Publius of the North: Tory Republicanism and the American Constitution in Upper Canada, 1848–54

Abstract

This paper argues that between 1848 and 1854, a significant and articulate minority of conservatives in Upper Canada advocated constitutional changes modelled on American Federalist principles and the American constitution of 1787. Conservatives developed a critique of Canada's imitation of British parliamentary government as both too democratic and too tyrannical. It destroyed the independence of the appointed governor and Legislative Council and further concentrated power in the Cabinet. This critique led many to argue that the American model of checks and balances offered Canada a more balanced and conservative form of democracy than British parliamentary government. These republican conservatives debated a series of constitutional changes, including annexation to the United States, an elected governor, an elected Legislative Council, a federal union of British North America, and imperial federation, within this framework. This paper concludes that these had accepted government by discussion as the appropriate basis for political order. An historiographical tradition that stresses the existence of a conservative, pro-British, and anti-American political culture in Upper Canada cannot do justice to the extent, thoughtfulness, and discerning nature of political debate in this period.