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On 28 December, Isabella Macdonald died, leaving John a widower with a seven-year-old son. Hugh John Macdonald would be principally raised by his paternal aunt and her husband. [ 55 ]
Sep 27, 2024 · Quick Facts. In full: Sir John Alexander Macdonald. Born: January 11, 1815, Glasgow, Scotland. Died: June 6, 1891, Ottawa, Ontario, Dominion of Canada (aged 76) Title / Office: prime minister (1857-1867), Canada. Role In: Charlottetown Conference. Pacific Scandal.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
When his government fell in 1864, Canada was facing a political deadlock. Under such conditions, Macdonald grudgingly agreed to opposition leader George Brown's proposal of a new coalition of Conservatives, Bleus and Grits, which was set to bring about a constitutional change.
- Early Life and Education
- Early Career
- Legal Career and Business Interests
- Entry Into Politics
- Premier of The Province of Canada
- Macdonald and Confederation
- Nation Builder
- Pacific Scandal
- Return to Power
- National Policy
Macdonald and his parents, Hugh and Helen (née Shaw) Macdonald, immigrated to Kingston, Upper Canada, from Scotland when he was five years old. (See also Scottish Canadians.) His father opened a series of businesses in the area. Macdonald grew up in Kingston and in the nearby Lennox, Addington and Prince Edward counties. He attended the Midland Dis...
At age 15, Macdonald began to article with a prominent Kingston lawyer. He showed promise both at school and as an articling student. At 17, he managed a branch legal office in Napaneeby himself. At 19, he opened his own office in Kingston. Two years later, he was called to the Law Society of Upper Canada. Macdonald’s early professional career coin...
Macdonald practiced law for the rest of his life with a series of partners; first in Kingston (until 1874) and then in Toronto. His firm engaged primarily in commercial law; his most valued clients were established businessmen or corporations. He was also personally involved in a variety of business concerns. He began to deal in real estate in the ...
Macdonald entered politics at the municipal level. He served as alderman in Kingston from 1843 to 1846. He took an increasingly active part in Conservative politics. In 1844, at age 29, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Parties and government were in a state of transition. A modern departmental structure had begu...
Back in office, Macdonald assumed the prestigious post of attorney general of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada). When Conservative leader Sir Allan MacNab retired in 1856 — an event Macdonald helped engineer — Macdonald succeeded him as joint-premier of the Province of Canada; first with Étienne-Paschal Taché, then with George-Étienne Cartier(185...
During the years 1854–64, Macdonald faced growing opposition in Canada West to the political union with Canada East (formerly Lower Canada). In 1841, the Province of Canada had been created, uniting the two colonies under one parliament. (See Act of Union.) The Reform view, voiced by George Brown of the Toronto Globe, complained that the needs and ...
During Macdonald’s first administration (1867–73), the new country expanded dramatically. The original four provinces of Confederation were joined by Manitoba (1870); the North-West Territories (1870; present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan); British Columbia (1871); and Prince Edward Island (1873). The Intercolonial Railway between Quebec City and Ha...
Macdonald’s involvement in the negotiations for a contract to build the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to British Columbia formed the heart of the Pacific Scandal. Macdonald and senior members of his Conservative cabinet accepted large campaign contributions for the 1872 election from shipping magnate Sir Hugh Allan; in exchange, Allan received the...
Macdonald’s defeat in 1874 coincided with the onset of a depression in Canada. This made the Liberal government of Alexander Mackenzie appear ineffective. In 1876, at the urging of a group of Montreal manufacturers, Macdonald began to advocate a policy of “readjustment” of the tariff. This policy helped him return to power in 1878. He remained prim...
The promised changes in tariff policy were introduced in 1879. They were frequently revised in close collaboration with leading manufacturers. This formed the basis for Macdonald’s National Policy. It was a system that protected Canadian manufacturing by imposing high tariffs on foreign imports, especially from the United States. (See Protectionism...
Jan 13, 2015 · Sir John died in 1891 at the age of 76. His achievements in elected office across almost 50 years came despite a tragic personal life and chronic alcoholism.
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, QC, DCL, LL.D (January 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891), was the first Prime Minister of Canada. He was one of the architects of Confederation in 1867, which created the Dominion of Canada, the first settler colony to be granted independence by the United Kingdom. His championship of the cross-continental ...
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The claim that Macdonald was responsible for a “state-sponsored attack on Indigenous communities” by denying food relief in order to open the Prairies to white settlement is forcefully made in Clearing the Plains, from University of Saskatchewan historian and notable Macdonald critic James Daschuk.
