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- Tell me about the voting process in the 1830s .
- In the colonies of British North America, the government was neither authoritatively responsible nor representative. In a representative government, it’s made up of people who get elected by other voters in the hopes of them making laws on their behalf.
- What about the responsible government?
- Responsible governments could be voted out if the elected representative fails to please the majority of people who once elected them. In other words, if the representative chooses not to do things they agreed to, they can be voted out.
- Democratic governments can be both representative and responsible.
- On the other hand, colonial governments were indirectly run by Britain. This put power in the hands of wealthy, influential men. For example, the Family Compact.
- An oligarchy is a select group who has control to rule.
- Tell me about the government of Upper Canada.
- It was established in 1791 by the Constitutional Act. This divided Upper Canada from Lower Canada and gave it their own governor, two councils and an elected law-making Legislative Assembly. The government appeared to be democratic because male citizens who owned property could elect Assembly members. However; the power was in the hands of the governor and the two councils.
- Laws could be vetoed and passed by the assembly. Since the councils had other priorities than the other colonists, they would use their veto power fairly often. They had authority to shut down things such as building roads and would ignore many problems: conflict occurred.
- Who was Robert Gourlay and how did he influence change?
- He was a land agent who surveyed farmers about life in Upper Canada. He was shocked and appalled to see the extent of discontentment with the government and it's policies. He demanded change but was arrested and sent out of the colony. This arrest affected his opposition to the Family Compact. In time, Gourlay's place as a leader would then be taken by another, a man named William Lyon Mackenzie.
- Mackenzie was known to have strong political convictions and was seen as argumentative. Mackenzie took a belligerent approach and started a newspaper called the Colonial Advocate. In these articles, he harshly criticized the government and the Family Compact.
- Angry members from the Compact pillaged and intruded his offices; smashing his printing press. Mackenzie sued and soon he became the centre of a group of people who wanted change, a revolutionary change. In 1828 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly and soon he became one of the most important leaders of the reform movement.
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