RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Tories, Whigs and Patriots: Anglophone Political discourse in Lower Canada 1792-1838
This research project aims to better understand the complexity of the Anglophone community through an exhaustive analysis of its political discourse from the establishment of the province’s constitution to the rebellions of 1837 and 1838. Dr. Harvey suggests that the political discourse of the Anglophone community was far more complex than had been previously imagined and that the different communities that made up the Anglophone population did not all share the same political attitudes, or even patterns of discourse. Further, Dr. Harvey believes that identification with the colony itself was far stronger than has been previously suggested, and that for many Anglophones this was the primary pole of identification, rather than the oft-positied loyalty to the crown and the metropolis.
The dominant assumption has always been that the minority resisted the rise of anticolonial movement, gradually abandoning the majority Parti canadien and Parti patriote as they began to elaborate a plan for an independent republic on the banks of the St. Lawrence. But this simple association of ethnicity and political position blurs important distinctions and ignores some basic facts. The influence of Anglo-American models on the elaboration of French-Canadian political discourse points to the critical role of the Anglophone community in early decades of the century, as does the participation of prominent members of that community within the majority party, the Parti canadien.
Dr. Harvey currently identifies three main streams within the political discourse of the Anglophone community. The first stream; “Tory”, associated with the Montreal merchants, is the one which has traditionally been extended to the whole of the Anglophone community, and which identifies itself fully with the British empire. The second stream, labeled “Whig” remained attached to the British connection, although they were usually not overly critical of the American republic. The final stream “patriots”, followed the French Canadian majority in its adoption of republican discourse and of republican political solutions.
Anthologie des textes républicains québécois
A membre of the Groupe de recherche sur la modernité républicaine, Louis-Georges Harvey is currently working with Stéphane Kelly. Marc Chevrier and Samuel Trudeau to produce the first anthology of Quebecois republican texts. The texts in the anthology will span two centuries of political discourse in Quebec and they will be grouped thematically around themes such as political corruption, education, anticolonialsm and republican theory. The anthology will also include original introductions and section summaries which will outline the general evolution of republican thought from the late eighteenth century to the present.
L’Institut Canadien et la démocratisation du livre à Montréal, 1844-1880
This project will produce a monograph length study of an influential and notorious Montréal library in the19th century, one that was associated with radical, liberal and anticlerical movements. My study focuses on the social role the library played in diffusing print and hence the place of the library in the establishment of a liberal cultural model and one which also reinforced the predominant values of the mercantilist society of the time. After many years, this project is now close to completion.
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