Uppermost Canada : the Western District and the Detroit frontier, 1800-1850 / R. Alan Douglas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Douglas, R. Alan.

Series:

Great Lakes books

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

French-Canadians.

History.

Windsor Region (Ont.)--History.

Windsor Region (Ont.).

Detroit Region (Mich.)--History.

Detroit Region (Mich.).

Frontier and pioneer life--Ontario--Windsor Region.

Frontier and pioneer life.

Ontario--Windsor Region.

Frontier and pioneer life--Michigan--Detroit Region.

Michigan--Detroit Region.

French-Canadians--Ontario--Windsor Region--History.

Windsor Region (Ont.)--Ethnic relations.

Detroit River Valley (Mich. and Ont.)--History.

Detroit River Valley (Mich. and Ont.).

Canada--Relations--United States.

Canada.

Relations.

United States.

United States--Relations--Canada.

Physical Description:

xii, 304 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Detroit : Wayne State University Press, [2001]

Summary:

Uppermost Canada: The Western District and the Detroit Frontier, 1800-1850 examines the historical, cultural, and social history of the Canadian portion of the Detroit River community in the first half of the nineteenth century. The international boundary, running invisibly through the Detroit River settlement since 1796, continues to be invoked by residents of the two shores, but only when they find it convenient to do so. The phrase "Uppermost Canada," denoting the western frontier of Upper Canada (modern Ontario), was applied to the Canadian shore of the Detroit River during the War of 1812 by a British officer, who attributed it to President James Madison.

The Western District was one of the partly-judicial, partly-governmental municipal units combining contradictory aristocratic and democratic traditions into which the province was divided until 1850. With its substantial French-Canadian population and its veneer of British officialdom, in close proximity to a newly American outpost, the Western District was potentially the most unstable. Despite all however, Alan Douglas demonstrates that the Western District, with its close interpersonal and commercial links at the easiest crossing in the Great Lakes system, endured without apparent change longer than any of the others.

Uppermost Canada will be invaluable to students of regional and Great Lakes history, international relations, and American and Canadian studies.

Contents:

Introduction: Improvements Handsome and Extensive 1

1. Connections 11

2. 1812: Yankee Doodle Upset 33

3. 1813: John Bull Set Back 61

4. 1814: Winning Isn't Everything 79

5. A Most Irksome Command 87

6. Personalities 105

7. Communities 125

8. Rebels and Yankees 157

9. Men of Capital 177

10. Adapting to the Land 197

11. Adapting to the People 215

Conclusion: Descent with Modification 237.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-283) and index.

ISBN:

0814328679

OCLC:

46991769