Sir John Alexander Macdonald is considered the only Canadian Premier to have won six majority government victories; in fact, he was only removed from power by death. He was a Canadian premier who served for nearly two decades thus making him the second longest-serving premier in Canadian history. Having lived for about 76 years between 1815 and 18911, his life also saw him become a paramount personality in federal formation of Canada. From this, he was acknowledged for creating a nation whose history involved two different European colonialists; France and Britain, aside from having had native aboriginal people and other minority communities. He proposed the construction of the railway link between the Atlantic coast and the Pacific Ocean. Indeed this railroad was finished in late 1880s. Despite these and other success stories, McDonald had failures as well. The extent of his success and failure stories touched on both his private/personal life as well as public or political life.
McDonald was born in the first month of 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland. There is controversy concerning the exact date of his birth: his family considered the 11th of January as his birthday but records in Glasgow indicate the 10th of the same month2. He was a member of a family of five children. His father, Hugh McDonald tried merchant business but was never successful. His mother, Helen Shaw got married to his father in the second decade of the 1800s. John McDonald was born three years after this union. Before he was born, the McDonalds had had two children, William who was the firstborn and Margaret the second born. William did not live past his babyhood. McDonald’s birth was followed by another brother and sister. Reacting to unsuccessful merchant trade, the McDonalds moved to Northern Canada in Kingston in around 1820. They were among immigrants seeking better life abroad3.
A myriad of problems pursued them in the new land. Before they could settle, the McDonalds lost a son when a caretaker, thought to have been acting under the influence of alcohol, killed him. Moreover, Kingston proved unfavorable to his father’s business.4 However; John Alexander McDonald’s family was able to take him to Midland Grammar school upon where he studied languages like Latin and French apart from mathematics. John McDonald is believed to have been a passionate reader who most often would let his attention be consumed up by the books he perused. Later in his adolescence, McDonald changed to study classical education in a school established by the Presbyterian Church. This school was among the few that accommodated both girls and boys in their program. His education formally ended at age 15, a common phenomenon then because university was reserved for the wealthy. He would later confide to his personal assistant that quitting school at that tender age denied him a chance to pursue the literary field; a career he thought was responsible for the strength of the nation5.
McDonald’s father resorted to help him pursue a career in law. This was seen as a pathway to power and better life in future. Also, MacDonald seemed to enjoy studying as opposed to participating in commercial deals. Later, McDonald would pass his Law society of Upper Canada examinations in Toronto. Then, there existed no schools that taught law; so, potential lawyers would sit for an entrance exam then earn more skills by working with already established lawyers. Tom MacDonald’s lack, he got attached to George McKenzie; a famous lawyer from the Scottish community in Kingston. His specialty was in corporate law which coincidentally attracted McDonald himself. McDonald began by managing McKenzie’s branch in Nappanee thus giving him room to exercise his sense of responsibility. After two years in 1833, McDonald left McKenzie’s firm two attend to his cousin’s illness. However, he left an excellent record behind. He stayed for two more years before he established his law firm in Kingston. McKenzie had died from cholera the same year6.
McDonald’s success in life begun before he could even reach 20: Having served in McKenzie’s law firm at 17, he was admitted to the bar in early 1936. He accepted two law apprentices in his law firm; one of them, Oliver Mowat who would later become the prime minister for Ontario and a contributor to the creation of the Canadian Federation. The other, Alexander Campbell, also considered the founder of the Federation, would later become a member of the federal cabinet and the Lieutenant Governor, Ontario7. McDonald changed to criminal law after successfully winning several tittles probably motivated by the need to gain popularity. In this, he would also learn the skill of argumentation and persuasion; necessary tools for his political career.
One of the pitfalls in his criminal law career was the failure to defend a man charged with raping an 8-year-old girl. However, the press applauded his ability to defend. Later, he successfully secured the release of a man charged with killing a friend over a certain dispute. Armed with his humorous talent, McDonald is thought to have won the favor of the jury because they liked his anecdotal presentation. When the 1837 rebellions arose in Upper Canada, McDonald had already found experience in defending his country against liberalism. This law career had prepared him to take risks and as such, he managed to defend 8 political prisoners accused of treason against the colonial authorities in counties of his neighborhood. This gave him more praise from the press8.
McDonald later worked as a co-counsel for John Ashley, the manager of the military jail for political prisoners. Ashley himself had, at one time, been locked up in there for releasing prisoners illegally. During that time, Ashley had sued the military commander, Col. Dundas, a paramount figure then. Despite that, Ashley’s lawyer, McDonald managed to persuade the Jury to make Dundas pay Ashley compensation for damaging his reputation. In most cases, McDonald came to be known for defending minnows against the mighty in the society, especially the military. Moreover, his risk-taking mentality made him advise American raiders to take part in liberating Canada from colonialism. Out of the many Canadian lawyers who refused to offer advice, McDonald came out courageously and sided with the American invaders. Even then, the raiders were found guilty, but McDonald’s career had successfully been put in the limelight.
Away from career successes, John McDonald’s personal life had a mixture of pleasure and challenges. There were sicknesses, problems with alcohol, financial debts and other tragedies; things overshadowed by his prowess in public life. Much of his income came from the Commercial Bank of Midland District where he served as its lawyer and director. From this, he bought several real estate and managed several companies under his father’s name. He was also a card game player, a kind of gambling game that helped him get more money; one time it provided him the fare to go to Scotland for a vacation where he married Isabella9. While he raised his wealthy status, he was a constant victim to some unknown disease.
This couple lived a happy successful life at the beginning. He was elected a city Alderman just before marriage. Besides, his law firm was still earning victories. In 1844, he was elected as a member of parliament to represent Kingston. A year later, his wife, ‘isa’, as he would call her became sick. Biographer, Patricia Phenix observes that Isabella was found to be suffering from everything from devastating pain in the facial nerves to uterine malfunctions10. As a pain killer, Isabella took liquid Opium and alcohol but they only combined to grog her down. She later became an addict to opium. This made McDonald fear her death. Donald Creighton notes of McDonald’s stressful life, “The warm, pleasant edifice of his domestic happiness was crumbling towards utter ruin.” 11
Even after trying to move her to another environment in American southern, his wife still got sick. However, she became pregnant and was kept under medical attention in New York while McDonald went back to Canada to pursue his career. His firstborn, Alexander John was born there after a long labor period. To avoid more sicknesses to his wife, McDonald found an apartment in Kingston, 1848. He however failed because his son died mysteriously in his crib, possibly from Infant Death Syndrome [SID] 12. Isabella would become pregnant again a year later leading to the birth of Hugh John. This one, McDonald observed was stronger than his brother though not as cute. Even then Hugh never grew up close to his father. After Isabella’s death, the boy was raised by McDonald’s sister. McDonald remarried 10 years after his wife’s death. His new wife was Susan Bernard. They had a daughter named Margaret Mary. She was born with physical and mental problems and died later in her life, against his father’s hope that she would live13.
As he forfeited his legal duties to care for his wife, the debt level escalated. His salary as a politician was never enough, and he disagreed with his partner over the expenditure of their firm’s income, prompting the partner to leave14. He turned to drink as a consolation. Donald Creighton describes him as ‘a bachelor husband’ who drank too much and sought companionship from bars as this was the only way to entertain himself and made him forget the past15. This habit spilled to his political career one day when he vomited in a public debate against an opponent who quickly used this to subdue his influence.
McDonald’s political life however did not expose many failures at the beginning. Standing for a position as an Alderman in Kingston, McDonald was elected. A year later, he was elected to represent Kingston in the Canadian Provincial legislature. Having gained reputation, he was chosen to be the Receiver General during William Henry’s reign. When Henry’s government lost in subsequent polls, McDonald stepped down. He quit conservatives and opted for a moderate approach. In 1854, he established the Liberal-Conservative Party led by Allan McNab. This party attracted both erstwhile Conservatives and Liberals. They won elections in 1854 under the rule of the new constitution. McDonald became attorney General. Subsequent elections saw McDonald become the joint Prime minister of the Province of Canada with Etienne-Paschal Tache. In 1858, McDonald’s party was beaten and he steeped down his premiership. However, the Governor-General of Canada asked McDonald’s co-leader of his party to become the next premier; when he accepted the offer; he came on board with McDonald. This coalition lost in 1862 leaving McDonald to serve as an opposition leader till 1864 when he joined the government again.
Frequent legislative problems in the Province of Canada motivated McDonald’s opposition, the Liberal Party of Canada, to join Conservatives and formed the Great Coalition; aimed at reforming Canadian politics for common consensus. East Canada however chose to stay away from the coalition. McDonald spent more years formulating legislation necessary for bringing together all the Canadian colonies into one nation. He managed to present this suggestion to the Maritime colonies, coinciding with their own meeting to unite. A series of conferences were held leading to an agreement to confederate all the colonies. In 1867 the accord was presented before the British Parliament, which passed the British North America Act to form the Dominion of Canada. Later, the Province of Canada was split into the smaller provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It was at this time that MacDonald got a chance to form the first government having been asked by the first Governor-General of Canada Charles Monck. From this achievement in uniting Canadian colonies, McDonald was knighted in July of 1867 becoming the first leader in colonial times to attain the credit.
He was selected as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George on the same day the Dominion was established in 1867. An election was conducted that gave MacDonald’s party the victory. He became prime minister with an ambition to integrate the whole country. He managed to purchase Rupert’s Island and North-Western Territory, previously owned by Hudson’s Bay Company. The Manitoba Act led to the creation of Manitoba province to avert further rebellions akin to the Red River Rebellion. British Columbia was added to the Confederation thus becoming the sixth province. McDonald pledged to build a connecting Railway line to persuade further colonies to join the country. In his second term, McDonald was however accused of corruption in awarding tenders for the construction of the said railway. A scandal emerged that compelled him to resign in 187316. Liberals formed an interim government but later won the election when Conservatives would not return their strength. Under the use of a secret ballot, Alexander McKenzie became the next premier.
McDonald’s political reformation of Canada involved the plan to support trade by protecting internal industries from unfair international competition. He tried to restore efforts to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway line. He was re-elected as prime minister in 1882 and brought on a bill that would, if passed into law, subject unmarried women to several qualifications before they would attain the Dominion permit. However, this bill failed to go through parliament. Refinancing helped to complete the railway in 1885. Apparently, the railway would also serve as a quick mover of soldiers to combat rebellion in the Northwest Territories after a North-West Rebellion erupted to seek autonomy. In turn, the leader of the Rebellion was charged with treason and executed but this split up the opinion of French Canadians and that of the English Canadians. The latter opposed the rebellion; the former supported the leader of the Rebellion.
Despite that, McDonald won another election in 1891 but he had already begun to feel the fatigue of working for long17. Coupled with years of alcoholism and other illnesses, he became numb in the same year from a stroke attack. He died 7 days later to be buried in a state funeral.
We can deduce from this analysis that McDonald had his ups and downs. His private life had more problems but this was covered with his political profile which earned him a great reputation. His family failed to leave behind an heir, perhaps owing to the fact that most of his family members were always ailing and died early. His law career gave him successes in major victories for political and criminal prisoners. His failure was also experienced when he would not manage to convince the jury to let go of the American raiders. However, this helped him gain popularity that plunged him into politics. He managed to integrate Canada once he became premier but he failed to lobby restrictions against unmarried women. As fate would have it, his private life affected his behavior in public and perhaps that is why he chose to drink for solace. Personal stresses from his life made him unable to lead despite winning elections in1891 thus, accomplishing his life full of success and failure.
Bibliography
Creighton, Donald, John A. Macdonald: The young politician. Toronto: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1952.
Granatstein, John, and Hillmer, Norman, Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada’s Leaders. (Toronto: HarperCollins Publishing Ltd., 1999), 15-28.
Gwyn, Richard, the Man Who Made Us: the Life and Times of Sir John A. McDonald.Vol.1: 1815-1867. Toronto: Random House, 2007.
McSherry, James, the Invisible Lady: Sir John A. McDonald’s first Wife. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, (1984): 91-97.
Phenix, Patricia, Private Demons, the Tragic Personal Life of John A. Macdonald. Toronto: McClelland &Stewart, 2006.
Sletcher, Michael, “Sir John A. McDonald,” in Encyclopaedia of Victorian Era. 4Vols (Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 2004),515-530.
Swainson, Donald, Sir John A. McDonald: The Man and the Politician. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press.
Footnotes
- Michael Sletcher, “Sir John A. McDonald’, in Encyclopedia of Victorian Era. 5Vols. eds. James Eli, Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast (Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 2004), 515.
- Richard Gwyn, The man who made us: the Life and Times of Sir John A. McDonald. Vol.1: 1815-1867 (Toronto: Random House, 2007), 34
- Gwyn,p.45
- Gwyn, p.46-47
- Sletcher,p.516-17
- Donald Creighton, John A. McDonald: the Young Politician (Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd., 1952), 14-15.
- Donald Swanson, Sir John A. McDonald: The man and the Politician (Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1989), 17-18.
- Patricia Phenix, Private Demons, The tragic Personal Life of John A. McDonald. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006), 56 &59
- James McSherry, “The invisible lady: Sir John A. McDonald’s First Wife. Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 1984: 91-92.
- Phenix 71-72
- Creighton, p. 112
- Phenix, p., 93-94
- Phenix, p.,98
- Swainson, p., 33
- Creighton, p., 147
- Phenix, p., 100
- Phenix, p.112