Conflict & Change
Historical Figures
1750-1850
Mathieu Da Costa
• Mathieu Da Costa is one of the
most fascinating (and elusive)
figures in early Canadian history.
We don't know a lot about him.
But we do know enough to know
that he qualifies as the first Black
known to have visited Canada.
• Da Costa was a free Black African
who in the early 1600s was
employed as a translator by
French and Dutch traders and
explorers.
•
http://www.blackhistorycanada.ca/events.
php?themeid=21&id=1
Robert Baldwin
1804-1858
• Canadian lawyer and politician
who, with his political partner
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led
the first responsible ministry in
Canada.
• "Responsible Government"
marked the country's
democratic independence,
without a revolution, although
not without violence.
Sir Isaac Brock
1769-1812
• “The Hero of Upper Canada”
• a British Army officer and
administrator.
• responsible for defending Upper
Canada against the United States.
• When the War of 1812 broke out, he
defeated American invasion efforts.
• earned a knighthood, membership
in the Order of the Bath, accolades
and the sobriquet "The Hero of
Upper Canada".
• His name is often linked with that of
the Native American leader
Tecumseh, although the two men
collaborated in person only for a few
days.[2
• Battle of Queeenston Heights
Peter Jones
1802 –1856
• an Ojibwa Methodist
minister, translator, chief and
author from Burlington
Heights, Upper Canada.
• bridge between the white and
Indian communities
• preached to the Indians of
Upper Canada,
• In 1847, Jones led the band to
relocate to New Credit on
land donated by the Six
Nations, who were able to
furnish the Mississaugas with
title deeds. The Mississaugas
of New Credit have since been
able to retain title to the land,
where they remain
William Lyon Mackenzie
1795 –1861
• a Scottish-born Canadian and
American journalist and
politician.
• The first mayor of Toronto,
Upper Canada
• a leader during the 1837
Upper Canada Rebellion.
Grace Marks
1828 –1873
• a Canadian maid who was convicted in
1843 of murder in the death of her
employer Thomas Kinnear, and was
suspected of murdering his housekeeper,
Nancy Montgomery.
• Her conviction was controversial, and
sparked much debate about whether
Marks was actually instrumental in the
murder, or merely an unwitting accessory.
• In 1996, author Margaret Atwood
published a novel about Marks, Alias
Grace. In that novel's reviews, several
critics[1][2] pointed out eerie similarities
between Marks and a more recently
controversial Canadian murder convict,
Karla Homolka.
John Norton
1760s – 1828+
• The Mohawk Major John
Norton (Teyoninhokovrawen)
• played a prominent role in the
War of 1812,
• he translated the Gospel of
John into Mohawk.
• lead Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)
warriors from Grand River into
battle against American
invaders at Queenston Heights,
Stoney Creek, and Chippawa.
Louis-Joseph Papineau
1786 –1871
• born in Montreal, Quebec,
• a politician, lawyer, and the
landlord of the seigneurie
de la Petite-Nation.
• He was the leader of the
reformist Patriote
movement before the
Lower Canada Rebellion of
1837–1838.
• His father was Joseph
Papineau, also a famous
politician in Quebec.
Richard Pierpoint
Hero of 1812
• The man we know as Richard Pierpoint
was born around 1745 in the landlocked
West African kingdom called Bondu
• Captured in his mid-teens by slave
traders, he was forcibly transported to
New England in 1760 and purchased by
a British officer named Pierpoint.
• His African name was discarded and he
was given the Christian name Richard.
Richard would have likely lived out the
remainder of his life anonymously had
not the American War of Independence
intervened.
Marie-Josèph Angélique
1734
• a Portuguese-born
black slave in New France (later
the province
of Quebec in Canada).
• the name given by her last
owners[to She was tried and
convicted of setting fire to her
owner's home, burning much
of what is now referred to
as Old Montreal.
Peter Russell /
Peggy Pompadour
• Peter Russell owned slaves.
• At first, there were about fifteen slaves living in York
(though there were ten more just outside town); the
majority owned by Russell and his fellow corrupt
administrator, William Jarvis.
• Russell paid wages to a free man, Mr. Pompadour,
but enslaved his wife Peggy and their children:
Jupiter, Amy and Milly.
• Russell and his sister, Elizabeth, weren’t happy with
them — the Pompadours put up a fight.
• The Russells complained about them for years;
called them “dirty,” “idle,” “insolent” and “pilfering”.
• As part of her resistance, Peggy would disappear for
stretches of time. In response, Russell had her sent
to prison for a while, Elizabeth refused to let her
back into the house, and Russell finally tried to split
the family up.
Laura Secord
1775-1868
• A Canadian heroine of the War of
1812.
• She is known for having walked 20
miles (32 km) out of Americanoccupied territory in 1813 to warn
British forces of an impending
American attack.
• Her contribution to the war was little
known during her lifetime, but since
her death she has been frequently
honoured in Canada.
Tecumseh
1768-1813
• a Native American leader
of the Shawnee and a large
tribal confederacy (known
as Tecumseh's
Confederacy)
• opposed the United States
during Tecumseh's War
and the War of 1812.
• Tecumseh has become an
iconic folk hero in
American, Aboriginal and
Canadian history.[1]
Catharine Parr Traill
1802 –1899
• An English-Canadian author and naturalist
who wrote about life as a settler in Canada.
• She describes everyday life in the
community, the relationship between
Canadians, Americans, and natives, the
climate, and local flora and fauna.
• More observations were included in a novel,
Canadian Crusoes (1851).
• She also collected information concerning
the skills necessary for a new settler,
published in The Female Emigrant's Guide
(1854), later retitled The Canadian Settler's
Guide.
• She wrote "Pearls and Pebbles" and "Cot and
Cradle Stories"
Esther Brandeau
1718-1738
• The first Jewish girl to set foot
in Canada, or New France, in
1738.
• Around that time, Canada
was the only colony of the
New World never reported to
have been visited by a Jew.
• Born in France, Brandeau was
able to come to New France
because she pretended she
was a Roman Catholic boy.
Elizabeth Simcoe
1762-1850
• N artist and diarist in colonial
Canada.
• She was the wife of John
Graves Simcoe, the
first Lieutenant Governor of
Upper Canada.
• Elizabeth Simcoe left a diary
that provides a valuable
impression of life in colonial
Ontario.
• Her legacy also includes a
series of 595 water-colour
paintings that depict the town
of York.
John Parr
1725-1791
• Governor Parr Lieutenant Governor of
Nova Ascotia.
• Events were to unfold in Nova Scotia
during Parr's time as governor, including:
• the settlement of the "black loyalists" (Parr was
charged with "discriminatory practices and
long delays");
• the attempted establishment of a whaling
industry at Dartmouth (
• the "judges' affair" (certain members of the bar
openly criticized certain of the judges of
incompetence and partiality).
• Biggest issues was between the
complaining Loyalists on one side who
wanted things and the governmental
authorities on the other who were
unwilling, for the sake of economy, to give
the supplies and money needed to settle
these destitute people.
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1764-00/Parr.htm
Adolphus Egerton Ryerson
1803 – 882
• A Methodist minister,
educator, politician, and
public education
advocate in early Ontario,
Canada.
• He was the leading
opponent of the closed
oligarchy that ran the
province, calling it the
"Family Compact."
Joseph Brant
1743
–1807
• Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant
• a Mohawk military and political leader,
based in present-day New York, who was
closely associated with Great
Britain during and after the American
Revolution.
• During the American Revolutionary War,
Brant led Mohawk and colonial Loyalists
against the rebels in a bitter partisan war
on the New York frontier.
• He was accused by the Americans of
committing atrocities and given the name
"Monster Brant", but the charges were
later found to be false.
• After the war, he relocated with most of
his people to Canada to the Six Nations
Reserve, where he remained a prominent
leader.
Sir Frederick Haldimand,
1718 – 1791
• A military officer best known for his
service in the British Army in North
America during the Seven Years'
War and the American Revolutionary
War.
• From 1778 to 1786 he served as
Governor of the Province of Quebec,
during which time he oversaw military
operations against the northern
frontiers in the war, and engaged in
ultimately fruitless negotiations to
establish the independent Vermont
Republic as a new British province.
• His administration of Quebec was at
times harsh, with the detention of
numerous political dissidents and
agitators.
George III of the United Kingdom
1738 –1820
• His life and reign, which were longer than
any other British monarch before him,
were marked by a series of military
conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of
the rest of Europe, and places farther afield
in Africa, the Americas and Asia.
• Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated
France in the Seven Years' War, becoming
the dominant European power in North
America and India.
• American colonies were soon lost in the
American Revolutionary War.
• Further wars against revolutionary and
Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in
the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of
Waterloo in 1815.
William Henry Harrison
1773 –1841
• The ninth President of the United
States (1841), an American military
officer and politician, and the first
president to die in office. He was 68
years, 23 days old when inaugurated, the
oldest president to take office
until Ronald Reagan in 1981.
• Harrison died on his 32nd day in office of
complications from pneumonia, serving
the shortest tenure in United States
presidential history. His death sparked a
brief constitutional crisis, but its
resolution settled many questions
about presidential succession left
unanswered by the Constitution until the
passage of the 25th Amendment in 1967.
• He was grandfather of Benjamin
Harrison, who was elected as the 23rd
President in 1888.
James Madison, Jr.
1751 –1836)
• an American statesman, political theorist
and the fourth President of the United
States(1809–1817).
• He is hailed as the "Father of the
Constitution" for being instrumental in the
drafting of the United States
Constitution and as the key champion and
author of the United States Bill of
Rights.[2]
• Madison believed the U.S. could easily
seize Canada and thus cut off food
supplies to the West Indies, making for a
good bargaining chip at the peace talks.
But the US invasion efforts all failed.
• Madison had believed the state militias
would rally to the flag and invade Canada,
but the governors in the Northeast failed
to cooperate..
John Graves Simcoe
1752-1806
• A British army officer and
the first Lieutenant
Governor of Upper
Canada from 1791–1796.
• instrumental in
introducing institutions
such as the courts, trial by
jury, English common
law, freehold land tenure,
and the abolition
of slavery.
Alexander Mackenzie
1822-1892
• a building contractor
and newspaper
editor,
• the second Prime
Minister of
Canada from
November 7, 1873 to
October 8, 1878.
Peter Robinson
1785 – 1838
• Born in New Brunswick
• By 1817 he had been elected to represent the east riding
of York in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada.
• Starting in 1823 through to 1825 he administered the
passage and settlement of over 2500 poor Catholic
families mostly from County Cork, Ireland to settle in the
hinterlands of Lanark County, Carleton
County (today Ottawa) and Scott's Plains.
Sir James Lucas Yeo
1782-1818
• a British naval commander
who served in the War of
1812.
• Yeo captured Oswego and
then blockaded Sacketts
Harbour on May 6, 1814,
when
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke
1764 – 1830
• ) was a British soldier and
colonial administrator.
After serving in the British
army in Nova Scotia,
• he was appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of
Nova Scotia in 1811.
• During the War of 1812, his
policies and victory
in conquest of present day
Maine, renaming it the
colony of New Ireland, led
to significant prosperity in
Nova Scotia.
Guy Carlton Dorchester
1724-1808
• He commanded British troops in the American
War of Independence, first leading the defence
of Quebec during the 1775 rebel invasion and
the 1776 counteroffensive that drove the rebels
from the province.
• In 1782 and 1783 he led as the commander-inchief of all British forces in North America. In this
capacity he was notable for carrying out the
Crown's promise of freedom to slaves who
joined the British,
• he oversaw the evacuation of British
forces, Loyalists and more than
3,000 freedmen from New York in 1783 to
transport them to a British colony.
• The military and political career of his younger
brother Thomas Carleton was interwoven with
his own, and Thomas served under him in
Canada
Charles de Salaberry
1778-1829
• as a French-speaking Canadian of the
seigneurial class who served as an
officer of the British army in Lower
Canada (now Quebec). He won
distinction for repelling the American
advance on Montreal during the War
of 1812.
• De Salaberry's greatest claim to fame
came at Chateauguay in October
1813, when he intercepted and
turned the American troops
advancing on Montreal under Gen.
Hampton.
Catherine Lundy