Historical Context
Following the Revolutionary War the British government felt an urgent need to populate the interior of the province of Upper Canada. The immediate concern was to find a refuge for Loyalists forced from their previous homes in the United States. After the early settlement of Kingston and the lower St. Lawrence River, and the establishment of Butler’s Rangers and others in the Niagara peninsula, the possibility also existed for Loyalist communities at the head of Lake Ontario.
Another priority was the need to accelerate the settlement of the unoccupied areas in western Upper Canada in order to provide a buffer zone between that province and the United States in the event of further hostilities. Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe hoped to achieve this by offering free 200-acre (80 ha) grants of land in the interior of the province to prospective settlers regardless of nationality. It had been expected that this would entice from the United States immigrants who would become loyal citizens and add to the province’s defensive capability. However land in the Ohio Territory and western New York proved more to their liking.
In order to make the area more attractive, Simcoe wished to open transportation arteries between the interior of the province and the shipping corridor provided by Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River. Not only would these support commercial services for the expanding population and economy of the new territory, they would also serve military purposes, routing traffic away from areas controlled by the United States.
The story of the area around the head of the lake during the early 19th century is one of competition between the towns of Dundas, Ancaster and Hamilton to service this increased trade and achieve economic supremacy. Each town had its unique advantages and disadvantages which might make it more or less attractive to prospective businessmen and settlers. Ancaster had an abundance of fertile land, streams adequate to power mills, and a population of nearly two thousand people. However in order for an industrial economy to develop, easy access to Lake Ontario was critical. As Ancaster did not border on the lake, in the 1820s and 1830s Dundas, with better water access, an established commercial centre, a relatively stable industrial base and available water power eclipsed it in size and importance. However Dundas in turn was challenged by Hamilton.
In 1816 the district of Gore had been created at the head of the lake amid jockeying over the selection of the district town. The previous year George Hamilton, then living in Queenston, had decided to move away from the border with the United States due to concern about further conflict. Well-connected (his father had been a member of the Legislative Council and an extensive landowner), he was aware that a new district was to be established and purchased a substantial amount of land in the area from James Durand. Within a year Hamilton had been selected as the district town. The Desjardins Canal was the centerpiece of Dundas’ efforts to adjust to this development and preserve its early status as the industrial hub of the area.
Read more about this topic: Desjardins Canal
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or context:
“We can imagine a society in which no one could survive as a social being because it does not correspond to biologically determined perceptions and human social needs. For historical reasons, existing societies might have such properties, leading to various forms of pathology.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“The hard truth is that what may be acceptable in elite culture may not be acceptable in mass culture, that tastes which pose only innocent ethical issues as the property of a minority become corrupting when they become more established. Taste is context, and the context has changed.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)