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Ontario History

The Idea of Popular Schooling in : Print Culture, Public Discourse, and the Demand for Education by Anthony Di Mascio Ronald Stagg

Volume 105, Number 2, Fall 2013

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1050737ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1050737ar

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Publisher(s) The Ontario Historical Society

ISSN 0030-2953 (print) 2371-4654 (digital)

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Cite this review Stagg, R. (2013). Review of [The Idea of Popular Schooling in Upper Canada: Print Culture, Public Discourse, and the Demand for Education by Anthony Di Mascio]. Ontario History, 105(2), 236–239. https://doi.org/10.7202/1050737ar

Copyright © The Ontario Historical Society, 2013 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/

This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 236 ONTARIO HISTORY

by Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, mavens alike will appreciate the many ap- who “lost an opportunity” (p. 119) to oust pendices offering details on the careers of the Americans from the Niagara Peninsula select personnel, specifications of weapons, by calling off the assault. This conclusion is details on clothing and dress, and informa- not supported by the narrative, the sources tion on soldiering, discipline, diet, health cited, or the excerpt from a letter Prevost and military families. sent to his superior in London, which Unfortunately, careless research, im- outlined the need for a larger coordinated precise writing and poor editing have dra- operation, with naval support, to take Fort matically reduced the quality of this work, George, and Fort Niagara, which offered which must be read with caution. support from across the river. There are a great many problems with John R. Grodzinski Redcoated Ploughboys, yet, not all is lost, Department of History, as historians, re-enactors and War of 1812 Royal Military College of Canada

The Idea of Popular Schooling in Upper Canada Print Culture, Public Discourse, and the Demand for Education By Anthony Di Mascio

Montreal and Kingston:McGill-Queens University Press, 2012. 244 pages. $95.00 cloth. ISBN 978-0-773540-45-3. $32.95 paperback. ISBN 978-0-773540-46-0. (www.mqup.ca)

n approaching the subject of the devel- As the author explains, much of the fo- opment of education in Upper Canada, cus of historians of education has been on up to 1832, Anthony Di Mascio has the period beginning in the 1840s, when Ichosen to focus on what he rightly claims Egerton Ryerson established the begin- is a neglected aspect, discussion of the sub- nings of the modern educational system. ject by the people of the colony, through Discussions of the earlier period have fo- the press, in pamphlets and through other cused largely on official policy and those public forums such as petitions and debates who created it, but have neglected public in the two branches of the legislature. His pressure for development. The author has argument is that public discussion helped familiarized himself with various histori- to drive official policy. At times, what ap- ans’ views on the nature of Upper Cana- peared to be actions initiated by leading dian thinking on social issues and read the figures in government were preceded by existing material on the development of ed- public pressure, exerted through newspa- ucation, but added to this a thorough read- per editorials, letters to the editor, pam- ing of the newspapers, extant pamphlets phlets, and possibly petitions. of the period dealing with education, and

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petitions. While others have used debates Canada, it is the public discussion in the in the provincial parliament, Di Mascio press and in petitions that creates a broader focuses specifically on debates related to picture of the evolution of education in education. All of this material adds an- Upper Canada. other dimension to our understanding of This work should, however, be used how education developed in the province with caution. After stating that material of Ontario. published in newspapers is not necessar- All of the ily reflective of legislation and broad public opin- proposed legisla- ion (p.17-18), the tion is included, author then pro- from the original ceeds as if it was. 1807 act, estab- This is particu- lishing a school in larly questionable each large district, in the pre-War of through the 1816 1812 period when legislation, creat- there were almost ing a weak system no newspapers of local schools, to in existence. It is the controversial true that he offers British govern- other evidence, ment Act to es- such as a petition tablish an Upper from 1787, from Canadian univer- the Niagara area, sity linked to the but this also is of Church of Eng- limited use, for the land. In each case following reason. public discussion, While acknowl- before and after, edging that read- is highlighted. ership was limited The controversy by literacy and over replacing the the ability to pay school in York, for a newspaper, the capital, with a school run on a less ex- Di Mascio suggests that information was pensive system, again tied to the Church spread by those who had newspapers, both of England, is also discussed. The writings by passing on those publications and by of the two great proponents of education, public discussions of the content in places and Egerton Ryerson, who such as taverns. He acknowledges that the agreed that religious values were impor- readership was, “professionals, clerks and tant in education but disagreed totally on shopkeepers, skilled artisans and journey- whether any particular church should con- men, and most relatively established farm trol how and what students learned, are families.” In 1787, there were few of any of covered extensively. While some of these these, particularly well-established farmers. and most of the remainder of the topics Thus petitions tended to reflect the desires are featured in various histories of Upper of those who had enough money to hire

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labourers and did not have to spend their representing frontier farmers who strong- days hacking down trees to create farms. ly resented taxation, looked to existing In fact, this is a dimension of the issue that sources of money, particularly the Clergy the author misses throughout. Frontier Reserves, as ways to pay for ‘free’ educa- farmers worried first and foremost about tion. This confrontation resulted in a situ- building a house and clearing enough land ation where no more government funding, to grow crops. Only when they were well indeed less in 1820, went into education established did they turn to seeking roads and this was a constant source of irritation and schools, and did they have time to in Reform newspapers, yet little of this is meet in public places such as taverns and found in Di Mascio’s account. This partly churches. The demand for education came may be attributed to his decision to end his from those who were in a position to take work in 1832, when the various positions advantage of it. on education had been set out in the pub- When dealing with the post-1815 pe- lic domain. Since the funding of education riod, there are numerous newspapers from and the debate over religious involvement which to quote and the author is on safer in education were major causes of the Re- ground in talking about the desire to edu- bellion of 1837, the decision to stop at cate the next generation. This desire came, 1832 seems a curious one. of course, from longer settled areas, as men- There are a few smaller points of con- tioned above. It was a desire for free educa- tention in this book. On a couple of occa- tion for all, as Di Mascio explains. Howev- sions the author contradicts himself. For er, free education is not free. Someone has instance, in dealing with the War of 1812 to pay, and, while he mentions funding in he mentions that there was substantial op- various places, he does not explain that this position to fighting the Americans among issue was one that held up the implemen- the population, many of whom had come tation of a more extensive school system. from the United States, opposition even Using money generated by eliminating to the point of fighting for the United the expensive original district system (77), States. Yet he concludes that: “The war, for using the money that could be generated its duration, provided an obedient popu- from land set aside early in the existence of lation while suppressing radical political Upper Canada to fund education (actually factions.” In his conclusion, Di Mascio marginal land of little value) (154), and us- includes a long digression on the ideas of ing money from the Clergy Reserve lands Egerton Ryerson, which seems out of place (130), set aside for the support of Protes- in the context of a summary of the content tant clergy, but claimed by the Church of in the remainder of the book. England and the Church of Scotland, are The largest problem with this work, mentioned at various times as ways that the however, aside from the failure to deal fully assembly saw to finance education. with the funding issue and its ramifications, At no time does he explain that the is his handling of the university question. , the oligarchy that con- John Strachan, the Church of England cler- trolled the upper house of parliament and ic who was a leading figure in the Family also the Executive Council, the body that Compact, went to England and arranged advised the governor, pushed the idea that for a charter for a provincial university. The those who used the school system should assembly rejected it because of its ties to the bear most of the cost, while the assembly, Church of England. The author points out

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that the assembly was in no mood to ac- there was no religious requirement of the cept a Church of England university after faculty. It is strange that the author would Strachan had twice publicly accused the make such a fundamental error, given that Methodists, the largest religious sect in the charter is readily available online, and Upper Canada, of being disloyal because is discussed in detail in that old but still of their American roots, and had incor- excellent history of Upper Canada, Upper rectly claimed that most people in Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784-1841, Canada belonged to the Church of Eng- by Gerald M. Craig. land. Di Mascio is mistaken, however, in Used with its limitations in mind, this claiming that all the professors would have work adds a useful dimension to the his- had to be members of the Church of Eng- tory of education in Ontario. Used, how- land, and that the Church would have total ever, by someone who does not know these control of teaching (106). This was a very limitations, the book is likely to create a liberal charter for its day, rejected because somewhat distorted picture of discussions of the animosity generated by Strachan’s ut- of education in Upper Canada. terances. Except for the seven members of the college council, and presumably profes- Ronald Stagg sors in the divinity school, should one exist,

Escape From Van Diemen’s Land The James Gammell Chronicles By Elizabeth Gammell Hedquist

Provo, Utah: Y Mountain Press, 2013. 335 pages. $US 19.95 paperback. ISBN 978-1-611660-32-6. (www.byubookstore.com)

wo Thousand and Thirteen marks 26 October 1814 in Kilmarnock, Scot- the 175th anniversary of the 1838 land, through to his return to the United Upper Canadian Rebellion/Patriot States after his escape from incarceration as TWar. The publication of Michigan-based au- a political prisoner in Van Diemen’s Land thor Elizabeth Gammell Hedquist`s book (now the Australian state of Tasmania). is therefore most timely. Hedquist who is The second half of the book investigates James Gemmell`s (now spelled Gammell) Gemmell’s association with the Mormon great, great granddaughter, builds upon Church and his involvement in the open- her father`s research from the 1950s to tell ing up of the western American frontier the fascinating story of her Patriot relative. states of Texas, Utah and Montana. She presents her research in a chronologi- The first chapter deals with the history cal order, reflecting upon James Gammell’s and genealogy of the Gemmell/Gammell life experiences from birth to death. family in Scotland. Chapter two details the The book is divided into two distinct departure from Scotland, life in New York sections. Chapters one to twenty-three City and James’ departure to live with his deal with Gemmell’s life from his birth on uncle at the Gore of (now Bramp-

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