The Life Story of George Étienne Cartier
George Étienne Cartier was born in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Québec,(then known as lower canada) on September 6th 1814. He was the son of Jacques Cartier III (1774-1841) and Marguerite Paradis (1779-1848). Altough Cartier was French his name was spelt "George" which is the common English spelling of the name, insted of "Georges" which is the French spelling of the name, a supposed reason for the name is that it was in honour of King George III. Cartier was educated at the Collège de Montréal.
In 1772 Jacques Cartier III, settled at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, about 36 miles from Montreal. Eight children were born of the marriage of Jacques Cartier III and Marguerite Paradis in 1798; George-Étienne was the seventh. Another son, François-Damien, also practised law, and was the professional partner of the politician. Cartier was baptized on the day of his birth at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu; there was no school at Saint-Antoine so George was first educated by his mother. In 1824 he entered the college of Montreal, directed by the Sulpicians, with whom he retained connections all his life. He was a diligent and brilliant pupil. He completed his secondary education in 1831, and then started his legal training in the office of Édouard-Étienne Rodier. Called to the bar of Lower Canada on 9 Nov. 1835, which is the law society of the lawyers of the colony of lower canada.
In 1772 Jacques Cartier III, settled at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, about 36 miles from Montreal. Eight children were born of the marriage of Jacques Cartier III and Marguerite Paradis in 1798; George-Étienne was the seventh. Another son, François-Damien, also practised law, and was the professional partner of the politician. Cartier was baptized on the day of his birth at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu; there was no school at Saint-Antoine so George was first educated by his mother. In 1824 he entered the college of Montreal, directed by the Sulpicians, with whom he retained connections all his life. He was a diligent and brilliant pupil. He completed his secondary education in 1831, and then started his legal training in the office of Édouard-Étienne Rodier. Called to the bar of Lower Canada on 9 Nov. 1835, which is the law society of the lawyers of the colony of lower canada.
While he was a student Cartier had worked during the 1834 elections on behalf of Louis-Joseph Papineau and Robert Nelson. In May 1834 he had been one of two secretaries of a political organization set up under the name of the Comité Central et Permanent du District de Montréal, which demanded that the government respect civil liberties. During the autumn of 1837, when the situation worsened in Lower Canada and rumbles of revolution were heard in assemblies Cartier took part in the events in circumstances which, although unclear, enable us to situate him among those called Patriotes. After the Patriotes’ defeat at Saint-Charles, Cartier, who had remained at Saint-Denis, had to hide, with his cousin Henry Cartier, at Verchères, where he spent the winter with a farmer. His death was announced in the papers, but in reality he had to flee to the United States after his hiding place was discovered. After a narrow escape and exile in Vermont, where he stayed from May to October 1848, he then after returned to Montréal to practise law with his brother François-Damien.
By 1854, Cartier had become a Minister and that meant that he didn't have the time or the chance to concern himself personnaly with his clients. Soon Cartier became closely involved in politics, in 1852 Cartier introduced the bill that created the Grand Trunk Railway Company. On July 11th 1853 he was appointed the Raiway Company's legal advisor for Canada East. Cartiers political career officialy began on April 7th 1848. Cartier had denied several request to run against Amable Marion because Cartier thought that he wasn't sufficiently established in his profession, but he finnaly agreed to run. So on April 7th 1848 Cartier was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of United Canada. His poltical career didn't stop until his death in 1873.
Cartier was thought as the most important French Canadian Canidate. He was then re-elected in 1851, and then in 1852 he took a seat at Québec City which was the capital of the province of Canada once again. The government was however in a minority, and it decided to appeal to the governor general, Lord Elgin Bruce, to dissolve parliament and call a general election. In August 1854 George Étienne Cartier was re-elected again in Verchères. Of the three groups of representatives returned – the moderate Reformers of Lower and Upper Canada who supported the Hincks–Morin government, the radical Reformers of Upper and Lower Canada, and the Conservatives – none possessed an absolute majority, and none could form a stable government. From the first day of the session, when the speaker was elected, the Hincks–Morin ministry saw how precarious its position was. Cartier was a member of the moderate reform party of lower Canada, at a general meeting the moderate reform party had decided that George Étienne Cartier should be their canidate to run for the post in the united government. The Conservitives wanted to have John Sanfield MacDonald to run for the position for their party. While the Lower Canadian opposition wanted Louis-Victor Sicotte. Cartier didn't fair so well, he only recieved 59 votes against 62, and it was Sicotte who was elected on september 5th 1854. The government was weak and it collapsed on September 7th. The Hincks-Morin Government resingned, thus an alliance between the Conservitives and the Moderate Reformers then took place; this was the origin of the Liberal-Conservative party.When the MacNab-Taché government was set up, Cartier was called upon to assume the office of provincial secretary for Canada East. As the law required that a minister should have his mandate renewed by his electors, Cartier stood again in Verchères. His opponent was Christophe Préfontaine, and he emerged victorious from a violent struggle waged against him by the radical Reformers, the Rouges, with whom he would have to contend from then on. On 24 May 1856 the MacNab-Taché ministry was replaced by that of Taché and John A. Macdonald*, and Cartier became attorney general for Canada East. On 26 Nov. 1857,
Prime Minister Taché had decided to give up active politics, John A. Macdonald, with Cartier, formed a government; in this government, which was called Macdonald–Cartier until 1 Aug. 1858 and then, from 23 May 1862, Cartier–Macdonald, Cartier remained attorney general.
During this period from 1857 to 1862, Cartier gave evidence of great activity. In the autumn of 1858 he went to London with Alexander Tilloch Galt* and John Ross to put before the English government a plan for the federation of the provinces of British North America.
Cartier had expressed approval of such a measure in August 1858, when Galt had entered the government on condition that it accept his plan of federation. In 1855 the government of which Cartier was a member had passed the Lower Canada Municipal and Road Act of 1855, which created municipalities corresponding to the church parishes and grouped them in county municipalities; it was the basis of the system still to a great extent in force in Quebec. In 1860 Cartier had this law reshaped, and on 6 March declared that “our municipal system is one of the principal institutions in Lower Canada.
Standing out as he did against the ministry of John Sandfield Macdonald and Louis-Victor Sicotte from 24 May 1862 to 15 May 1863, and that of J. S. Macdonald and Antoine-Aimé Dorion from 16 May 1863 to 29 March 1864, Cartier was the government’s chief opponent. In the general election of July 1863, he again was a candidate in Montreal East, where he defeated Antoine-Aimé Dorion. The latter had for several years been Cartier’s principal opponent in Lower Canada. The liberal ideas that he defended were precisely those that Cartier despised. Dorion’s alliance with George Brown harmed him in the minds of the Catholic hierarchy, with which Cartier was on good terms, and despite his great qualities he was forced to spend almost all his life in the opposition.
The session that opened in Québec on February 19th 1864 was to return Cartier to power and bring about the birth of confederation. On March 21st 1864,The governor general, Lord Monck*, then called on Cartier to take office, but the latter refused, alleging as a pretext that in the circumstances it was better to put at the head of the administration a man less involved in the political struggles of the last few years. The Governor Genral didn't pick Cartier after all, insted Étienne-Paschal Taché was chosen to lead the government.
On June 14th1864 the Taché government was defeated as a result of a vote of censure in the house for neglecting to give effect to a loan previously promised to the City of Montreal. In six years, it was the sixth ministry overthrown; no group seemed capable of taking hold, and a general election, the third in three years, did not seem to be a solution. This was political deadlock, because Canada East and Canada West had the same number of seats nothing was getting accomplished and Governments kept getting thrown out.
Then on June 16th Sir John A. MacDonald, George Étienne Cartier and George Brown formed a coalition that become known as the "Great Coalition". Under this coalition the leaders had a vision of Confederation, uniting all the colonies of British North America under one government and they might even include the North-West Terriotories and the Maritime Provinces incorporated into the same government.
In 1865 Cartier declared: “We must either have a Confederation of British North America or else be absorbed by the American Confederation.” There were 3 meetings of Confederation in total, they were in Québec City, Charlottetown and London,England, which is where the letter of Confederation was written.
George Étienne Cartier attended all three meetings of Confederation to make Canada a country. He was even there when the Confederation letter in London, England. On July 1st 1867, the day of the official birth of the dominion of Canada, Cartier was at Ottawa. He entered the cabinet, formed by John A. Macdonald at the request of the governor general, Lord Monck, as minister of militia and defence. At the end of August and beginning of September 1867, elections were held to choose representatives to the House of Commons and to the Legislative Assembly of Québec. Cartier stood in Montreal East as candidate for both houses, as the law allowed. He was elected to Ottawa after a hot fight against the labour and liberal candidate Médéric Lanctot, and he was elected to Quebec against Ludger Labelle.In the general election of 1871, Cartier again managed to get elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, over Célestin Bergevin, but, fearing the voting in Montreal, he stood in Beauharnois.
In August 1872, in the federal general election, Cartier was again a candidate in Montreal East. His Liberal opponent was Louis-Amable Jetté*, and he was defeated by a crushing majority. Instead of seeking election in another Quebec riding, which would have required the resignation of a Conservative member and probably resulted in a contested election, Cartier agreed to stand in Provencher, Manitoba, where Louis Riel* and Henry James Clarke* were contestants. After Louis Riel and Henry Jones Clark both withdrew, Cartier stood unopposed in Manitoba and he was elected in September of 1872, he would never go visit his riding, and he wouldn't get the chance too.
At the end of September 1872, after his defeat in Montreal East, Cartier had sailed for England to get treatment in London: he had been suffering since 1871 from chronic nephritis, known as Bright’s disease. He had spent the winter in England with his wife and his two daughters. on May 20th 1873, a telegram from London stated the George Étienne Cartier had died at 6:00 a.m. at the age of 58. Cartier's body was to be shipped to Québec on the 29th of May. When John A. Macdonald announced this at the House of Commons he burst into tears and pointed to the former seat of his long time colleage George Étienne Cartier. Cartier's body arrived in Québec on June 8th. The coffin was taken to Montréal and he was buried in the cemetery at Côte-des-Neiges, where a monument still recalls his memory.
Cartier helped shape the country of Canada to what it is today. If it wasn't for him we might not have the Provenice of Québec in our great country today.
By 1854, Cartier had become a Minister and that meant that he didn't have the time or the chance to concern himself personnaly with his clients. Soon Cartier became closely involved in politics, in 1852 Cartier introduced the bill that created the Grand Trunk Railway Company. On July 11th 1853 he was appointed the Raiway Company's legal advisor for Canada East. Cartiers political career officialy began on April 7th 1848. Cartier had denied several request to run against Amable Marion because Cartier thought that he wasn't sufficiently established in his profession, but he finnaly agreed to run. So on April 7th 1848 Cartier was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of United Canada. His poltical career didn't stop until his death in 1873.
Cartier was thought as the most important French Canadian Canidate. He was then re-elected in 1851, and then in 1852 he took a seat at Québec City which was the capital of the province of Canada once again. The government was however in a minority, and it decided to appeal to the governor general, Lord Elgin Bruce, to dissolve parliament and call a general election. In August 1854 George Étienne Cartier was re-elected again in Verchères. Of the three groups of representatives returned – the moderate Reformers of Lower and Upper Canada who supported the Hincks–Morin government, the radical Reformers of Upper and Lower Canada, and the Conservatives – none possessed an absolute majority, and none could form a stable government. From the first day of the session, when the speaker was elected, the Hincks–Morin ministry saw how precarious its position was. Cartier was a member of the moderate reform party of lower Canada, at a general meeting the moderate reform party had decided that George Étienne Cartier should be their canidate to run for the post in the united government. The Conservitives wanted to have John Sanfield MacDonald to run for the position for their party. While the Lower Canadian opposition wanted Louis-Victor Sicotte. Cartier didn't fair so well, he only recieved 59 votes against 62, and it was Sicotte who was elected on september 5th 1854. The government was weak and it collapsed on September 7th. The Hincks-Morin Government resingned, thus an alliance between the Conservitives and the Moderate Reformers then took place; this was the origin of the Liberal-Conservative party.When the MacNab-Taché government was set up, Cartier was called upon to assume the office of provincial secretary for Canada East. As the law required that a minister should have his mandate renewed by his electors, Cartier stood again in Verchères. His opponent was Christophe Préfontaine, and he emerged victorious from a violent struggle waged against him by the radical Reformers, the Rouges, with whom he would have to contend from then on. On 24 May 1856 the MacNab-Taché ministry was replaced by that of Taché and John A. Macdonald*, and Cartier became attorney general for Canada East. On 26 Nov. 1857,
Prime Minister Taché had decided to give up active politics, John A. Macdonald, with Cartier, formed a government; in this government, which was called Macdonald–Cartier until 1 Aug. 1858 and then, from 23 May 1862, Cartier–Macdonald, Cartier remained attorney general.
During this period from 1857 to 1862, Cartier gave evidence of great activity. In the autumn of 1858 he went to London with Alexander Tilloch Galt* and John Ross to put before the English government a plan for the federation of the provinces of British North America.
Cartier had expressed approval of such a measure in August 1858, when Galt had entered the government on condition that it accept his plan of federation. In 1855 the government of which Cartier was a member had passed the Lower Canada Municipal and Road Act of 1855, which created municipalities corresponding to the church parishes and grouped them in county municipalities; it was the basis of the system still to a great extent in force in Quebec. In 1860 Cartier had this law reshaped, and on 6 March declared that “our municipal system is one of the principal institutions in Lower Canada.
Standing out as he did against the ministry of John Sandfield Macdonald and Louis-Victor Sicotte from 24 May 1862 to 15 May 1863, and that of J. S. Macdonald and Antoine-Aimé Dorion from 16 May 1863 to 29 March 1864, Cartier was the government’s chief opponent. In the general election of July 1863, he again was a candidate in Montreal East, where he defeated Antoine-Aimé Dorion. The latter had for several years been Cartier’s principal opponent in Lower Canada. The liberal ideas that he defended were precisely those that Cartier despised. Dorion’s alliance with George Brown harmed him in the minds of the Catholic hierarchy, with which Cartier was on good terms, and despite his great qualities he was forced to spend almost all his life in the opposition.
The session that opened in Québec on February 19th 1864 was to return Cartier to power and bring about the birth of confederation. On March 21st 1864,The governor general, Lord Monck*, then called on Cartier to take office, but the latter refused, alleging as a pretext that in the circumstances it was better to put at the head of the administration a man less involved in the political struggles of the last few years. The Governor Genral didn't pick Cartier after all, insted Étienne-Paschal Taché was chosen to lead the government.
On June 14th1864 the Taché government was defeated as a result of a vote of censure in the house for neglecting to give effect to a loan previously promised to the City of Montreal. In six years, it was the sixth ministry overthrown; no group seemed capable of taking hold, and a general election, the third in three years, did not seem to be a solution. This was political deadlock, because Canada East and Canada West had the same number of seats nothing was getting accomplished and Governments kept getting thrown out.
Then on June 16th Sir John A. MacDonald, George Étienne Cartier and George Brown formed a coalition that become known as the "Great Coalition". Under this coalition the leaders had a vision of Confederation, uniting all the colonies of British North America under one government and they might even include the North-West Terriotories and the Maritime Provinces incorporated into the same government.
In 1865 Cartier declared: “We must either have a Confederation of British North America or else be absorbed by the American Confederation.” There were 3 meetings of Confederation in total, they were in Québec City, Charlottetown and London,England, which is where the letter of Confederation was written.
George Étienne Cartier attended all three meetings of Confederation to make Canada a country. He was even there when the Confederation letter in London, England. On July 1st 1867, the day of the official birth of the dominion of Canada, Cartier was at Ottawa. He entered the cabinet, formed by John A. Macdonald at the request of the governor general, Lord Monck, as minister of militia and defence. At the end of August and beginning of September 1867, elections were held to choose representatives to the House of Commons and to the Legislative Assembly of Québec. Cartier stood in Montreal East as candidate for both houses, as the law allowed. He was elected to Ottawa after a hot fight against the labour and liberal candidate Médéric Lanctot, and he was elected to Quebec against Ludger Labelle.In the general election of 1871, Cartier again managed to get elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, over Célestin Bergevin, but, fearing the voting in Montreal, he stood in Beauharnois.
In August 1872, in the federal general election, Cartier was again a candidate in Montreal East. His Liberal opponent was Louis-Amable Jetté*, and he was defeated by a crushing majority. Instead of seeking election in another Quebec riding, which would have required the resignation of a Conservative member and probably resulted in a contested election, Cartier agreed to stand in Provencher, Manitoba, where Louis Riel* and Henry James Clarke* were contestants. After Louis Riel and Henry Jones Clark both withdrew, Cartier stood unopposed in Manitoba and he was elected in September of 1872, he would never go visit his riding, and he wouldn't get the chance too.
At the end of September 1872, after his defeat in Montreal East, Cartier had sailed for England to get treatment in London: he had been suffering since 1871 from chronic nephritis, known as Bright’s disease. He had spent the winter in England with his wife and his two daughters. on May 20th 1873, a telegram from London stated the George Étienne Cartier had died at 6:00 a.m. at the age of 58. Cartier's body was to be shipped to Québec on the 29th of May. When John A. Macdonald announced this at the House of Commons he burst into tears and pointed to the former seat of his long time colleage George Étienne Cartier. Cartier's body arrived in Québec on June 8th. The coffin was taken to Montréal and he was buried in the cemetery at Côte-des-Neiges, where a monument still recalls his memory.
Cartier helped shape the country of Canada to what it is today. If it wasn't for him we might not have the Provenice of Québec in our great country today.
Links to more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_%C3%89tienne_Cartier , http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4884 , http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/confederation/fathers/george_etienne_cartier.htm , http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001438 , http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/bios/cartier.htm , http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Cartier_George_Etienne.html