DISSENTING TRADITIONS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL CANADA COMMUNITIES APART: DISSENTING TRADITIONS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL CANADA By LOUISE A MUSSIO, M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University o Copyright by Louise Mussio, September 2000 ii DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2000) McMaster University (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Communities Apart: Dissenting Traditions in Nineteenth­ Century Central Canada AUTHOR Louise Mussio M.A. (McMaster UniverSIty) SUPERVISOR: Professor Michael Gauvreau NUMBER OF PAGES. 352 III Abstract "Communities Apart: Dissenting Traditions in Nineteenth-Century Central Canada" studies the relationship between five Dissenting Protestant groups - the Quakers, Children of Peace, Disciples of Christ, Millerites and the Holiness Movement Church - and several key political and social transfonnations in nineteenth-century central Canadian life. It challenges SD Clark's argument that Dissenting "sects" were otherworldly and apolitical, while at the same time revising the more modern Canadian historiographical trend to confine discussions of Protestantism's cultural impact to so-called "mainline" denominations. In the process, it discovers that Dissenting denominations were important participants in the societal dialogue regarding various aspects of central Canadian life. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Dissenters considered in this thesis challenged the compact between Church and state which was entrenched in the Constitution of 1791, and presented alternatives to the culture of hierarchy and deference, rooted in a common core of democratic, Christian values. These included a strident anti­ formalism, in addition to a staunch defense of liberty of conscience, the priesthood of all believers and sola scriptura, or alternatively, a mystical sense of God's active direction in the life of the believer. As the links between church and state were dismantled, a new form of Dissent arose whose focus was more socio-economic than political. Indeed, within this thesis, "New Dissent" constituted a reaction to mainline Methodism's assumption of several of the cultural attributes of an established church in defense of a rising, and later consolidating middle class. Although the context had shifted, Dissenters of the new era continued to base their criticisms of the larger culture and of Methodist elites, in addition to their claims to superior spiritual and hence social authority on democratic Christian notions. Moreover, this thesis explores how IV certain Dissenting communities were guided by their religious beliefs and experiences to present alternatives to the gender ideologies espoused by the larger culture. It also demonstrates how "mainstream" cultural consensus was profoundly shaped in response to Dissenting alternatives from the 1840s to the 1890s. What emerges is a clearer understanding of the diverse and uniquely Canadian ways in which contentious political, social and religious questions were experienced, imagined and resolved. v Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in generously funding this project. I would also like to thank a number of individuals who provided me with assistance, guidance and encouragement through what was both a rewarding and difficult process. In Toronto, Ruth Wilson and the staff at the United Church Archives catered to my every request and offered expert direction on several collections pertaining to Methodism and the Holiness Movement Church. At the Archives of Ontario, I benefited enonnously from Leon Warmski's encyclopedic knowledge of the province's archival holdings, his kindliness, and the eagerness with which he approached historical inquiry. I would also like to thank Jane Zavitz, archivist at Pickering College, Newmarket whose knowledge of Canadian Quakerism is unsurpassed and whose scholarly insight and hospitality I will always remember. In Montreal, Dorothy Clarke, archivist at Montreal Unitarian Church in addition to the staff of the bibliotheque nationale de Quebec helped me to make the most fruitful use of my time in that city. I also wish to thank several of my colleagues. At King's College, University ofWestem Ontario, Gerry Killan and Paul Webb helped to spark my first interest in History as an academic discipline, and continued to offer me both intellectual support and the gift of friendship as I pursued doctoral study. I am grateful to Jack Little who so generously allowed me the use of his private collection of Millerite documents, and to Ruth Frager, Harvey Levenstein and Wayne Thorpe who helped guide this project from start to finish. I would especially like to thank my advisor, Michael Gauvreau and his wife Nancy Christie, who acted as a kind of adjunct supervisor. Over the years, we had often joked that I bad received a "two-for-one" deal in VI choosing Michael as a doctoral advisor. I benefited greatly from their historical vision and commitment to this project, in addition to their personal generosity. It is a pleasure for me to thank Pam MacIsaac and Jennifer Read, colleagues who commented thoughtfully on the implications of my research, and dear friends who gave me the gifts of patience, understanding and irreverence. Chris Siosser, Daniela Vukobratic, Alexa Wing and Dawn Whitwell have been an exceptionally intelligent and supportive group of friends. I would also would like to thank my brother Laurence Mussio, fellow historian and purveyor ofboth carrot and stick: when his modeJ of discipline did not sustain me, his insight, care and outrageous sense of humour inevitably did. In addition, I offer my fond appreciation to my sister-in-law Flavia Mussio whose theological expertise helped to shed light on several facets of my thesis, and whose many acts of kindness I will never forget. Finally, it is an honour for me to thank my dear parents, Vittorina and Egidio Mussio to whom this thesis is dedicated. They have given me so much, and they have always beJieved in me. VII Table of Contents Descriptive Note 11 Abstract ill Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vii Introduction 1 Chapter I: Establishmentarianism and Dissenting Traditions, 1791-1854 20 Chapter n: Revisioning the Constitution: Central Canada and the Politics of Dissent, 1812-1854 81 Chapter III: Dissenting Perspectives on Faith, Family and Conununity, 1800-1860: The Society of Friends and the Children of Peace 134 Chapter IV: "Perilous Times and Latter Day Glory:" The Millerite "Heresy" And the Making of Canadian Liberalism 210 Chapter V: Aspects of Religious Populism: The Holiness Movement Church And the Crusade Against Consumerism, 1887-1916 280 Conclusion 320 Primary Sources 327 Bibliography 332 1 Introduction In recent years, several Canadian historians have investigated the links between Christian belief on the one hand, and politics, gender, culture and religious organization on the other. In the process, new theories have been put forth regarding a vast range of subjects, including the gendered nature of Upper Canadian religious and political ideologies, evangelicalism's response to Darwinism and the higher criticism, and the rise of a Protestant cultural consensus in mid-to-late nineteenth-century Ontario. 1 Although broad in scope, even the most comprehensive examples of the new historiography have focused on the largest Christian denominations. As a result, the impact of the many varieties of Protestant Dissent on Canadian life has remained largely unexplored. TIlls stands in stark contrast to American and British historians' extensive investigation of the significance of Dissent. 2 Furthermore, it has raised several questions about the dominant m)1hologies which have helped shape both scholarly and popular views of Canada's past. In the area ofreJigious history, SD Clark's seminal work, Church and Sect in C~ published in 1948, set the standard for future historians' attitudes toward the role of Dissent in Canada's past. Clark's argument rests on a rigid model of religious development that combines Ernest Troelsch's dichotomization of "church" and "sect" as pure organizational types with the "frontierism" of Frederick Jackson Turner. In the context of the decline of the American frontier, Turner had argued that the genius of American life and democracy was rooted in the frontier experience. His view was both positive and fearful: the frontier was the fount of all that was uniquely American; its decline was looked upon with a sense of foreboding for the future of the republic. In contrast, Clark's social conservatism influenced his attitude toward the role of the frontier in Canadian religious life. As the product of mature political, economic and social development, churches were characterized by an activist spirit and a desire to accommodate the 2 needs of the larger community. Conversely, sects were inevitably the product ofprirnitive, frontier conditions. Although ultimately doomed to extinction, or to becoming churches themselves once the frontier disappeared, sects impeded the progress of mature social and religious development by challenging the leadership of the larger, more "stable denominations.,,3 Clark has influenced the writing of Canadian religious and political history in several ways. First of all, Church and Sect's compelling arguments, and magnificent range had for several years dissuaded historians from re-examining its Dissenting