William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie's life can best be understood if man and legend are separated. William was born on March 12, 1795 in Scotland. Three weeks after his birth, his father, Daniel, supposedly died, but no record of his death has ever been found. William and his mother were said to gone through great hardship, having to move off of Daniel's land. After moving to Dundee, William, who went by the names Willie or Lyon, entered the Dundee Parish School at the age of five, with the help of a bursary. At fifteen, he was the youngest member of the commercial newsroom of the local newspaper. He also belonged to a scientific society, where he met Edward Lesslie, and his son, James. These two would be William's patrons throughout most of his life. In 1820, William sailed to Canada with John, another son of Edward Lesslie. Mackenzie was immediately impressed with Upper Canada. Before the end of the year, Mackenzie was writing for the York Observer under the name of 'Mercator'; In 1824, Mackenzie started his most famous newspaper, the Colonial Advocate. The first edition appeared on May 18, 1824. The sole purpose of this paper was to sway the opinions of the voters in the next election. On June 8, 1826, a group of fifteen, young, well connected Tories disguised themselves as Indians, and broke into Mackenzie's York office in broad daylight. They smashed his printing press, then threw it into the bay. The Tories did nothing to compensate him, so it was clear that they were involved. Mackenzie ntook them to court, and seeing that their 'disguise'; had been seen through, they offered Mackenzie £200. He refused, and after a bitter trial, the court awarded him £625. In March of 1829, Mackenzie went to the United States to buy books for resale, and to study the actions of the newly appointed Andrew Jackson. He compared the simplicity and the cost of American government to Canada's, and saw that their spoils system might be a way of doing away with some Family Compact members. When an assembly met in January of 1831, Mackenzie fully immersed himself into its proceedings. He demanded inquiries into abuse, and insisted on a review of representation in the province. He appointed people on the council to fight for what he, himself wanted, while what he personally did angered and annoyed the Tory members of parliament. On December 12, 1831, Mackenzie was voted out of parliament on a vote of 24 to 15.
Grant foresaw what Mel would begin to see and greatly foreshadowed exactly what would happen in Canada. Grant felt that the wealthy, the ruling classes, Liberal party and the elite of Montreal and Toronto, were responsible for selling out of Canada. Mel shared these views and especially later in life the views of the liberal party which he had previously been
Many individuals appear to have honourable intentions but often their objectives are flawed. John Strachan lived through and influenced many key events of Canadian history. He was a highly esteemed teacher of wealthy Loyalist children, a pastoral leader during the War of 1812, a supporter of education, a member of the government, he played a prime role in the Rebellions of 1837 and he eventually rose to become the first Bishop of Toronto. John Strachan had a highly Loyalist view towards the governing of Upper Canada; he was especially faithful to the betterment of the Church of England. Strachan was in favour of a purely British Upper Canada or at least one run according to British standards. Although Strachan believed that the best way was the British way, many individuals in Upper Canada disagreed. Strachan's attempts to monopolize all opportunities in favour of the British caused public uproar and debate. His controversial role in government was regarded by some as unnecessary and ungodly since he was a supposed man of God. His manipulation of events were protested but usually accepted; his skills of influencing were uncontested. John Strachan used his powerful status to negatively influence Upper Canadian society. John Strachan's harmful intentions are evident in his supporting of the monopolization of the clergy reserves, controlling of non-British immigration, lobbying strictly for Anglican education in schools, his manipulation of the government and his poor reputation amongst the public.
House of Commons in 1874. There he rose rapidly to leadership. Although he was a
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s longest serving prime minister, is known for both the great contributions he brought to Canada and for the scandals he was involved in. The one event that makes him most famous to Canadians is the King-Byng Affair of 1926. During this event, Mackenzie King asked Lord Byng to dissolve parliament in order to force a new election as he had lost with a minority. Because King’s intentions were to regain a majority government, Byng refused out of distrust for King’s plans and King was replaced in power by the Conservatives. While William Lyon Mackenzie King’s actions were in accordance with all the laws regarding his power as Prime Minister, he acted for selfish reasons thus putting him in the wrong. Mackenzie King’s and Lord Byng’s histories will be quickly analyzed to understand their actions in the affair. Right after, King’s options and reasons for dissolving parliament will be analyzed. Thirdly, Byng’s options and reasons for refusing King’s request will be researched. Once enough evidence has been collected, the end results of this affair will be discussed and the conclusion as to whether or not King was right to go against responsible government will be made.
In 1771 William, his father, and his brother joined the regulators, frontiers men who fought against the British royal governor. Because of that his brother was hung and his father’s farm destroyed. The Few’s were forced to move again, now to Georgia. William stayed in North Carolina living by himself until 1776. When he got to Georgia he was accepted to the Bar and began to practice the law in Augusta.
William Lyon Mackenzie,“W L Mackenzie on Resistance to Oppression,” in Visions: The Canadian History Modules Project, (Toronto:Nelson, 2011), 306
Under Jackson the spoils system¬¬¬-that is, rewarding political supporters with public office-was introduced into the federal government on a large scale.
Napoléon Thompson. “An Appeal for Justice.” The Gibbet of Regina the Truth about Riel; Sir John A. Macdonald and His Cabinet before Public Opinion. New York: Thompson & Moreau, 1886. 186
Eichler, Leah. "Alistair MacLeod: Of Scotsmen in Canada." The Publishers Weekly 247.17 (2000): 54. Print.
declared independence from Great Britain. It was written in 1787 and ratified on March 1st,
John Alexander Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland on January 11, 1815. His family immigrated to Canada (Kingston, Ontario) in 1820, Macdonald was five years old at the time. In 1829 Macdonald ended his schooling, his parents could not afford to send him to university. Macdonald would later say that if he had went to university he would have ended up in literature, not politics. (Waite, John, 7-10)
the government so that the common man could vote, he paid little attention to his interests
In the year of 1867 the nation we know as Canada came into being. The Confederation in this year only came about after things had been overcome. Many political and economic pressures were exerted on the colonies and a federal union of the colonies seemed to be the most practical method of dealing with these pressures and conflicts. While Confederation was a solution to many of the problems, it was not a popular one for all the colonies involved. In the Maritime colonies views differed widely on the topic. Some were doubtful, some were pleased, others were annoyed and many were hopeful for a prosperous future.1
William Lyon Mackenzie King was one of the greatest prime ministers in Canada, although he did not give a fascinating speech or had an exciting image and supported few radical policies . King’s opinions were very strong and would not be changed no matter what. No one could influence King and this was shown through his leadership during the Great Depression and the election in 1930.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.