinces" and провинциален , provincialen , "provincial") and
5967-529: The Philippines ( taga-probinsiya , "from outside Metro Manila ", sa probinsiya , "in the provinces", or "in the countryside"). Before the French Revolution , France comprised a variety of jurisdictions (built around the early Capetian royal demesne ), some being considered "provinces", though the term was also used colloquially for territories as small as a manor ( châtellenie ). Most commonly referred to as "provinces", however, were
6120-669: The Province of Canada . From its separation from Nova Scotia in the 18th century, New Brunswick was known as His/Her Majesty's Province of New Brunswick. After Canadian confederation in 1867, the term provinces continued to be used, in reference to the sub-national governments of Canada . Because Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area , but has only 10 provinces, most Canadian provinces are very large— six of its ten provinces are larger than any country in Europe except Russia , and its largest province Quebec —1,542,056 km (595,391 sq mi)—is almost two and
6273-460: The Province of New Hampshire . The constituent entities of Canada are known as provinces . Prior to confederation, the term province was used in reference to several British colonies situated in Canada; such as the colonial Province of Quebec . In 1791, Quebec split into two separate colonies, the provinces of Lower Canada , and Upper Canada . The two colonies were later merged in 1841 to form
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6426-593: The Thirteen Colonies that eventually formed the United States were called provinces. All declared themselves "states" when they became independent. The Connecticut Colony , the Delaware Colony , Rhode Island and the Colony of Virginia never used the title "province". The British colonies further north, which remained loyal to Britain and later confederated to form the original Canada , retained
6579-577: The United Kingdom use of the word is often pejorative, assuming a stereotype of the denizens of the provinces to be less culturally aware than those in the capital. The historic European provinces—built up of many small regions, called pays by the French and " cantons " by the Swiss, each with a local cultural identity and focused upon a market town —have been depicted by Fernand Braudel as
6732-493: 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
6885-709: The oblasts and krais of Russia. Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory , also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio , was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution . Established in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation through the Northwest Ordinance , it was
7038-484: The parliament comprising legislative council and legislative assembly . When the capital was first moved to Toronto (then called York) from Newark (present-day Niagara-on-the-Lake ) in 1796, the Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada were at the corner of Parliament and Front Streets, in buildings that were burned by US forces in the War of 1812, rebuilt, then burned again by accident in 1824. The site
7191-464: The 16 Regions into which New Zealand is divided, and also the 21 District Health Boards. Sometimes the term the provinces is used to refer collectively to rural and regional parts of New Zealand, that is, those parts of the country lying outside some or all of the "main centres"— Auckland , Wellington , Christchurch , Hamilton and Dunedin . In many countries, a province is a relatively small non-constituent level of sub-national government, such as
7344-418: The 17th century, followed by French missionaries and French fur traders. French-Canadian explorer Jean Nicolet was the first recorded European entrant into the region, landing in 1634 at the current site of Green Bay, Wisconsin (although Étienne Brûlé is stated by some sources as having explored Lake Superior and possibly inland Wisconsin in 1622). The French exercised control from widely separate posts in
7497-496: The 18th century. In the early 19th century, many of the weavers emigrated to Canada, settling in Carleton Place and other communities in eastern Ontario , where they continued their trade. In 1825, 1,878 Irish Immigrants from the city of Cork arrived in the community of Scott's Plains. The British Parliament had approved an experimental emigration plan to transport poor Irish families to Upper Canada in 1822. The scheme
7650-548: The British Political Unions to Upper Canada. Political Unions were not parties. The unions organised petitions to Parliament. 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
7803-525: The British under Robert Rogers took formal control of the Great Lakes region in 1760. 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
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#17327647828017956-464: The Canadian government introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) to share the revenues, which proved unpopular both with provincial governments and taxpayers. The Canadian government has tried to harmonize the two levels of sales taxes, but three provinces continue to impose a separate sales tax (British Columbia after harmonizing it, and shortly thereafter de-harmonizing it after it was struck down by
8109-410: The Canadian government introduced an income tax during World War I , and since it is a direct tax it also became a major revenue generator for provinces. In most provinces, the federal government now collects income tax for both levels of government and transfers to the provincial governments whatever surcharge they ask for. The sales tax also become a major revenue generator for provinces, so in 1991
8262-600: The Constitution provided for stronger provincial powers. This provided an opportunity for forum shopping for provinces who opposed federal laws. Until appeals from Canada to the Privy Council were abolished in 1949, in legal disputes the provincial governments tended to win powers at the expense of the federal government. In addition, while the Canadian federal government has unlimited taxing power while province governments are restricted to imposing direct taxes ,
8415-591: The Crown (for which 22,345 acres (9,043 ha) were set aside), where the revenues would be remitted to the Church. The act also provided for the creation of parish rectories , giving parishes a corporate identity so that they could hold property (although none were created until 1836, prior to the recall of John Colborne , in which he created 24 of them). They were granted lands amounting to 21,638 acres (8,757 ha), of which 15,048 acres (6,090 ha) were drawn from
8568-879: The Family Compact. 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 Children of Peace . The Canadian Alliance Society adopted much of the platform (such as secret ballot & universal suffrage) of the Owenite National Union of the Working Classes in London, England, that were to be integrated into
8721-465: 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 United Province of Canada . Upper Canada's constitution
8874-485: The Indigenous peoples. Some of the treaties spelled out designated reserve lands for the Indigenous peoples. 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
9027-411: The Inspector General and the Surveyor General to the board, and made a quorum of three for meetings; these two public officers also sat on the Legislative Council with Strachan. These three were usually members of the Family Compact. The clergy reserves were not the only types of landed endowment for the Anglican Church and clergy. The 1791 Act also provided for glebe land to be assigned and vested in
9180-480: The Miami capital of Kekionga. Along the way Wayne's legion built a series of outpost forts including Fort Greene Ville, Fort Recovery and Fort Defiance. Fierce battles occurred around some of these but none of Wayne's forts were ever taken by the Native Americans. In mid 1794, the British constructed Fort Miamis near what is today Toledo, Ohio, to forestall Wayne's putative advance on the British stronghold at Detroit. The final battle of Wayne's campaign occurred within
9333-400: The Militia, the Attorney General , the Auditor General of Land Patents for Upper Canada , the Auditor General (only one appointment ever made), Crown Lands Office , Indian Office , Inspector General , Kings' Printer , Provincial Secretary and Registrar's Office , Receiver General of Upper Canada , Solicitor General , and Surveyor General . The Executive Council of Upper Canada had
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#17327647828019486-463: The Mississippi River were the Louisiana Province of New Spain, formerly New France, acquired by the United States in 1803 by the Louisiana Purchase . Lands north of the Great Lakes were part of the British Province of Upper Canada . Lands south of the Ohio River constituted Kentucky County, Virginia , admitted to the union as the state of Kentucky in 1792. The area included more than 300,000 square miles (780,000 km ) and comprised about 1/3 of
9639-472: The Montreal-based fur trade. The prohibition of settlement west of the Appalachians remained, contributing to the American Revolution . In February 1779, George Rogers Clark , leading a force of Virginia militia , captured Kaskaskia and Vincennes from British commander Henry Hamilton . Virginia capitalized on Clark's success by laying claim to the whole of the Old Northwest, calling it Illinois County , Virginia, until 1784, when it ceded its land claims to
9792-448: The Muskingum ). Settlement of these areas was spearheaded by Losantiville and Marietta, respectively. In 1792, Congress donated 100,000 acres to Ohio Company as a buffer zone against Native American incursion around the settled area. The vexing land claims by inhabitants of the old French Vincennes Tract were resolved by what was dubbed the 'Vincennes donation lands' embodied in a federal land act of 1791. Federal land sales in Indiana (then
9945-405: The Native Americans in October 1790. A group of squatters had moved up to the area near present-day Stockport now in Morgan County, Ohio and settled along flood plain , or "bottom" land, of the Muskingum River , some 30 miles north of an Ohio Company of Associates settlement at Marietta, Ohio . The Big Bottom massacre occurred on January 2, 1791. Lenape and Wyandot warriors stormed
10098-494: The Northwest Territory through the Land Ordinance of 1785 . The square surveys of the Northwest Territory became a hallmark of the Midwest , as sections , townships, counties (and states) were laid out scientifically, and land was sold quickly and efficiently (although not without some speculative aberrations). Arthur St. Clair was the territory's governor until November 1802, when President Thomas Jefferson removed him from office and appointed Charles Willing Byrd , who served
10251-442: The Northwest Territory to form a state constitution and government, and be admitted to the Union. When Ohio was admitted as the 17th state on March 1, 1803, the land not included in the new state, including the gore, became part of Indiana Territory, and the Northwest Territory went out of existence. Ongoing disputes with the British over the region were a contributing factor to the War of 1812 . Britain irrevocably ceded claim to
10404-436: The Ohio and Miami Rivers and the south shore of Lake Erie in Ohio. Conflicts between settlers and Native American inhabitants of the Territory resulted in the Northwest Indian War culminating in General "Mad" Anthony Wayne 's victory at Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The subsequent Treaty of Greenville in 1795 opened the way for settlement particularly in southern and western Ohio. The Northwest Territory included all
10557-427: The Ohio, Indiana (1783), and Fort Harmar in Ohio (1785). The first settlements were at these locations. The first land grant was to George Rogers Clark in 1781 at Falls of the Ohio on the Indiana side; he went on to found the settlement of Clarksville. The first two land purchases were large tracts of land sold to John Symmes ( Symmes Purchase ) in 1788 and two tracts sold to Ohio Company in 1787 and 1792 ( Purchase on
10710-451: The Patriot War in 1838–39. John Lambton, Lord Durham 's support for " responsible government " undercut the Tories and gradually led the public to reject what it viewed as poor administration, unfair land and education policies, and inadequate attention to urgent transportation needs. Durham's report led to the administrative unification of Upper and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada in 1841. Responsible government did not occur until
10863-474: The Rev. John Strachan was appointed to the Executive Council, the advisory body to the Lieutenant Governor, in 1815, he began to push for the Church of England's autonomous control of the clergy reserves on the model of the Clergy Corporation created in Lower Canada in 1817. Although all clergymen in the Church of England were members of the body corporate, the act prepared in 1819 by Strachan's former student, Attorney General John Beverly Robinson , also appointed
11016-700: The Revolution ended, land-hungry migrants started moving west. A gateway trading post developed as the town of Brownsville, Pennsylvania , which was a key outfitting center west of the mountains. Other wagon roads, such as the Kittanning Path surmounting the gaps of the Allegheny in central Pennsylvania, or trails along the Mohawk River in New York, enabled a steady stream of settlers to reach
11169-413: The Revolutionary War and lacking authority to tax under the Articles of Confederation , planned to raise revenue from the methodical sale of land in the Northwest Territory. This plan necessarily called for the removal of both Native American villages and squatters from lands west of Appalachia, loosely, the territory called "Ohio Country" and beyond. Resistance from indigenous tribes, who were supported by
11322-596: The St. Lawrence and eastern Lake Ontario were laid out in 1784, populated mainly with decommissioned soldiers and their families. "Upper Canada" became a political entity on 26 December 1791 with the Parliament of Great Britain 's passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791 . The act divided the province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada , but did not yet specify official borders for Upper Canada. The division
11475-623: 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 peoples, 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
11628-601: The Virginia Military District and Connecticut Western Reserve. The first area to be surveyed was the Seven Ranges along the eastern border of Ohio in 1786–1789. Direct sales of federal lands to individual homesteaders started here. In some cases, the government granted or donated land for special purposes. Settlement followed the forts, whether garrisoned or not. Lack of a garrison meant that threat of Native American attack had become negligible. This
11781-579: The approval of local voters. Not all first-level political entities are termed "provinces." In Arab countries, the first administrative level of government—called a muhafazah —is usually translated as a " governorate ." In Poland , the equivalent of "province" is " województwo ," sometimes rendered in English as " voivodeship ." Historically, New Zealand was divided into provinces , each with its own Superintendent and Provincial Council, and with considerable responsibilities conferred on them. However,
11934-578: The authority of a local government derives solely from the provincial government. Provinces can create, merge, and dissolve local governments without the consent of the federal government or the people in the affected locality. Alberta in particular dissolved and merged hundreds of local governments during the 1940s and 1950s as a consequence of the Great Depression . Other provinces have arbitrarily merged and annexed independent suburbs to major Canadian cities such as Toronto or Montreal without
12087-405: 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
12240-664: The clergy reserves and other glebe lots, while 6,950 acres (2,810 ha) were taken from ordinary Crown lands. A later suit to have this action annulled was dismissed by the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada . The Province of Canada would later pass an Act in 1866 to authorize the disposal of such glebe and rectory lands not specifically used as churches , parsonages or burial grounds . 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
12393-536: 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, 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. The Calton weavers were a community of handweavers established in the community of Calton , then in Lanarkshire just outside Glasgow , Scotland in
12546-429: The colony (as it then was) never developed into a federation; instead, the provinces were abolished in 1876. The old provincial boundaries continue to be used to determine the application of certain public holidays . Over the years, when the central Government has created special-purpose agencies at a sub-national level, these have often tended to follow or approximate the old provincial boundaries. Current examples include
12699-477: The continued British presence in the Northwest Territory, presented a continuing obstacle for American expansion. The area making up the Ohio Country had been contested for over a century, beginning with the 17th-century Beaver Wars . The Western Confederacy , or Western Indian Confederacy , was a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created following
12852-533: The convention to form a constitution for the State of Ohio. In the 1800 United States census , following the passage of an organic act by the 6th U.S. Congress creating the Indiana Territory in 1800, seven counties in the Northwest Territory reported the following population counts: According to the 1800 Census of the United States, the Northwest Territory (i.e. the pending state of Ohio) had
13005-522: The creation of central government, with very little autonomy. The English word province is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French province , which itself comes from the Latin word provincia , which referred to the sphere of authority of a magistrate , in particular, to a foreign territory. A popular etymology is from Latin pro- ("on behalf of") and vincere ("to triumph" or "to take control of"). Thus
13158-538: The elected assembly's legislative role, leaving elected politicians to simply review the administration's legislative program and budgets. The First Nations occupying the territory that was to become Upper Canada were: 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
13311-498: The establishment of grammar schools and a university for the Province. They were distributed as follows: Province While some provinces were produced artificially by colonial powers , others were formed around local groups with their own ethnic identities. Many have their own powers independent of central or federal authority, especially in Canada and Pakistan . In other countries, like China or France , provinces are
13464-588: The events of Pontiac's War , after which the Crown issued the Proclamation of 1763 , which prohibited white colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains . This action angered American colonists interested in expansion, as well as those who had already settled in the area. In 1774, via the Quebec Act , Britain annexed the region to the Province of Quebec in order to provide a civil government and to centralize British administration of
13617-547: 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. Justices of the Peace were appointed by the Lt. Governor. Any two justices meeting together could form
13770-578: The federal government. Britain officially ceded the area north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachians to the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War with the Treaty of Paris (1783) , but the British continued to maintain a presence in the region as late as 1815, the end of the War of 1812 . Several states (Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut) had competing claims on
13923-551: The focus of the Northwest Indian War, the driving events in the early evolution of the territory. Integration of the Northwest Territory into a political unit, and settlement, depended on three factors: relinquishment by the British, extinguishment of states' claims west of the Appalachians, and usurpation or purchase of lands from the Native Americans. These objectives were accomplished correspondingly by
14076-536: The following decades. It encompassed what became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. Putnam, in the Puritan tradition, was influential in establishing education in the Northwest Territory. Substantial amounts of land were set aside for schools. Putnam had been one of the primary benefactors in the founding of Leicester Academy in Massachusetts, and similarly, in 1798, he created
14229-523: The former Northwest Territory with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the Northwest Territory, and defined its boundaries, form of government, and administrative structure. In particular, it defined the bodies of government, established the legal basis of land ownership, provided for abolition and transfer of state territorial claims, made rules for admission of new states, established public education, recognized and codified 'natural rights', prohibited slavery, and defined
14382-547: The government on July 15, 1788, at Marietta . In 1790, he renamed the settlement of Losantiville Cincinnati , after the Society of the Cincinnati , and moved the administrative and military center to Fort Washington . As Governor, he formulated the Maxwell's Code (named after its printer, William Maxwell ), the first written criminal and civil laws of the territory. Maxwell's Code consisted of thirty-seven different laws with
14535-547: The governor retained veto power. Article VI of the Articles of Compact within the Northwest Ordinance prohibited the owning of slaves within the Northwest Territory. Territorial governments evaded this law by use of indenture laws. The Articles of Compact prohibited legal discrimination on the basis of religion within the territory. The township formula created by Thomas Jefferson was first implemented in
14688-664: The great cities of the eventual 6 states of the Territory which is now the midwestern United States early in the 19th century: Detroit (<1800), Cleveland (1796), Columbus (1812), Indianapolis (1822), Chicago (1833), Milwaukee (1846), Minneapolis (1847). A Federalist , St. Clair hoped to see two states made of the old Ohio Country to increase Federalist power in Congress . He was resented by Ohio Democratic-Republicans for his apparent partisanship, high-handedness and arrogance in office. In 1802, his opposition to plans for Ohio statehood led President Thomas Jefferson to remove him from office as territorial governor. He thus played no part in
14841-666: The heads of the Supreme Court of Canada to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London . As well, provinces could bypass the Supreme Court and go directly to London from any Provincial Court . The Canadian Supreme Court tended to support the view that the Canadian Constitution was intended to create a powerful central government, but the Privy Council in London held the distinctly opposite view that
14994-530: The incomplete blockhouse and killed eleven men, one woman, and two children. (Accounts vary as to the number of casualties.) Rufus Putnam wrote to President Washington that "we shall be so reduced and discouraged as to give up the settlement [Marietta following the Big Bottom disaster]." In March 1791, St. Clair succeeded Harmar as commander of the United States Army and was commissioned as
15147-573: The land area of the United States at the time of its creation. It was inhabited by about 45,000 Native Americans and 4,000 non-native traders, mostly of French Canadian , British or Irish descent . Among the tribes inhabiting the region were the Shawnee, Delaware, Miami, Wyandot, Ottawa and Potawatomi. Notably, the Miami capital along with British trading posts was at Kekionga at the site of present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Neutralizing Kekionga became
15300-409: The land rights and applicability of laws to the Native Americans. At first, the territory had a modified form of martial law . The governor was also the senior army officer within the territory, and he combined legislative and executive authority . But a supreme court was established, and he shared legislative powers with the court . County governments were organized as soon as the population
15453-473: 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. 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,
15606-462: The late 1840s under Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine . After the Rebellions, the new governor, Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham , proved an exemplary Utilitarian , despite his aristocratic pretensions. This combination of free trade and aristocratic pretensions needs to be underscored; although a liberal capitalist, Sydenham was no radical democrat. Sydenham approached
15759-520: 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. The Clergy Corporation was incorporated in 1819 to manage the clergy reserves. After
15912-459: The location of Native American settlements near the headwaters of the Wabash River . On November 4 they were routed in battle by a tribal confederation led by Miami Chief Little Turtle and Shawnee chief Blue Jacket . More than 600 soldiers and scores of women and children were killed in the battle, known as " St. Clair's Defeat " and many other names. It remains the greatest defeat of
16065-622: The lowest level of the justice system, the Courts of Request. A Court of Quarter Sessions was held four times a year in each district composed of all the resident justices. The Quarter Sessions met to oversee the administration of the district and deal with legal cases. They formed, in effect, the municipal government until an area was incorporated as either a Police Board or a City after 1834. Incorporated in Upper Canada era (to 1841) Incorporated in Canada West (1841-1867) The Family Compact
16218-648: The majority of the territory became public land owned by the U.S. government. Virginia and Connecticut reserved two areas to use as compensation to military veterans: the Virginia Military District and the Connecticut Western Reserve Thomas Jefferson's Land Ordinance of 1784 was the first organization of the territory by the United States; it provided a process for dividing the territory into individual states. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established
16371-663: The modern welfare state has resulted in these functions, assigned to the provinces , becoming more important compared to those assigned to the federal government and thus provincial governments have become more important than the Fathers of Confederation originally intended. Canada's status as a federation of provinces under the Dominion of the British Empire rather than an independent country also had certain legal implications. Provinces could appeal court rulings over
16524-672: The nation's first post-colonial organized incorporated territory . At the time of its creation, the territory included all the land west of Pennsylvania , northwest of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River below the Great Lakes , and what later became known as the Boundary Waters . The region was ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris of 1783 . Throughout the Revolutionary War ,
16677-683: The near west and the lands bordering the Mississippi. This activity stimulated the development of the eastern parts of the eventual National Road by private investors. The Cumberland–Brownsville toll road linked the water routes of the Potomac River with the Monongahela River of the Ohio/Mississippi riverine systems in the days when water travel was the only good alternative to walking and riding. Most of
16830-560: The oil refining capacity in Western Canada; Fort McMurray was once a city but dissolved itself and became an "urban service area" of 70,964 people within the Regional Municipality (R.M.) of Wood Buffalo , which has several multibillion-dollar oil sands plants; and Lloydminster , a city of 31,483 which sits directly astride the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Unlike most such cases, Lloydminster
16983-553: The optimum-size political unit in pre-industrial Early Modern Europe . He asks, "Was the province not its inhabitants' true ' fatherland '?" Even centrally-organized France, an early nation-state , could collapse into autonomous provincial worlds under pressure, as during the sustained crisis of the French Wars of Religion (1562–98). The British colonies in North America were often named provinces. Most (but not all) of
17136-779: The organizational structure for the Rebellion of 1837. William Lyon Mackenzie James Lesslie John Rolph William John O'Grady Henry John Boulton David Willson Samuel Hughes John McIntosh Marshall Spring Bidwell Robert Baldwin William Warren Baldwin Francis Hincks Charles Duncombe Samuel Lount Peter Matthews Jesse Lloyd Anthony Van Egmond Thomas D. Morrison David Gibson James Hervey Price Joseph Shepard The Upper Canada Rebellion
17289-452: The organizing of the state of Ohio in 1803. The first Ohio Constitution provided for a weak governor and a strong legislature , in part a reaction to St. Clair's method of governance. In preparation for Ohio's statehood, Congress split the Northwest Territory into two sections in 1800. A new territory, Indiana Territory , encompassed all land west of the present Indiana–Ohio border and its northward extension to Lake Superior , except for
17442-589: The overall European Union umbrella. Spain after Francisco Franco has been a "State of Autonomies", formally unitary but in fact functioning as a federation of Autonomous Communities , each exercising different powers. (See Politics of Spain .) While Serbia , the rump of former Yugoslavia , fought the separatists in the province of Kosovo , the United Kingdom , under the political principle of " devolution ", produced (1998) local parliaments in Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . In ancient India , unlike
17595-554: The plan for the construction of the Muskingum Academy (now Marietta College ) in Ohio. In 1780, the directors of the Ohio Company appointed him superintendent of all its affairs relating to settlement north of the Ohio River. In 1796, he was commissioned by President George Washington as Surveyor-General of United States Lands. In 1788, he served as a judge in the Northwest Territory's first court. In 1802, he served in
17748-412: The position until Ohio became a state and elected its first governor, Edward Tiffin , on March 3, 1803. The Supreme Court consisted of (1) John Cleves Symmes ; (2) James Mitchell Varnum , who died in 1789, replaced by George Turner , who resigned in 1796, and was replaced by Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. ; and (3) Samuel Holden Parsons , who died in 1789, replaced by Rufus Putnam , who resigned 1796, and
17901-541: 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 in the province of Upper Canada was based on districts. Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester created four districts 24 July 1788. For militia and parliamentary purposes, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe in
18054-498: The region was part of the British Province of Quebec and the western theater of the war. It spanned all or large parts of six eventual U.S. states ( Ohio , Indiana , Illinois , Michigan , Wisconsin , and the northeastern part of Minnesota ). Reduced to present-day Ohio, eastern Michigan and a sliver of southeastern Indiana with the formation of Indiana Territory July 4, 1800, it ceased to exist March 1, 1803, when
18207-505: The region, where British subjects outnumbered Americans throughout the 1790s. The following year, the Treaty of Greenville secured peace on the western frontier and opened most of southern and eastern Ohio for American settlement. Sporadic westward emigrant settlements had already resumed late in the war after the Iroquois Confederacy 's power was broken and the tribes scattered by the 1779 Sullivan Expedition . Soon after
18360-478: The region, which they claimed as New France ; among these was the post at Fort Detroit , founded in 1701. France ceded the territory to the Kingdom of Great Britain as part of the Indian Reserve in the 1763 Treaty of Paris , after being defeated in the French and Indian War . From the 1750s to the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812, the British had a long-standing goal of creating an Indian barrier state ,
18513-505: The rowdy democracy in the nearby United States. The Family Compact emerged from the War of 1812 and collapsed in the aftermath of the Rebellions of 1837 . 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
18666-625: The scope of this fort. The military campaign of Gen. Wayne against the Western Confederacy, who were supported by a company of troops from Lower Canada, culminated with victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Following the battle, in fall 1794, Wayne's army marched unopposed to Kekionga where they constructed Fort Wayne, a defiant symbol of U.S. sovereignty in the heart of Native American Country. Jay's Treaty , in 1794, temporarily helped to smooth relations with British traders in
18819-456: The southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio, and the remainder attached to Indiana Territory. Initially, the territory was governed by martial law under a governor and three judges. As population increased, a legislature was formed as were a succession of counties, eventually totaling thirteen. At the time of its creation, the land within the territory
18972-608: The state or province is sovereign, such as the environment or health standards, agreements made at the national level can create jurisdictional overlap and conflicting laws. This overlap creates the potential for internal disputes that lead to constitutional amendments and judicial decisions that alter the balance of powers. Though foreign affairs do not usually fall under a province's or a federal state's competency, some states allow them to legally conduct international relations on their own in matters of their constitutional prerogative and essential interest. Sub-national authorities have
19125-415: The stipulation that the laws had to have been passed previously in one of the original thirteen states. The laws restructured the court system then in effect in the Northwest Territory. They also protected residents against excessive taxes and declared that English common law would be the basis of legal decisions and laws in the Northwest Territory. The young United States government, deeply in debt following
19278-547: The task of implementing those aspects of Durham's report that the colonial office approved of, municipal reform, and the union of the Canadas, with a "campaign of state violence and coercive institutional innovation ... empowered not just by the British state but also by his Benthamite certainties." Like governors Bond Head before him, and Metcalfe after, he was to turn to the Orange Order for often violent support. It
19431-750: The territory and its successors was settled by emigrants passing through the Cumberland Narrows , or along the Mohawk Valley in New York State. The Continental Congress' title to the lands north of the Ohio River was derived from the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, and the cessions of four states. Settlement was through several means: squatters, direct U.S. government land sales to settlers, sales of tracts of land to land companies, and state sales of land to veterans in
19584-430: The territory would eventually form three to five new states. Under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory, General St. Clair was appointed governor. When the territory was divided in 1800, he briefly served as governor of the Northwest Territory remnant that included Ohio, the eastern half of Michigan, and a sliver of southeastern Indiana called "The Gore". St. Clair formally established
19737-444: The territory: Virginia claimed all of the portion that was formerly Illinois Country and Ohio Country; Massachusetts claimed the portion that is now southern Michigan and Wisconsin; Connecticut claimed a narrow strip across the territory just south of the Great Lakes; New York claimed an elastic portion of Iroquois lands between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The western boundary of Pennsylvania was also ill-defined. Virginia's jurisdiction
19890-409: The then-owned land of the United States west of Pennsylvania , east of the Mississippi River , and northwest of the Ohio River . It incorporated most of the former Ohio Country except a portion in western Pennsylvania, and eastern Illinois Country . It covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as the northeastern part of Minnesota. Lands west of
20043-489: The title of "province" and are still known as such to the present day. To 19th- and 20th-century historians, in Europe, centralized government was a sign of modernity and political maturity. In the late 20th century, as the European Union drew nation-states closer together, centripetal forces seemed simultaneously to move countries toward more flexible systems of more localized, provincial governing entities under
20196-448: The townships of Dunwich and Aldborough in 1803. 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
20349-562: The watersheds of the Ottawa River or Lakes Huron and Superior , excluding any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay . The "upper" prefix in the name reflects its geographic position along the Great Lakes , mostly above the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River , contrasted with Lower Canada (present-day Quebec ) to the northeast. Upper Canada was the primary destination of Loyalist refugees and settlers from
20502-479: The way for white settlement. In 1789, he succeeded in getting certain Native Americans to sign the Treaty of Fort Harmar , but many native leaders had not been invited to participate in the negotiations or had refused to do so. Rather than settling the Native Americans' claims, the treaty provoked an escalation of the "Northwest Indian War" (or "Little Turtle's War"). Mutual hostilities led to a campaign by General Josiah Harmar , whose 1,500 militiamen were defeated by
20655-620: The western frontier. Wayne was commissioned to form a new army of 5120 professional soldiers, dubbed the "Legion of the United States". Wayne recruited and trained his army in Pennsylvania, and moved them to southwestern Ohio in fall of 1793. There they were joined by the Kentucky Militia under Major General Charles Scott . Over the next ten months, the armies marched north up the Great Miami and Maumee River valleys toward
20808-455: Was Sydenham who played a critical role in transforming Compact Tories into Conservatives. 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
20961-504: Was a contributing factor in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. 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
21114-470: 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
21267-477: 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
21420-497: Was at Putnam's recommendation that the land was surveyed and laid out in townships of six miles square. He organized and led the first group of veterans to the territory. They settled at Marietta, Ohio , where they built a large fort called Campus Martius . Putnam and Cutler insisted the Northwest Territory be a free territory, with no slavery. The Northwest Territory doubled the size of the United States, and establishing it as free of slavery proved to be of tremendous importance in
21573-628: Was between the Seneca and the British in 1764, giving access to lands adjoining the Niagara River. 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 the refugees fled to Fort Niagara and other British posts, and remained permanently in Canada. Land
21726-404: Was effected so that Loyalist American settlers and British immigrants in Upper Canada could have English laws and institutions, and the French-speaking population of Lower Canada could maintain French civil law and the Catholic religion. The first lieutenant-governor was John Graves Simcoe . The 1795 Jay Treaty officially set the borders between British North America and the United States north to
21879-406: Was eventually abandoned for another, to the west. 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
22032-405: Was extended westward to a point five degrees of longitude (about 260 miles) from the Delaware River and the western boundary extended to run due north from the westernmost extent of the Mason–Dixon line to the 43rd parallel. This incorporated the eastern part of Ohio Country as western Pennsylvania, and set the eastern boundary of federal lands. "Unlanded" states, such as Maryland, refused to ratify
22185-467: 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
22338-417: Was largely undisturbed by urban development. It was also home to several Native American cultures, including the Delaware , Miami , Potawatomi , Shawnee , and others. There were a handful of French colonial settlements remaining, plus Clarksville at the Falls of the Ohio. By the time of the territory's dissolution, there were dozens of towns and settlements, a few with thousands of settlers, chiefly along
22491-411: Was limited to a few French settlements at the extreme western edge of the territory. Massachusetts's and Connecticut's claims were effectively lines on paper. New York had no colonial settlements or territorial government in the claimed lands. The western border of Pennsylvania, previously assumed to run in a north by northeast zigzag, was resolved in 1780 by the Continental Congress. The Mason–Dixon line
22644-422: Was managed by Peter Robinson , a member of the Family Compact and brother of the Attorney General. Scott's Plains was renamed Peterborough in his honour. 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
22797-403: Was said to be "the very image and transcript" of the British constitution, and based on the principle of " mixed monarchy " – a balance of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. The Executive arm of government in the colony consisted of a lieutenant-governor , his executive council , and the Officers of the Crown (equivalent to the Officers of the Parliament of Canada ): the Adjutant General of
22950-476: Was sufficient, and these assumed local administrative and judicial functions. Washington County was the first of these, at Marietta in 1788. This was an important event, as this court was the first establishment of civil and criminal law in the pioneer country. As soon as the number of free male settlers exceeded 5,000, the territorial legislature was to be created, and this happened in 1798. The full mechanisms of government were put in place, as outlined in
23103-419: 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
23256-425: Was true everywhere in Ohio before 1800 except the northwest sector above the Greenville Treaty line. It became true in Indiana after the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811; by 1813 Battle of the Thames where Tecumseh was defeated and killed, the frontier had essentially moved to west of the Mississippi. The first U.S. military garrisons in the territory were Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes, Indiana (1779), Fort Clark at Falls of
23409-444: Was united with adjacent Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada . 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
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