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 STRIFE IN UPPER CANADA
Before the Rebellion of 1837, and for several years after, Canada was not a “free country,” as we think of it today. Upper and Lower Canada were a series of military, economic, and personal territories controlled by a small group of people. Those who wanted Upper Canada to be more democratic called these people the “Family Compact.” They controlled the government by choosing one another for powerful and high-paying positions, holding all the power within a small group.
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| Washington Printing Press, rumoured to have been used by Mackenzie. this press was recovered from Toronto bay prior to 1866 and brought to Strathroy. |
The Talbot Settlement was a typical example of this method of governing. By 1836, Colonel Thomas Talbot had control of 65,000 acres of land, stretching from Sandwich (Windsor) in the west to Simcoe in the east. He also controlled several communities along the Sydenham, including Shetland, Florence, and Poplar Hill. Talbot was widely disliked for his treatment of settlers. He did not grant land to people he didn’t like, he made sure no one settled near his own land and he would evict settlers who displeased him. Talbot would not issue people the deed to their land unless they lived on it for at least five years, and one of his conditions of settlement was that settlers had to clear public roads.
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