1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996247991403316

Autore

Taylor M. Brook (Martin Brook), <1951->

Titolo

Promoters, patriots, and partisans : historiography in nineteenth-century English Canada / / M. Brook Taylor

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 1989

©1989

ISBN

1-282-05623-9

9786612056239

1-4426-7882-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (305 p.)

Disciplina

971/.0072

Soggetti

HISTORY / Canada / General

History

Electronic books.

Canada Historiography

Canada History 19th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1. Promoters and the Decision to Write Canadian History -- 2. The Patriot Reaction in the Maritimes -- 3. The Anomaly of Quebec -- 4. Reform Challenge in Upper Canada -- 5. A National Consensus -- 6. The Maritimes Opt Out -- 7. Partisans and Pessimists -- Conclusion -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

During the nineteenth-century, the writing of history in English-speaking Canada changed from promotional efforts by amateurs to an academically-based discipline. Professor Taylor charts this transition in a comprehensive history. The early historians - the promoters of the title - sought to further their own interests through exxagerated accounts of a particular colony to which they had developed a transient attachment. Eventually this group was replaced by patriots, whose writing was influenced by loyalty to the land of their brith and residence. This second generation of historians attempted both to



defend their respective colonies by explaining away past disappointments and to fit events into a predicitve pattern of progress and development. In the process, they established distinctive identities for each of the British North American colonies.Eventually a confrontation occurred between those who saw Canada as a nation and those whose traditions and vistas were provincial in emphasis. Ultimately the former prevailed, only to find the present and future too complex and too ominous to understand. Historians ssubsequently lost their sense of purpose and direction and fell into partisan disagreement or pessimistic nostalgia. This abandonment of their role paved the way for the new, professional breed of historian as the twentieth century opened.In the course of his analysis, Taylor considers a number of key issues abotu the writing of history: the kind of people who undertake it and their motivation for doing so, the intended and actual effects of their work, its influence on subsequent historical writing, and the development of uniform and accepted standards of professional practice.