61-654: The York Militia was a volunteer militia unit in Upper Canada formed after the passage of the Militia Act of 1793 . Members of the York Militia were drawn from the settlers of York County , an area mostly made up of present-day Greater Toronto . The Militia consisted of 3 line infantry regiments: The three regiments of the York Militia fought in several engagements during the War of 1812 . The 1st Regiment of
122-466: 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
183-479: 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
244-401: A product of colonization , nor become colonially organized territories. Territories furthermore do not need to have been militarily conquered and occupied to come under colonial rule and to be considered de facto colonies, instead neocolonial exploitation of dependency or imperialist use of power to intervene to force policy, might make a territory be considered a colony, which broadens
305-634: 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
366-493: A settlement became known as its metropolis ("mother-city"). Since early-modern times, historians, administrators, and political scientists have generally used the term "colony" to refer mainly to the many different overseas territories of particularly European states between the 15th and 20th centuries CE , with colonialism and decolonization as corresponding phenomena. While colonies often developed from trading outposts or territorial claims , such areas do not need to be
427-731: 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
488-552: A varying degree dominated by remaining colonial settler societies or neocolonialism . The term colony originates from the ancient Roman colonia , a type of Roman settlement. Derived from colonus (farmer, cultivator, planter, or settler), it carries with it the sense of 'farm' and 'landed estate'. Furthermore, the term was used to refer to the older Greek apoikia ( Ancient Greek : ἀποικία , lit. 'home away from home'), which were overseas settlements by ancient Greek city-states . The city that founded such
549-606: 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
610-711: 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
671-813: 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
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#1732764887620732-536: 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
793-812: 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
854-544: 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
915-641: The Queen's York Rangers while the 2nd Regiment is perpetuated by the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry . This Canadian military article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a specific British military unit is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to the War of 1812 is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (French: province du Haut-Canada )
976-493: 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
1037-533: 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
1098-548: 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
1159-689: 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
1220-593: 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
1281-407: 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, 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
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#17327648876201342-880: 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
1403-582: 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
1464-545: 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
1525-612: 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
1586-586: 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
1647-565: 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
1708-724: 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
1769-597: 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
1830-634: 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
1891-605: The York Militia was involved at the Siege of Fort Mackinac , the Siege of Detroit , the Battle of Queenston Heights , and the Battle of York . The 2nd Regiment of the York Militia fought at Detroit , Queenston Heights , and at the Battle of Lundy's Lane The 3rd Regiment of the York Militia fought at Detroit, Queenston Heights, and York. Within the Canadian Army , the 1st and 3rd Regiments of York Militia are perpetuated by
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1952-667: 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
2013-642: The community of Calton , then in Lanarkshire just outside Glasgow , Scotland in 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
2074-534: The concept, including indirect rule or puppet states (contrasted by more independent types of client states such as vassal states ). Subsequently, some historians have used the term informal colony to refer to a country under a de facto control of another state. Though the broadening of the concept is often contentious. The word "colony" comes from the Latin word colōnia , used for ancient Roman outposts and eventually for cities. This in turn derives from
2135-465: The development of modern imperialism and its colonialism . This coloniality and possibly colonial administrative separation, while often blurred, makes colonies neither annexed or integrated territories nor client states . Colonies contemporarily are identified and organized as not sufficiently self-governed dependent territories . Other past colonies have become either sufficiently incorporated and self-governed , or independent , with some to
2196-538: 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
2257-490: The establishment of grammar schools and a university for the Province. They were distributed as follows: Colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, the rule remains separate to the original country of the colonizers, the metropolitan state (or "mother country"), which together have often been organized as colonial empires , particularly with
2318-547: 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
2379-452: 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
2440-463: 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
2501-472: 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
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2562-623: 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
2623-780: 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
2684-542: 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
2745-506: 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
2806-548: 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
2867-449: 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
2928-451: The word colōnus , which referred to a Roman tenant farmer . Settlements that began as Roman coloniae include cities from Cologne (which retains this history in its name) to Belgrade to York . A telltale sign of a settlement within the Roman sphere of influence once being a Roman colony is a city centre with a grid pattern. The Special Committee on Decolonization maintains
2989-455: 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
3050-582: 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 the watersheds of
3111-505: 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
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#17327648876203172-401: 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
3233-477: 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
3294-401: 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
3355-405: 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
3416-406: 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
3477-467: 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
3538-422: 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
3599-404: 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
3660-419: 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
3721-444: 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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