1. Birthplace of Canada -- Where Father's of Confed met 1864. Nat. Historic Site. Island History: legislative assembly (rallies, debates, celebrations, etc.)
2. The establishment of the colonial government, and its subsequent evolution, was the result of one of the most unusual arrangements in British colonial history. Land in the colony, then part of Nova Scotia, was awarded by lottery to proprietors in 1767 who undertook, as part of the conditions of their grants, to settle the colony with Protestants, pay quitrents (a form of taxation) to the Crown and to fulfill various other conditions. The new proprietors, many of whom were to not fulfill the conditions of their grants, petitioned the Crown for the establishment of a separate government free from the influences of Nova Scotia. In return, the proprietors agreed to defray the expenses of the new colonial government. Prince Edward Island thus became a separate colony in 1769. The subsequent conflicts between absentee proprietors and tenants, known as the “Land Question,” dominated Island politics for more than a century.
3. William Patterson; council was originally supposed to be 12, but due to the small and struggling colony, they could not find suitable candidates.
4. Because of the small size and limited range of skills of the colony’s residents, the number of members of the new assembly was limited to eighteen. They were elected at-large by male, Protestant residents over the age of 21. Folklore has it that the first assembly met in a Charlottetown tavern. Surveying the elected members, the sergeant-at-arms is reported as observing, “This is a damned queer parliament.” He was fined for the outburst.1
5. In the small confines of Island politics, personal rivalries emerged; disputes occurred among the various factions of the population; there were ongoing disagreements and disputes with the Colonial Office; enforcing the conditions imposed upon the proprietors was proving difficult, if not impossible; corruption was widespread; and the progress of the colony was constrained.
6. the Legislative Assembly struggled to achieve an effective position and recognition of its parliamentary privileges. The political system was dominated by the appointed Executive Council and Legislative Council, largely consisting of the same people. Successive Governors would routinely dissolve the Legislative Assembly in efforts to achieve a more compliant membership. In some cases, Governors even refused to summon members for regular sessions. Members were relatively poor, uneducated and disorganized. The attitudes of the ruling cliques were expressed by one Governor who extolled the virtues of members of the two ruling councils, “men of Education, experience in the world” whose duty it was to, “oppose the overbearing dominion of ignorance” found in the assembly.3 He blocked every attempt to grant more powers to the Assembly where, he said, “there neither is, nor do I think there can be for a l
7. Escheat Party which captured a majority of seats in the assembly in the 1830s. It sought to have the estates of the proprietors who had not fulfilled the original conditions of their grants returned to the Crown for redistribution to the tenants.ong time yet, any sufficient intelligence to govern at all. Reform movement -->
8. proprietors in London and the complicity and intimidation of their local agents who dominated the government of the colony and the political life of the day.
9. members of the appointed council are collectively responsible to the elected House; appointed council must have support of elected assembly to retain office
10. Leader of Liberal Reform Party --> introduced responsible government to the Island --> later would become the Island's first premier.
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