Reform Party (pre-Confederation)

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Reform Party (pre-Confederation)

The Reform movement, sometimes referred to as the Reform Party, began in the 1830s as the movement in the English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
speaking parts of British North America

British North America

British North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of United States ....
(Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
). It agitated for responsible government

Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy....
.

In Maritime Canada

Maritimes

The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a list of regions of Canada#National regions of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces and territories of Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island....
, these movements were also referred to as Liberal, and later became the Liberal parties in those colonies. (See also PEI Liberal Party, New Brunswick Liberal Party, Liberal Party (Nova Scotia), Liberal Party of Newfoundland

Liberal parties in Newfoundland (pre-Confederation)

For the modern Liberal Party see Liberal Party of Newfoundland and LabradorSeveral earlier groupings functioned in the Dominion of Newfoundland under the name Liberal Party of Newfoundland from the granting of responsible government to the island in the 1850s until its suspension in 1934 when the Commission of Government was instituted....
). The most prominent Reformer in the Maritimes was Joseph Howe

Joseph Howe

Joseph Howe, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Nova Scotia journalist, politician and public servant. He was born the son of John Howe and Mary Edes at City of Halifax and inherited from his loyalist father an undying love for Great Britain and her British Empire....
.

In Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario and, until 1797, the Upper Peninsula of what is now part of the U.S....
(Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
), the Reform movement was formed in opposition to the Family Compact

Family Compact

This article is about a group in nineteenth century Canadian history. For the pact between the royal families of eighteenth century France and Spain, see Pacte de Famille....
.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Reform Party (pre-Confederation)'

Start a new discussion about 'Reform Party (pre-Confederation)'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Reform movement, sometimes referred to as the Reform Party, began in the 1830s as the movement in the English

English language

British North America

Canada

Responsible government

Maritimes

Liberal parties in Newfoundland (pre-Confederation)

Joseph Howe

Upper Canada

Ontario

Family Compact

This article is about a group in nineteenth century Canadian history. For the pact between the royal families of eighteenth century France and Spain, see Pacte de Famille....
. It was led initially by William Lyon Mackenzie

William Lyon Mackenzie

William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish people-Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first Mayor of Toronto of the city of Toronto and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion....
, who became the principal figure in the Upper Canada Rebellion

Upper Canada Rebellion

The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838....
of 1837. Mackenzie went into exile as a result of the failed rebellion. The uprising led to the 1839 Durham Report, which recommended responsible government in the Canadas.

In 1841, the Act of Union went into effect. Upper Canada became Canada West, forming with Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canada Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French language region....
(Quebec

Quebec

Quebec , in French language, Qu?bec , is a Provinces and territories of Canada in the Central Canada and Eastern Canada regions of Canada....
) the United Province of Canada

Province of Canada

The Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a British North America#BNA colonies after the American Revolution: in North America from 1841 to 1867....
. The leaders of the Reform movement in Canada West at this point were Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin was born at York . He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led the first responsible government ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government....
and Francis Hincks

Francis Hincks

Sir Francis Hincks, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Canada politician.Born in Cork , Ireland, he was the son of Thomas Dix Hincks an orientalist, naturalist and Presbyterian minister and the brother of Edward Hincks orientalist, naturalist and clergyman....
. The Reformers worked with the Parti rouge

Parti rouge

The Parti rouge was formed in the Province of Canada around 1848 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Institut canadien de Montr?al, and the reformist movement led by the Parti patriote of the 1830s....
to form government at various points in the 1840s.They eventually succeeded in obtaining a democratically accountable executive and the first government under responsible government came to power in 1848.

The Reformers were more a loose movement than a party. Individual members voted independently on various issues. By the 1850s, the Reform Party had dissipated: moderate reformers had joined with Tories in 1854 to form a Liberal-Conservative coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a Cabinet of a parliamentary system government in which several political party cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament....
under the leadership of John A. Macdonald

John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation....
and George-Étienne Cartier

George-Étienne Cartier

Sir George-?tienne Cartier, Baronet, Order of St Michael and St George, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a French-Canadian statesman and Canadian Confederation#Fathers of Confederation....
. This was the basis of what was to become the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name....
.

Left wing Reformers, along with the Clear Grits

Clear Grits

Clear Grits were reformers in the Province of Upper Canada, a British colony that is now the Province of Ontario, Canada. Their support was concentrated among southwestern Ontario farmers, who were frustrated and disillusioned by the 1849 Reform Party government of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine's lack of democratic enthusiasm...
, promoted electoral reform, and reciprocity

Reciprocity (Canadian politics)

In 19th century politics of Canada, reciprocity was the term used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America. Reciprocity and free trade have been emotional issues in Canadian history, as they pitted two conflicting impulses, the desire for beneficial economic ties with the United States against the fear that clos...
with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. In 1857, under the leadership of George Brown

George Brown (Canadian politician)

George Brown was a Scotland-born Canada journalist, politician and one of the Father of Confederation#Fathers of Confederation. A noted Reform Party politician, he was also the founder and editor of the Toronto Globe, which is today known as the Globe and Mail....
, the Clear Grits and left wing Reformers formed the Liberal Party in Canada West and, with the Parti rouge

Parti rouge

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is a major political party in Canada. The party is positioned in the centre-left of the Politics of Canada....
.