Union is strength : W.L. Mackenzie, the Children of Peace and the emergence of joint stock democracy in Upper Canada / / Albert Schrauwers

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910456790303321
• Autore: Schrauwers Albert
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2009; ©2009
• ISBN: 1-4426-8955-2
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (329 p.)
• Disciplina: 971.3/02
• Soggetti: Business and politics - Ontario - History - 19th century; Christianity and politics - Ontario - History - 19th century; Stock companies - Ontario - History - 19th century; HISTORY / Canada / General; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: A Tale of Two Kingdoms -- 1. Charity, Owenism, and the Toronto House of Industry -- 2. The Bank of Upper Canada and the Economy of Debt -- 3. The Economics of Respectability: The Farmers' Storehouse (Banking) Company -- 4. Shepard's Hall and the Canadian Alliance Society -- 5. The Bank Wars -- 6. The Constitution -- 7. The Promise of Responsible Government -- Conclusion: The Economic Roots of Joint Stock Democracy -- Notes -- References -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Nineteenth-century Canada experienced two other revolutions apart from those of W.L. Mackenzie and Louis Riel: the transition to capitalism, and to responsible government. Union Is Strength argues that these major socio-political changes happened in Ontario without a revolutionary moment because of the intertwined relationship of reformers with capitalists. Examining a small, utopian socialist group named the Children of Peace, Albert Schrauwers traces the emergence of a vibrant democratic culture in the province from the decade before ; the Rebellions of 1837. Schrauwers shows how the overlapping boards of unincorporated joint stock companies managed by both Toronto reformers and the Children of Peace produced a culture of deliberative democracy in competition with the "gentlemanly capitalism" of chartered corporations. Noting the ways in which Ontario's capitalist and democratic revolutions were linked through cooperative joint stock operations, he also situates these revolutions in an international context and links them to the development of Owenite socialism and Chartism in the United Kingdom. Union Is Strength is an insightful study of both nineteenth century Canada and the ways in which regional political cultures arise.