Author Archives: jbelshaw

The mid-19th century witnessed a moral panic over the condition of, and the perceived threat posed by, children in the streets of British North America’s major cities. The same situation existed in British and American cities at the time, sparking campaigns to improve … Continue reading →

In almost all parts of colonial British North America, children began to work at a very young age, whether officially for an employer or to help support the family. In fact, children passed from a period of dependence and into … Continue reading →

Historian of childhood Jennifer Brown pointed out years ago that the fur trade society brought together people who had experienced highly different childhoods. Many of the officers of the HBC were themselves orphans “recruited through the Grey Coat charity schools” … Continue reading →

As we have seen, the French colonies of Acadia and Canada developed along rather different geographical lines. Acadia’s salt marsh farms along the Bay of Fundy provided small nodes of population, genuine communities in which children would be raised surrounded … Continue reading →

It has been estimated that a quarter of all infants in 18th century New France failed to make it to their first birthday and that nearly half died before they were 10 years old.[footnote]Jacques Henripin, “From Acceptance of Nature to … Continue reading →

Politics between 1818 and 1860 was very much like the economy. It was fluid and evolving while remaining deeply unchanged. Some Tory values, which included a deep dislike for republicanism, survived and percolated out to influence groups that were their dedicated foes. … Continue reading →

Tories on an arson rampage in Montreal, annexationists popping up in what had hitherto been Tory circles, and responsible government breaking out in three — soon all five — British North America colonies in the east. It was on this note that the … Continue reading →

Durham’s perspective on the goal of eradicating the Canadien culture was presented very clearly in his report. There was nothing subtle about it. But to what were they to be assimilated? As a liberal parliamentarian, what Durham saw in the … Continue reading →

When reform-minded movements have a limited set of reforms on their agenda, the question arises: what happens when those reforms are achieved? In the case of single-issue reformers the answer is usually not much. Having achieved the reform they were … Continue reading →