1. How the People Were Governed
Chapter 4
How the People Were Governed

2. Evolution of Government
In 1800 people of Newfoundland had no say in how they were governed
In 1855, with responsible government came new responsibilities.
In 1914 Newfoundland was a self-governing dominion within the British Empire.

3. Early Government
Naval Governor – a person who governed Newfoundland on behalf of the British Empire. He only lived in Newfoundland during the fishing season.
Newfoundland became a Crown Colony in 1824 and a Civil Governor was appointed to govern the colony.

4. People in History William Carson – Born in 1770 in Scotland
Became a doctor
Came to Newfoundland in 1808
Promoted Newfoundland independence
Served in the House of Assembly for 3 terms
Died 1843

5. People In History Patrick Morris Born in Ireland in 1789
Started his own business in 1810
He promoted farming as an alternative to fishing
He served in the House of Assembly for 13 years.
Died in 1849

6. Representative Government
Governor – appointed by the British Government.
Legislative Council – appointed by the British Government.
Assembly – elected by the people to represent the people.
Only males over the age of 21 who had lived in Newfoundland for at least one year could vote.
The Assembly could only suggest changes and had very little power.

7. Representative Government Cont.
The first Assembly had 15 members from 9 electoral districts (Note map on page 73).
Women and children were disenfranchised. This means they were unable to vote.
The Assembly represented the poor fishers and the Council, who held the power, represented the Merchants and the rich.

8. Responsible Government
The Governor would follow the advice of the Executive council (cabinet).
The Cabinet would be made up of people from the elected assembly chosen by the Governor.
The Governor had to choose from the political party that held the most seats in the assembly.
The leader of that group would be the Premier.

9. Responsible Government Cont.
The legislature enforced the rules made by the Cabinet
Responsible Government was awarded in and remained in place until 1934.

10. Denominational Compromise
Liberals –> Catholic
Conservatives –> Protestant
Governor – replaced liberal government with conservative government because he said they were incompetent. This led to a riot resulting in 3 dead and 20 wounded.
Religious affiliation was removed from political parties.

11. Continued
Schools were run by the churches in a Denominational School System
Money was paid to the church by the government to run the schools.
until 1997.
This system remained in place
Main Churches: Catholicm established in 1874., Anglican, and Methodists.

12. Confederation Confederation was first proposed in 1869.
Frederic Carter proposed it as an election issue for the 1869 election.
Charles Bennett, an anti-confederate won the election 21 to 9.
This defeated the confederation question and Newfoundland would remain independent until the late 1940’s

13. Newfoundland Railway Building a Trans-island railway began in 1881.
It was hoped that it would open the rest of the province, provide new jobs, and keep people from leaving Newfoundland
The line was completed in 1897.
The west coast terminal was originally planned for St. Georges.

14. Newfoundland Crises
St John’s Fire – 1892 – Affected a large portion of the East end of the city.
French Shore
The French were granted fishing rights by the British Government on the “French Shore”.
This caused resentment with Newfoundlanders settled there
The French then wanted to fish for Lobster but the Newfoundlanders objected very strongly because the French only had the rights to fish… never really resolved.
The bank failure of 1894 renewed contact with Canada. There were several reasons for the bank failure. (see pages 89-90)

15. Fisherman’s Union Established by William Coaker in 1908.
By 1914 it had 20,000 members.
Sought social and political change for the benefit of workers.
Established the town of Port Union to help fisherman by establishing a trading company.
Had members elected to the House of Assembly
Coaker remained a political force until 1932.