The study hypothesizes that even as the 1860’s were years of significant political, social, and economic change, they can also be identified as the beginning of modern education in Ontario. Primary sources utilized included textbooks for teachers and pupils, letters, family papers, diaries, minutes of the meetings of teachers' associations and school boards, journal articles, books, annual reports, and various other documents. The study is divided into three parts: society and education; theory of education; and practice in education. The first discusses the social environment, the educational level of Ontarians, political-religious issues that affected education, and the extent and quality of public participation in school management. The second investigates concepts of education and of child nature. The third deals with common and grammar schools, teacher-training and certification, teaching techniques, and the Ontario teacher. The 1860's were years of transition as Ontario was changing from a pioneer to a modern society. Educators strove to keep pace with the forward thrust of Ontario life. New concepts and practices co-existed with traditional ones to a degree that the decade is unique as a turning point in Ontario education. Specific examples indicating the pivotal position of the 1860's in education are: the resolution of the separate school question by the Scott Act of 1863 and the British North America Act of 1867; the increasing humanitarian concern for children in and out of school; the growing desire for a more scientific approach to teaching; the changing concepts of pupil discipline and motivation; the extension of free schooling to include over 90% of the province's elementary schools; the broadening of the aims of education and the expansion of the common school curriculum; the change from a predominantly religious to a more secular and nationalistic emphasis in pupil textbooks; the widespread adoption of grading in elementary schools; the revision of the form and function of secondary schools; the large influx of girls into secondary schools, as they were granted the legal right to enroll; the popularity of object and oral teaching; the dramatic rise in the number of women teachers; and the organization of a provincial teachers' association which gave the teachers a united voice and contributed to greater professionalism. The Chief Superintendent of Education, the Rev. Dr. Egerton Ryerson, played a prominent role in nearly every area. New theories and practices in education were being tested and accepted to such an extent that the 1860's mark the beginning of modern education in Ontario. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

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This thesis is concerned with the relationship between creditor/debtor law and broader political, economic, and social relations in Upper Canada before 1812. The research reviews the history of credit relations in early Upper Canada through a critical reassessment of both the historiographic debates and available primary legal and archival sources. Recent historical writing, in seeking out the community based nature of creditor/debtor relations has often tended to overlook the extent to which social, political, and economic conflicts were also played out in the arena of credit and debt. In early Upper Canada, matters relating to credit and debt were not infrequently the focus of conflicts about constitutionalism and the rights of colonial subjects. The thesis argues for a re-framing of the study of creditor/debtor relations to take account of the overall context of economic inequality. Feminist historical and theoretical work is drawn upon to expand conventional understandings of the economic, and to argue that local or communal based relations are not always consensual. The thesis draws a connection between social inequality, political repression, constitutional politics and the private law of property, credit, and debt. It asserts that early Upper Canadian creditor/ debtor relations were expressive of the struggle over the kinds of institutions that would represent the new polity, and of a sensibility among at least some portion of the population that the rule of law should apply to a wider range of people than those who made up the elite. It is found that the role of certain financial instruments and the contents of certain court records has been misunderstood. These findings change our understanding of the 1794 court reforms in Upper Canada, which established an English-style Court of King's Bench. It is also found that debtor/creditor law, in particular the seizure of land for debt in Upper Canada (a remedy that was not available in England) impacted upon the constitutional politics of the time.

This thesis is concerned with the relationship between creditor/debtor law and broader political, economic, and social relations in Upper Canada before 1812. The research reviews the history of credit relations in early Upper Canada through a critical reassessment of both the historiographic debates and available primary legal and archival sources. Recent historical writing, in seeking out the community based nature of creditor/debtor relations has often tended to overlook the extent to which social, political, and economic conflicts were also played out in the arena of credit and debt. In early Upper Canada, matters relating to credit and debt were not infrequently the focus of conflicts about constitutionalism and the rights of colonial subjects. The thesis argues for a re-framing of the study of creditor/debtor relations to take account of the overall context of economic inequality. Feminist historical and theoretical work is drawn upon to expand conventional understandings of the economic, and to argue that local or communal based relations are not always consensual. The thesis draws a connection between social inequality, political repression, constitutional politics and the private law of property, credit, and debt. It asserts that early Upper Canadian creditor/ debtor relations were expressive of the struggle over the kinds of institutions that would represent the new polity, and of a sensibility among at least some portion of the population that the rule of law should apply to a wider range of people than those who made up the elite. It is found that the role of certain financial instruments and the contents of certain court records has been misunderstood. These findings change our understanding of the 1794 court reforms in Upper Canada, which established an English-style Court of King's Bench. It is also found that debtor/creditor law, in particular the seizure of land for debt in Upper Canada (a remedy that was not available in England) impacted upon the constitutional politics of the time. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

Egerton Ryerson is remembered today mainly as an educational reformer and religious leader. His work in connection with the public library movement in Ontario has received little attention. Yet Ryerson himself attached great importance to the provision of free libraries for the general public, as an extension and completion of the school system. His object was to ensure that all citizens, both young and old, would be able to enjoy the fruits of education. A study of the library system introduced by Ryerson is needed to shed light on a neglected aspect of his career. At the same time, it fills a gap by furnishing a connected account of public library history in Ontario from 1844 to 1876. For source material, the chief documentary items are found in various works edited by J.G. Hodgins. Ryerson's own Annual Reports provide an abundance of valuable information. A search of newspapers and periodicals of the period has revealed some pertinent articles, which have been particularly useful in gauging the reaction in Ryerson's contemporaries to his library scheme. The scheme was first formulated by Ryerson in his 1846 Report, two years after he became Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada. It was given government approval in 1850. School trustees and municipal councils were authorized to start libraries in their communities, and money could be raised for the purpose by an assessment on property. Many of the libraries were placed in school buildings, though they were intended to be used by the adult population of the surrounding district as well as by the students. Local initiative was emphasized. Once a library became established, a government grant was available for the purchase of books, on a matching basis with funds raised locally. All the books had to be selected from a list of authorized publications compiled and annotated by Ryerson, known as the General Catalogue. They were supplied at cost price from a central Depository in Toronto. Most of them came from British and American publishing firms. For about twenty years, the libraries grew and flourished. In I850 free public library service was unknown in Upper Canada. By 1870 there were over a thousand libraries circulating a quarter of a million volumes. The success of the scheme was partly due to the energetic backing Ryerson gave it. After his retirement in 1876, the libraries declined rapidly. Government support was withdrawn, and given instead to the libraries of the Mechanics' Institutes. Of all Ryerson's enterprises, this was one of the few that did not survive. Its collapse was due partly to dissatisfaction with the material available in the General Catalogue, and partly to public apathy. There was also strong opposition from Canadian publishers, who resented the Department of Education buying books in bulk from foreign sources. Even though the libraries disappeared, Ryerson's efforts had not been wasted. During his lifetime, the project filled an important need, and much praise was accorded to it at all levels of society. It was the first real attempt in Canada to extend free library service to the whole population. Though changed in direction during the final quarter of the nineteenth century, the movement started by Ryerson continued to advance at a steady pace through the work of the Mechanics' Institutes. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

none / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

This study is an examination of frontier movement and economic development in a portion of the Canadian Shield--Northeastern Ontario--in the period from 1850 to 1914. The process of frontier advance is examined with reference to five key elements: (1) the nature and distribution of resources; (2) external economic and cultural forces; (3) technological change, with emphasis on transportation developments; (4) public policy; and (5) entrepreneurship. The interrelationships of these factors are analysed to explain the spatial distribution of settlement and frontier-core interaction in the Nipissing Lowlands, the Algoma-Sudbury district, and the Timiskaming area. Significant changes occurred in both the process and pattern of frontier advance. The direction of movement in the nineteenth century was foreshadowed by the earlier fur trade, which was followed in some areas by logging and subsidiary agriculture. Inward movements of people and frontier-core interaction were oriented toward Montreal via the Ottawa Valley transportation linkages. In the twentieth century, northward extension of the railway system from southern Ontario gave rise to a dynamic mining frontier. A strong north-south interaction emerged, contrasting with the earlier east-west pattern. Northeastern Ontario, at first almost wholly within the sphere of influence of Montreal, had become part of the economic and cultural hinterland of Toronto by 1914. By 1914 there was established a pattern of land occupance which is still strongly in evidence at present. It was characterized by a high degree of nucleation and a linear orientation of settlement along transportation corridors. The distribution of population and the location of economic activity were usually influenced by the distribution of resources, ease of access, and the presence or absence of government stimulus, entrepreneurial skill, and capital. Economic development was (and still is) based predominantly on the extraction and processing of natural resources for consumption outside the region. Frontier-core interaction was characterized by outbound movements of commodities such as furs, minerals, and wood, either unprocessed or in various stages of manufacture. The introduction of resource-processing industries depended on whether there was less cost to the external consuming area, and to some extent on public policy. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

What kind of animal was a black bear? Were black bears primarily pests, pets, furbearers or game animals? Farmers, conservationists, tourists, trappers, and hunters in early twentieth-century Ontario could not agree. Even as the century progressed, ideas about bears remained twisted and there was often very little consensus about what the animal represented. These varying perceptions complicated the efforts of the provincial Department of Game and Fisheries and its successor agencies, the Department of Lands and Forests and the Ministry of Natural Resources, to develop coherent bear management policies. Perceptions about black bears often conflicted and competed with one another and at no one time did they have a single meaning in Ontario. The image of Ontario’s black bears has been continuously negotiated as human values, attitudes, and policies have changed over time. As a result, because of various and often competing perspectives, the province’s bear management program, for most of the twentieth century, was very loose and haphazard because the animal had never been uniformly defined or valued. Examining the history of these ambiguous viewpoints towards the black bear in Ontario provides us with a snapshot of how culture intersects with our natural resources and may pose challenges for management. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)